HOW CAN I BE 100% SURE THAT I WILL GO TO HEAVEN WHEN I DIE?

[Soyeong]

So what is your response to God's word regarding the believer and the law?​

If our goal is to be like God through embodying His character traits, then the way to believe that God is compassionate is by being compassionate (Luke 6:36), the way to believe that God is holy is by being a doer of His instructions for how to be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:16), and so forth. This is why the Bible repeatedly connects our belief in God with our obedience to Him, such as with Revelation 14:12, where those who kept faith in Jesus are the same as those who kept God's commandments.

Even the other legalists don't go as far down the rabbit hole as you do.​

If God is a legalist for graciously giving us His law and Jesus is a legalist for setting a sinless example for us to follow of how to walk in obedience to it, then we should all be legalists and go all the way down the rabbit hole.

And you ignore completely that the law was given to Israel, not to the gentiles. I don't know about you,​

Indeed, it was given to Israel in order to equip them to be alight and a blessing to the Gentiles by spreading the knowledge of God in accordance with the Gospel. The God who has the character traits that the Torah was given in order to teach us how to embody gave instructions for how to know, love, worship, believe in, testify about, and be one with Him through embodying His character traits, so if you want to do those things, then you should follow the instructions that God has given for how to do them regardless of whether or not they were directly given to you.

but I did not become a Jew when I got born again.​

It is contradictory to consider yourself to be born again while rejecting God's instructions for what it means to be born again. Those who are not doers of righteous works in obedience to the Torah are not born again (1 John 3:10).

Obviously you reject what Peter said to the elders in Jerusalem in Acts 15. Did you tear that page out of your Bible? It sure is in mine.​

I do not reject what they said, but rather I reject you interpreting them as speaking against being followers of Christ.

Eternal life is found only Christ. He IS the Life. You comprehend nothing.

It is contradictory for you take the position that eternal life is only found in God's Word made flesh but not in following his example of embodying God's Word. The way to accept God's Word made flesh is not by rejecting God's Word.

 

[DavidLamb]

The Law of Chest, the Law of the Spirt, and the Law of the Father, which was given to Moses, are all the Law of God. In Romans 8:4-7, Paul contrasted those who walk in the Spirit with those who have minds set on the flesh who are enemies of God. God has not commanded anything that is not in accordance with walking in the Spirit, but rather God's character traits are the fruits of the Spirit and the Law of God is His instructions for how to embody His character traits, which is why the Spirit has the role of leading us to obey it (Ezekiel 36:26-27).

I have never heard of the Law of Chest before. What is it?

 

[Soyeong]

I have never heard of the Law of Chest before. What is it?

That is a typo, I meant to say Christ, thanks.

 

[DavidLamb]

That is a typo, I meant to say Christ, thanks.

Ah! that makes much more sense! Thanks. I thought it was some doctrine I had never heard of.

 

[Gideon300]

If our goal is to be like God through embodying His character traits, then the way to believe that God is compassionate is by being compassionate (Luke 6:36), the way to believe that God is holy is by being a doer of His instructions for how to be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:16), and so forth. This is why the Bible repeatedly connects our belief in God with our obedience to Him, such as with Revelation 14:12, where those who kept faith in Jesus are the same as those who kept God's commandments.


If God is a legalist for graciously giving us His law and Jesus is a legalist for setting a sinless example for us to follow of how to walk in obedience to it, then we should all be legalists and go all the way down the rabbit hole.


Indeed, it was given to Israel in order to equip them to be alight and a blessing to the Gentiles by spreading the knowledge of God in accordance with the Gospel. The God who has the character traits that the Torah was given in order to teach us how to embody gave instructions for how to know, love, worship, believe in, testify about, and be one with Him through embodying His character traits, so if you want to do those things, then you should follow the instructions that God has given for how to do them regardless of whether or not they were directly given to you.


It is contradictory to consider yourself to be born again while rejecting God's instructions for what it means to be born again. Those who are not doers of righteous works in obedience to the Torah are not born again (1 John 3:10).


I do not reject what they said, but rather I reject you interpreting them as speaking against being followers of Christ.


