Do you believe if Christ came today you'll be saved?

[1213]

...If that's the case, I believe that deep down you don't believe in salvation by faith alone (I am not knocking on those who don't affirm that). Just a food for thought what do you think?...

I would like to know, what do you think faith means? I think it means that one is faithful and that means one is loyal to God.

 

[Christ is Lord]

I would like to know, what do you think faith means? I think it means that one is faithful and that means one is loyal to God.

My thinking is the same with yours.

 

[BobRyan]

BobRyan said: ↑
In the Arminian model (And I am Arminian to some extent)
-- you CAN know you are saved today (See Rom 8:16)
but you can't know that 10 years from today you will still be saved. The Holy Spirit gives us the assurance of salvation - for today, if we ask Him.

You can have assurance of today but do you have an assurance of the next minute or hour?

My day lasts longer than a minute or hour... and yours?

I said "but you can't know that 10 years from today you will still be saved" how that gets into "minute" or "hour" I do not know.

I do agree that you can't know if you'll be saved 10-years from now but I do believe once we are loyal in our belief we can have a level of assurance. After all you can't lose your salvation.

any time you see "forgiveness revoked" as in Christ's teaching in Matthew 18 and Ezek 18 you are seeing "salvation lost".

Any time you see "severed from Christ, fallen from grace" as in Gal 5:4 you are seeing "salvation lost"

Any time you see the warning given to the saints .. those "who stand only by your faith" Rom 11 that is of the form "do not be arrogant but fear for if He did not spare them he may not spare you either" -- you are seeing a warning about the real scenario of salvation lost.

 

[BobRyan]

If Jesus came today and you think you won't go to heaven because you're smoker, addicted to inappropriate contentography, have an issue with your temper, etc. If that's the case, I believe that deep down you don't believe in salvation by faith alone (I am not knocking on those who don't affirm that). Just a food for thought what do you think?

PS: I am not talking universalism nor am I saying you can live as you want.

In 1 Cor 6 Paul says that if you think you are going to heaven no matter what you are actually doing in real life - a rude awakening is coming.

In 1 Cor 6 Paul says to the believers "do not be deceived"
7 Actually, then, it is already a defeat for you, that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded? 8 On the contrary, you yourselves wrong and defraud. You do this even to your brethren.
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

In Matt 7 Jesus says it is not those who "say the right words" that go to heaven...

Sounds about right coming from an Adventist (I don't mean that in a derogatory way)

Adventist have apparently not written as much scripture as some seem to have supposed...

 

[Blade]

What did He say? Who so ever believes in Him should not die but have every lasting life. I am already seated in heavenly places. I can boldly come before my Father.. aka GOD. Can't do that if I was not saved. I am already living forever. So to doubt.. are you even saved? For it is by grace we are saved through faith. Right there.. FAITH! Jesus said.. who so ever BELIEVES. I have faith that He can not lie. He will..has to keep His word.

This is something I don't think about any more. I've said this before this is milk. I don't doubt my salvation. It does not come from me but Him. This is His gift to the world. To doubt.. does not come from God. That which kept me from God..that which He had to judge..that SIN has been paid in full. Can not be undone. Its as He said "finished". There is still sin I do.. has nothing what so ever to do with my salvation. As I am His.. I am not free to sin.. but yet I am free. Its as our brother said.. its no longer I that sin but sin that is in me.

And praise GOD GLORY TO JESUS some day when HE comes.. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

 

[Anthony2019]

I ask the question because recently it came to my mind. I've heard a number of times when I ask people the question they will say I need to work on x or y. However, doesn't that line of thinking mean that subconsciously you believe in meriting salvation to an extent? If Jesus came today and you think you won't go to heaven because you're smoker, addicted to inappropriate contentography, have an issue with your temper, etc. If that's the case, I believe that deep down you don't believe in salvation by faith alone (I am not knocking on those who don't affirm that). Just a food for thought what do you think?

PS: I am not talking universalism nor am I saying you can live as you want.

I am quietly confident that because I have placed my faith in Christ and seek to love and serve Him, when He comes to call me home, then I will spend eternity with Him.
My acceptance into the kingdom depends on nothing I have achieved or done, but purely upon his love, grace and mercy. It is entirely his prerogative, not mine.
I will never make it my mission to try and prove myself better or worthier than I am, and when I arrive at the judgement seat of Christ, I will be arriving modestly, in the hope that I may be offered the lowest place. For whoever exalts himself shall be humbled and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted" (Matthew 23:12).

 

[Maria Billingsley]

I ask the question because recently it came to my mind. I've heard a number of times when I ask people the question they will say I need to work on x or y. However, doesn't that line of thinking mean that subconsciously you believe in meriting salvation to an extent? If Jesus came today and you think you won't go to heaven because you're smoker, addicted to inappropriate contentography, have an issue with your temper, etc. If that's the case, I believe that deep down you don't believe in salvation by faith alone (I am not knocking on those who don't affirm that). Just a food for thought what do you think?

PS: I am not talking universalism nor am I saying you can live as you want.

