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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | How do we know that we are truly saved? | 1 John 3:24 | Aixen7z4 | 141566 | ||
He came to save us, Angel, and when you trust in him, you're in (1 Corinthians 12:13; 2 Corinthians 5:17). You have eternal life (John 5:24). You will never perish (John 10:28). You have the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9) and he lets you know you are a child of God (Romans 8:16). His presence in you is a guarantee of your salvation (Ephesians 1:13,14). If you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, then you have this assurance (2 Timothy 1:12). Jesus guarantees salvation to those who trust in him. God is willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, so he confirms it by an oath: that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast (Hebrews 6). And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life (1 John 2:25). |
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2 | How do we know that we are truly saved? | 1 John 3:24 | JCrichton | 141583 | ||
Hi, Aixen7z4! I understand your position! Yet I must also caution that to trust in the Lord does not just mean that we quote His Gospels! Too many "Christians" trust in Jesus in the sense that we trust in one another (proof, verification, material gain, enhancement of social status... in essence the ole "Quid pro quo!"); yet, trusting in Jesus goes beyond our normal word-usage of the phrase "trust in!" Trusting in Jesus means Believing in Him. Trusting that He means it when He says: "Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?" (Luke 6:46) "If you love me, keep my commandments!" (John 14:15) If you do not abide in me you will be removed, thrown out, and burnt--reworded for greater impact; you will find the Biblical text in John 15:1-6. Then, many will say to me, "Lord in your Name we did this and that and that other thing..." I will tell them begone from me you children of eniquity!--again reworded for effects; you will find the Biblical text in Matthew 7:21-27! It is not enough to rely on a quote from Scripture... Satan quoted Scripture to Jesus with great ease and control... yet, Jesus refers to him as a Murderer and a Liar! Jesus didn't call us to learn Scripture or to memorize certain passages, He calls us to Live His Gospels (John 6:63); this is why He did not simply teach that all who call on the Name of the Lord will be saved! He taught that those who did the Will of His Father would be saved! (John 6:40) And while the Father's Will is that we Believe in Jesus Christ, His Only Begotten Son, Jesus is clear about what He means when He says Believe in Me (John 14:1; 12:44; 15:4-6; 15:7; 9-10); Jesus makes it clear that it is not about chanting hymns and enunciating prayers or formulas (Matthew 7:24-27: which means Love God above all and your neighbor as yourself). Jesus challanges all those who were listening by commanding them to Love their enemies, to uphold the Sacrament of Matrimony, to be generous with what God has provided for us--everything belongs to Him, hence, we are mere stewards! ...in the end, it is not those who appropriate His Name or perform certain feats that will be saved but those who abide in Jesus, those who Trust in Him to obey His commandments, those who are not simply content with owning a "guarantee of salvation" which they have done nothing to merit! (Matthew 7:21-27; Luke 6:46; Matthew 25:31-40)... James puts it simply in his admonishion to Christians to be doers of the Word and not mere hearers! (James 1:22-23)! So, I admonish you, as I admonish all Christians, to not just rely on the articulation of "feel-good" words... we are called, by Jesus, to change our ways, to obey Him, to Believe in Him and to Love Him: by obeying Him we demonstrate that we love Him, by loving Him we love ourselves, our neighbors and even our enemies! The Word did not become flesh to guarantee us a secure and safe passage (Matthew 7:13-14; Luke 13:23-28); He became one like us to rescue us from Death and to serve as the perfect archetype of humility, obedience, and dependence! (Philippians 2:5-8; Isaiah 42:3; John 12:27; 13:3-15)... So, to borrow Paul's admonishion, we should not boast that we have a secured place in Heaven--as the elected Remnant of the Tribes of Israel--(for neither are we God nor have we been removed from the flesh); rather, we should boast of Jesus, and Him Crucified for our Salvation: it is He who secures our Salvation--without Him we are nothing! God Bless! Angel |
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3 | How do we know that we are truly saved? | 1 John 3:24 | Aixen7z4 | 141588 | ||
Hi, Angel. I did not realize before now that there are those who think that to trust in the Lord means we quote His Gospels! And I was not aware that many Christians trust in Jesus in the sense that we trust in one another. It is obviously important that those of us who call him Lord should do what he says. But here is the point, and I hope you do not miss it: It is not doing good works that makes us saved. It is because we are saved that we should do good works. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us (Titus 3:5). Not of works, lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:9). We are new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17) created in Christ Jesus unto good works (Ephesians 2:10). In saving us, God changes us, and thereafter we are expected to do good works. We do not do them automatically, and that is why the epistles are given to encourage us in that regard. Now, there are some other interesting quotes in your post. “If you do not abide in me you will be removed”. Yes, John 15 records Jesus saying that. But I encourage you to consider that he was speaking of being removed from a place of service. That happens (See revelation 2:5). It may involve being removed from this life (1 Corinthians 11:30). Yet the soul that trusts in Jesus will be saved (1 Corinthians 3:15). Jesus will say, to use your wording, “Begone from me you children of