It is contradictory for you take the position that eternal life is only found in God's Word made flesh but not in following his example of embodying God's Word. The way to accept God's Word made flesh is not by rejecting God's Word.

I wish that you would accept God's word. You do not.

 

[JohnDB]

First off.....
NEVER get your theological advice from pop music stars or actors.

Second....
Not everyone means the same things by the words they use.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2093020256755478561

 

[GWH]

I try to live as righteous a life as possible since being baptised and try to live a sinless life. But I still have problems with things like swearing and smoking mainly. I wish God would speak to me directly so I know where I'm at spiritually because if theres no hope in making it to heaven then I may as well just live recklessly right?

You can be 100% sure of going to heaven when you are 100% sure of not going to hell. Here is how per Paul:

A crisis that threatened a Philippian jailer with death prompted him to ask Paul and Silas the most important question in life: “What must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30) This question is most important, because—as sinful and mortal souls—we need saving from corruption, both moral and physical. We need saving from physical death if we value or enjoy life, and we need saving from immorality or evil-doing if it results in unhappy existence, especially after this lifetime.

The reply of Paul and Silas was this: “IF you believe in the Lord Jesus, you will be saved.” (Acts 16:31) This is GRFS in a nutshell. IF connotes God’s condition for repentance (cf. the IFs in John 8:7, 14, 16, 19, 24, 31, 36, 39, 42, 46, 51, 54, 55). Jesus Himself expressed GRFS even more succinctly using three, four and five letter words: “Ask… seek… knock…” (Matt. 7:7). This indicates that God enables/gives every sinful soul the ability and opportunity to repent of sin (Matt. 4:17) and seek salvation (1Tim. 2:3-4, Ezek. 33:11), which might be called “seeking grace” (Tit. 2:11, Eph. 2:8). As Heb. 11:6 states: “he [God] rewards those who earnestly seek him” (cf. Isa. 45:19).

Seeking God is the beginning of saving faith, and not seeking God or rejecting His salvation in Christ is the essence of evil atheism or faith in I-dolatry (Rom. 3:11, 1:18-23). All humans sin, but every sinner has the opportunity to repent/have saving faith per GW: Gen. 3:6, Deut. 30:19, Josh. 24:15, 2Chron. 7:14, Matt. 4:17, 7:7, 23:37, John 3:16, 6:39, Acts 2:38, 16:31, 28:27, Rom. 1:20, 2:4, 11&15, 3:22, 4:23-24, 5:15&19, 10:9-13, 11:32, Gal. 3:8&14, Eph. 2:8-9, Phil. 2:10-11, Col. 1:19-23, 1Tim. 2:3-4, etc.

 

[OMC]

It's not that I'm worried that smoking will affect my health because at the moment I don't feel it does. It's just a habit that I've had for over 30 years now and the in the bible in Luke 9:23 it says that we are to deny ourselves, like withstand everything that we know to be sinful and earthly desires.

There are no examples of people smoking in the Bible so I'm assuming that smoking stems from pagan traditions. And certainly none of the Israelites or disciples ever smoked. And Paul says in Ephesians 4:29: "do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths."

Basically I don't want to fall short of the glory of God and not receive grace. I pray everyday for my sins to be forgiven but does that then make it okay to carry on doing it and expect to be forgiven although 1john 1:9 does say: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us from all unrighteousness."
But in Hebrews 10:26 it also says: "if we deliberately keep on sinning after we've received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgement and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God."

In the last 2 years I've overcome drug addiction, alcoholism, sexual immorality and many other things with God's help and guidance. So I know that I can overcome anything if I really try hard. Me swearing is what I was brought up hearing and then repeating because growing up no-one ever told me it was wrong until God did through the Bible.

And for example if I drop something or hit my self on something the natural words that come out of my mouth are usually swear words. So it's just another bad habit that I'm constantly aware of and asking God's forgiveness for.