When Jesus Christ of Nazareth comes the second time, it will be like a twinkle of an eye. So best be prepared, which is what He said before He left the first time.
Blessings

 

[lismore]

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory (Eph 1:13-14)

 

[PaulCyp1]

Faith isn't just something that takes place in your head. Faith means sincere commitment to live as Jesus Christ calls us to live. Works do not "earn" salvation for us. Rather, they are the outward signs that our inner commitment , our inner faith, is genuine. Claiming to be a believer, to have faith, while living a life of sin is just self-deception. Of course, God doesn't expect us to achieve perfection while on Earth. All human beings sin. But living a saved life means turning way from sin and living as a Christian.

 

[aiki]

I ask the question because recently it came to my mind. I've heard a number of times when I ask people the question they will say I need to work on x or y. However, doesn't that line of thinking mean that subconsciously you believe in meriting salvation to an extent? If Jesus came today and you think you won't go to heaven because you're smoker, addicted to inappropriate contentography, have an issue with your temper, etc. If that's the case, I believe that deep down you don't believe in salvation by faith alone (I am not knocking on those who don't affirm that). Just a food for thought what do you think?

PS: I am not talking universalism nor am I saying you can live as you want.

I had a guy ask me if the lovely non-Christian neighbor lady next door who had died was going to the same place as Hitler. He wanted to know how such a nice person, who had shown great generosity and kindness to all, could ever deserve to end up in hell just because she didn't believe in Jesus. It was a good question, I thought, and highlighted the very thing you're wondering about: On what basis do we gain acceptance with God?

I told the guy with the question about his neighbor that God's standard for entrance into His kingdom wasn't the same as ours. We look at the worst of us - the killers, rapists, genocidal maniacs, etc - and come out smelling like roses by the comparison we make of ourselves to them. On this basis, we all seem pretty good. But God's standard is not ours. His standard is His own holy perfection. To this standard, not one of us measures up. None of us get anywhere close. We are all of us foul, stinking wretches in comparison to the holy, perfect purity of Almighty God - even the nice old lady neighbor lady who never hurt a fly. Next to God, she is an awful, selfish, corrupt creature in desperate need of a Saviour - as we all are.

The problem is worse than this, however. It isn't just that we don't measure up but that we can't ever measure up, in-and-of ourselves. No one can live well enough to warrant God's acceptance. No matter how good we may manage to be, we will never be perfect, which is the only level of goodness God will accept. And this is exactly why we need the Saviour, Jesus Christ.

By the exercise of a saving faith in Christ as Saviour and Lord, a person has the perfect righteousness of Christ imputed to them. The born-again believer "puts on Christ," they are clothed in his righteousness, and thus declared by God to be perfectly righteous. And because they are, they meet the standard of perfection God demands of any who would enter His kingdom. One of the amazing things about this is that, since Jesus's righteousness never ceases to be perfect, the believer who is clothed in his righteousness never ceases to be accepted by God. The fear of losing salvation dissolves under this truth. God has not accepted me because of anything meritorious about me; His acceptance of me rests solely and entirely upon what Christ has done for me. So I don't diminish or increase God's acceptance of me by what I do.

What is so evil about the saved-and-lost doctrine is that it requires the believer to add to the perfect atoning work of Christ, making them co-Saviour with Jesus. A saved-and-lost (SAL) belief makes the believer's own obedience necessary to the atoning work of Christ at Calvary. On the SAL view, God is not satisfied with what Christ did for the lost on the cross; Christ's perfection is insufficient to appease God's justice and wrath. The believer must add their own work in order to be - or remain - saved.

What an atrocious sort of thinking! It is both irrational and blasphemous. How can one add to perfection? How can God's standard be higher than perfection? By definition, perfection is an ultimate, unexceedable, state of affairs. It is impossible to add to perfection; for if perfection may be added to, it is not truly perfection. But Christ's atoning work fully satisfied God; it was perfect. As God incarnate, Christ was himself perfect, too. With Christ and his work on the cross, then, God is completely and utterly content. There is no addition to what the Saviour has done that may be made and to think otherwise is to be profoundly irrational.

To elevate one's self to the place of co-Saviour - as the SAL proponent must do to hold his view - is to be guilty of outright blasphemy. There is only one Saviour. No human can claim equality with Christ in this regard. He stands alone as the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." As Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes unto the Father except through me." To elevate one's self to the place of co-Saviour by claiming an essential role in the maintenance of one's salvation is, then, to make one's self as God which is out-and-out blasphemy.

For these reasons - and others - the SAL false doctrine ought to be assiduously avoided. It is a fundamentally self-centered, not Christ-centered, belief that is not actually ever taught in Scripture.

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[devin553344]

I ask the question because recently it came to my mind. I've heard a number of times when I ask people the question they will say I need to work on x or y. However, doesn't that line of thinking mean that subconsciously you believe in meriting salvation to an extent? If Jesus came today and you think you won't go to heaven because you're smoker, addicted to inappropriate contentography, have an issue with your temper, etc. If that's the case, I believe that deep down you don't believe in salvation by faith alone (I am not knocking on those who don't affirm that). Just a food for thought what do you think?