iniquity!” But I note it is not they had worked iniquity (we’ve all done that, as Romans 3 reminds us). It is because “I never knew you”. We need to make sure that he knows us. The best way it seems to ensure that he knows us is that we introduce ourselves to him. Come to him, admit that we are sinners, ask him to change us, and he does. It is only then that we can do good works that are not filthy rags, after he has changed us. You refer to people learning scripture and memorizing passages and chanting hymns and enunciating prayers, and I agree that those things will not save them. But neither will their attempt to love their enemies, uphold the Sacrament of Matrimony, or otherwise to “obey His commandments”. All those good works come after salvation. You note well that we own a guarantee of salvation which we have done nothing to merit! The fact is, we cannot merit salvation. After you have done all those good words you will still find you have come up short (Romans 3:23). We declare ourselves bankrupt, and then we trust in his merit alone. So, admonish us, but we do not believe you that we can merit salvation. We claim salvation by faith, not by works. We claim that good works come after salvation. We do believe that those who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved, because it says so in Romans 1:13. And yes, we do believe that we have safe passage and a secured place in heaven. Passages such as John 5:24 and 1 Peter 1:3, 4 assure us of that. We who are saved ought to be doing good, as all of the New Testament commands us and encourages us. We are ashamed of our failures and our sins. We are encouraged to abide in him and to follow his way so as not to be ashamed at his appearing (1 John 2:28). But please do not insist on condemning us, because God may ask you who are you (See Romans 8:33,34). Yet I do believe that you mean well in all that you have said. If we are not concerned about our behavior it may well mean that we are not saved. Since we have been forgiven and cleansed and saved, we should not return to sinning. God forbid (Romans 6). To the extent that we do sin after we are saved, please correct us. But please leave us the right to know that we are saved. Our salvation is our motivation to do good works (2 Corinthians 5:14). We know we could have done nothing to merit our salvation. Finally, I find myself in agreement with your last statement. We should boast in Jesus, and Him Crucified for our Salvation. It is He who secures our salvation. Without Him we are nothing! Amen. |
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4 | How do we know that we are truly saved? | 1 John 3:24 | JCrichton | 145373 | ||
Hi, Aixen7z4! Part 1 of 3 “I did not realize before now that there are those…” I am not sure how to assimilate the above… I hope that you are playing on words/ideas rather than truly unaware! The Church (not a denominational congregation) has been under constant assault both from within and without… the worst offenders are the “Christians” who are diluting Christ’s Gospel in order to be seen as unthreatening or “friendly!” We have heard/seen in the news the erosion the Church caused by “Christians” who assault the Church through abuse and manipulation of the people under their charge, embezzlement of funds to purchase anti-Christian lifestyles, distortion of Scripture through warped doctrinal teachings, whole congregations not only tolerating secular rebellion against God’s moral teachings but actively engaging in them and pronouncing priests and bishops who themselves are living examples of the abomination that is to befall the Church as Satan ushers in perverted Gospels that not only tolerates nefarious behavior but actively promote it through immersion in both the practice of the acts and the rejection of the Word of God which condemns both the acts and the people who revel in the ungodly acts! This wanton disobedience has been creeping up on us from the beginning of Creation… and though we might think that it is far from us, if we are very observant, and honest with ourselves, we can witness the assault changing us: making us more liberal, more eager to please society’s mandates than to stand for and with Christ! I do not mean to be critical of anyone… but you offered me an example that I wish to capitalize on: “It is obviously important that those of us who call him Lord should do what he says.” When did Jesus preach that we “should” do what He says? When did Peter, John, Paul or any of the others? This is precisely what is transforming the heart of man: we believe that we can pick and choose… that we can determine what God really meant to teach… that we can receive Salvation as a prize that we own… that “Christians” are above Christ’s own Commands… that “Christians” are better than Christ… (just in case you have not heard of any of this… some preach that we do not need the Church; some, that we do not need to be baptized; still others preach guilt-free, pain-free, remorse-free, death-free sinning--for “Christians” only; while still others preach tolerance of everything and everyone--consequently they blot out, if only in their own minds, all Scriptural passages that challenge their ideologies, philosophies, and theologies--some of these doctrines include salvation for all regardless of Faith in Christ or not; belief on any and all deities is equal since we all seek a god, hence all doctrines are sound and eventually lead to the same god/gods; God loves man so if man sins He understands without passing judgment, choice (be it homosexuality, abortion as a form of contraceptive, suicide as a form of escaping a painful/hard life, cloning or harvesting organs from the indigent or reaping organs/organic material from babies whose bodies have been wrenched from the wombs of their biological carriers…) is a God given right…) Christ never expects that we should do as He says… Christ demands that we do as He says! (Matthew 7:26; ) “…It is not doing good works that makes us saved.” When have I stated that works save? |
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