I just don't wanna die today and God say to me that because I carried on doing these things even though I knew them to be wrong, or didn't feel like I could control myself enough then he'd say that I didn't have enough faith in him and then tell me: "I never knew you" like in Matthew 7:23

What it is, is that I want to live up to God's expectations but am always questioning whether I'm good enough for his grace and mercy

You’re treating these habits as if they are the deciding factor in whether Jesus says: “I never knew you.”
But Scripture never teaches that.
Jesus says the decisive issue is relationship, not habit: “My sheep hear My voice… and I know them.”— John 10:27
He does not say:
“My sheep never slip.”
“My sheep never struggle.”
“My sheep never fight old habits.”
He says: I know them.
Your salvation is not hanging by the thread of whether you swear when you stub your toe.

 

[amazingrace]

You’re treating these habits as if they are the deciding factor in whether Jesus says: “I never knew you.”
But Scripture never teaches that.
Jesus says the decisive issue is relationship, not habit: “My sheep hear My voice… and I know them.”— John 10:27
He does not say:
“My sheep never slip.”
“My sheep never struggle.”
“My sheep never fight old habits.”
He says: I know them.
Your salvation is not hanging by the thread of whether you swear when you stub your toe.

sounds like habits or deeds to me?

(( will never inherit the kingdom of God or attain to eternal salvation ))

mt 25:30
Eph 5:2-6
gal 5:1
gal 5:19-21
gal 6:7-8
1 cor 6:9-10 & 15-20
1 tim 5:12
rev 21:8
rev 21:27

thks

 

[amazingrace]

To Know, Love, & serve God!

The means of our salvation is according to the purpose of our creation!

To Know, Love, & serve God!

eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Col 1:9-12

9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;

12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:


2 Timothy 1:9
Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

Ps 23:3 ...he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Mt 7:14 Matthew 7:14
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

(((Know)))

Philippians 3:8
Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,


(((Love)))

Romans 5:5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Rom 13:8-10

8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Deut. 6:5
5 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:

John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

John 8:42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.

John 14:28
Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.

1 cor 13:2 faith alone without charity avails nothing.

1 cor 13:12 now abide faith, hope, and charity, and the greatest of these is charity.

1 Peter 4:8
And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

1 Corinthians 16:22
If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.

(((serve God)))

Hebrews 9:14
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Hebrews 12:28
Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:

all vitutes not "faith alone"!

Faith:
Hope:
Charity:
Humility:
Meekness:
Obedience:
Purity:
Diligence:
Temperance:
Justice:
Prudence:
Moderation:
Courage:
Fortitude:
Generosity:
Modesty:
Honesty:
Patience:



Know, Love, & Serve God!

By the Royal Virtues of Jesus Christ!

"Faith, hope, & charity"!

1 thes 1:3 Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;

"Patience & Humility"!

thks

 

[HealthAndHappiness]

How can you know whether or not you have everlasting life?

The Holy Spirit inspired John to write,
"11And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 13These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
I John 5

There was a requirement for those people in order to know 100% certain that they had eternal life.
If anyone wants to know how, Pastor Mejia explains briefly.

 

[amazingrace]

How can you know whether or not you have everlasting life?

The Holy Spirit inspired John to write,
"11And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 13These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
I John 5

There was a requirement for those people in order to know 100% certain that they had eternal life.
If anyone wants to know how, Pastor Mejia explains briefly.

what s eternal life?

how is it different than eternal salvation?

thks

 

[wattie]

How can you know whether or not you have everlasting life?

The Holy Spirit inspired John to write,
"11And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 13These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
I John 5

There was a requirement for those people in order to know 100% certain that they had eternal life.
If anyone wants to know how, Pastor Mejia explains briefly.

Amen, not the long list of fruits of the Spirit, but because you believed on Jesus.