PS: I am not talking universalism nor am I saying you can live as you want.

I don't boast in my salvation, I leave the judging up to God. I will know if I am saved when God resurrects me and allows me to enter into heaven.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

In the Arminian model (And I am Arminian to some extent) -- you CAN know you are saved today (See Rom 8:16) but you can't know that 10 years from today you will still be saved. The Holy Spirit gives us the assurance of salvation - for today, if we ask Him.

So my answer would be "yes"

Do you think God was telling the truth in His word when He said, "If the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, He will raise your mortal body when Jesus comes again." It doesn't say that He might raise your mortal body if you continue to be a good person. It says that He will raise it! As long as you know that you have the Spirit indwelling you, then you can have total assurance of salvation, and we know that once the Lord fills us with the Spirit, He doesn't take Him back again! This is because the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

So the Resurrection of Christ gives an unbreakable and irreversible guarantee of permanent salvation to all those who have faith alone in Christ.

 

[Jonaitis]

I ask the question because recently it came to my mind. I've heard a number of times when I ask people the question they will say I need to work on x or y. However, doesn't that line of thinking mean that subconsciously you believe in meriting salvation to an extent? If Jesus came today and you think you won't go to heaven because you're smoker, addicted to inappropriate contentography, have an issue with your temper, etc. If that's the case, I believe that deep down you don't believe in salvation by faith alone (I am not knocking on those who don't affirm that). Just a food for thought what do you think?

PS: I am not talking universalism nor am I saying you can live as you want.

If the Lord returned today, I have faith in him that I would be saved - not because of anything I've done, but resting only in what he has done for me.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

I don't boast in my salvation, I leave the judging up to God. I will know if I am saved when God resurrects me and allows me to enter into heaven.

It is interesting that your comment seems to contradict the Scripture. "I am the Resurrection...etc." which is at the bottom of your posts. If you look at it closely, you will see that Jesus is definitely promising eternal life to those who believe in Him. That sounds to me as though a person who has faith alone in Christ, will have the assurance of salvation now, because Jesus said that the person who believes in Him will never die!

So, do you actually believe what you posted, or do you believe the Scripture at the bottom of your posts? Just askin'

 

[timewerx]

Yeah you can’t do much. But do you believe you’ll go to heaven?

I'm not certain.

Remember in the verse Matthew 7:22-23. We have Christians who think they are saved but the Lord turned them away.

These Christians practiced lawlessness.

Again, I'm not absolutely certain what are laws from not, since Christianity is hugely divided over the subject.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

I'm not certain.

Remember in the verse Matthew 7:22-23. We have Christians who think they are saved but the Lord turned them away.

These Christians practiced lawlessness.

Again, I'm not absolutely certain what are laws from not, since Christianity is hugely divided over the subject.

So, you are deciding not to believe the Scripture: "Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die" (John 11:25-26).

If that is not the present assurance of salvation to every true believer in Christ, then what is?

 

[timewerx]

So, you are deciding not to believe the Scripture: "Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die" (John 11:25-26).

If that is not the present assurance of salvation to every true believer in Christ, then what is?

I believe in the scripture.

But do I believe in Christ according to this verse?

John 14:12 (Genuine belief in Christ)

Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.


I cannot be my own judge whether I believe in Christ based on John 14:12.

This is why many Christians will be surprised in Matthew 7:22-23. They are clueless on what belief truly is.

.

 

[devin553344]

It is interesting that your comment seems to contradict the Scripture. "I am the Resurrection...etc." which is at the bottom of your posts. If you look at it closely, you will see that Jesus is definitely promising eternal life to those who believe in Him. That sounds to me as though a person who has faith alone in Christ, will have the assurance of salvation now, because Jesus said that the person who believes in Him will never die!

So, do you actually believe what you posted, or do you believe the Scripture at the bottom of your posts? Just askin'

Oh yes I believe the scripture at the bottom of my post, but I also don't see it wise to say myself that I am saved, see Matthew 5:34-36

34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:

35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.

36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.

 

[GraceBro]

I ask the question because recently it came to my mind. I've heard a number of times when I ask people the question they will say I need to work on x or y. However, doesn't that line of thinking mean that subconsciously you believe in meriting salvation to an extent? If Jesus came today and you think you won't go to heaven because you're smoker, addicted to inappropriate contentography, have an issue with your temper, etc. If that's the case, I believe that deep down you don't believe in salvation by faith alone (I am not knocking on those who don't affirm that). Just a food for thought what do you think?

PS: I am not talking universalism nor am I saying you can live as you want.

Yes, I am saved and secure in my salvation. The goal of the Christian life is not about getting your flesh under control. The goal of the Christian life is about learning to trust your God.

 

[timewerx]

So the Resurrection of Christ gives an unbreakable and irreversible guarantee of permanent salvation to all those who have faith alone in Christ.

What is faith?

Galatians 5:6
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

What is love? (baby don't hurt me, don't hurt me, no more...)

1 John 3:18
Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.