Board index ‹ Salvation

[Nic J]

Can someone think their whole life they are going heaven and not be saved?!

[jimwalton]

Yeah. I guess some people are self-deceiving. I know people who justify all kinds of things they do, ignoring morality, their friends’ counsel, and even the law sometimes. They deceive themselves. Sometimes also they’ve been deceived by others. They’re told things like if they get baptized as a baby, go through confirmation, and follow a bunch of rules they get a ticket to heaven. But that’s against what the Bible says. You can’t just be casual about this stuff. Other churches say that as long as you came forward and invited Jesus into your heart, that's all it takes. But just because at one point in your life you ask Jesus in to your heart is not all of what’s required.

So it is with being a Christian. God tells us what we have to do: form a permanent relationship of love with Him. Read Matthew 7.21-23. People are fakers, posers, and slackers. There is such a thing as false profession, hypocrisy, and being religious (which was NEVER good enough or even called for in God’s system). Also take some time to read Lk. 13.22-30—a passage most people are unaware of, so it seems. The point of Luke 13 seems to be more about late-comers than about self-deceived people, however (though I thought you should read it anyway). It all speaks to the point: Some people are good at fooling themselves and at fooling others, but no one will fool God. I was just reading this morning in Revelation 22.4. God’s people will be easy for God to identify (which also goes along with Matthew 25.31-46).