 

[amazingrace]

we don't have works!

not works alone!
not works of the flesh!
not works of the law!

we have the grace of justification, union with God thru Christ!

this grace must increase 2 pet 3:18

grace enables good works
Jn 15:4
2 cor 12:9
Romans 1:5
Colossians 1:6

and can lose grace by sin so we must abide in Christ Jn 15:1-6 and endure to the end mk 13:13 mt 10:22 mt 24:13 rev 2:10

can lose grace by sin into death
James 1:12-15

Eph 5:2-6
gal 5:1-4
gal 5:19-21
gal 6:7-8
1 cor 6:9-10 & 15-20
2 cor 4:7
1 tim 5:12
rev 21:8
rev 21:27
rom 8:1
can lose grace gal 5:4
can have grace in vain 1 cor 15:10
treasure in earthen vessels 2 cor 4:7
fragile can be lost
1 Jn 3:15 no life (grace)

begun in grace!
accompanied in grace!
completed in grace!

we have faithfulness in grace!

rom 5:1-2

1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

rom 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.


Hebrews 9:14
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Hebrews 12:28
Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:

(life of grace not eternal salvation)

thks

 

[TMS]

Jas 2:17-20
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. 18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. 19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

Jesus came to save us from sin
Not to save us IN sin.

Even the devil believes in the name of Jesus.

Mat 7:20-23
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

MANY will be to told " I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

If you profess to know Jesus and are working iniquity, to will not be saved.

 

[HealthAndHappiness]

what s eternal life?

how is it different than eternal salvation?

thks

Everlasting life and eternal life are used synonymously. I can't say that is always the case since I don't recall doing an exhaustive word study on those terms: However, I looked up a number of passages on salvation and when used in the famous John chapter 3 it says...

14And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

In our KJV, the same Greek word is used for both eternal and everlasting life. It is written so well that it doesn't sound awkward by repeating the same word back to back all of the time. It's the same idea for why we English speakers use pronouns instead of saying, John said, and then John did such and such as John was walking John's dog. In the case of everlasting and eternal, the reader can tell just from context how eternal life is defined here in spite of not knowing what the Greek says.

Word Summary
aiōnios: agelong, eternal
Original Word: αἰώνιος
Transliteration: aiōnios
Phonetic Spelling: (ahee-o'-nee-os)
Part of Speech: Adjective
Short Definition: agelong, eternal
Meaning: agelong, eternal
Strong's Concordance
eternal, forever, everlasting.
From aion; perpetual (also used of past time, or past and future as well) -- eternal, for ever, everlasting, world (began).

 

[HealthAndHappiness]

Jas 2:17-20
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. 18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. 19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

Jesus came to save us from sin
Not to save us IN sin.

Even the devil believes in the name of Jesus.

Mat 7:20-23
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

MANY will be to told " I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

If you profess to know Jesus and are working iniquity, to will not be saved.

I did not know that the devil could be saved.
That's a new teaching for me. Are there any other salvation passages on devils getting saved by believing and doing good works?

 

[HealthAndHappiness]

Amen, not the long list of fruits of the Spirit, but because you believed on Jesus.

Yes and The Lord reminded me this morning while reading Acts 13 that Paul's gospel was John the Baptist's message on salvation.

24When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.
37But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption. 38Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 39And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

The gospel is good news because we can know for certain that Jesus gave His life for all our sins and arose from the dead.
It would be bad news if:

A. We could lose it
Or

B. Had to add obedience to the law of Moses to be saved.

None of us on the forum could honestly know whether or not we were saved if A or B were the case. That would be sad or frightening news.

 

[TMS]

what s eternal life?

how is it different than eternal salvation?

thks

Sin what seperated us from God.
Sin = death.

To be saved = saved from sin.

Jesus is how we are saved.

Heaven has no sin.
Rev 21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

If you are holding sin in our lives we will not enter heaven..

Sin is removed by grace, through the power of Jesus in us.

Justification and sanctification by faith.

Do fall into the devils trap of justification alone..

Many are teaching that we can continue in sin that grace may abide. This is a trap and will result in the loss of salvation.

Rom 6:1-2
1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
....12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. 15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. 16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? 17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. 18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

 

[TMS]

I did not know that the devil could be saved.
That's a new teaching for me. Are there any other salvation passages on devils getting saved by believing and doing good works?

That's the point.. just because you believe does not make you saved.

Because the devil believes does not mean he is saved. You can believe and live like the devil.

Believing unto salvation = a renewed heart. The change is noticeable.