Not everyone who calls themselves "Christians" will go to Heaven.
Not everyone who has one time or another accepted the Lord Jesus Christ into His life will go into Heaven.
I find it extremely disturbing that after I made those statements during the lesson during youth service, only one person raised up his hand to ask, "So how do we know if we're going to Heaven?" I immediately replied, "That's what we will be going through for the next few lessons."
And that was that. Wednesday is beginning already, and I've still to wait for one of the youths to come to me in desperation. They all had jolly well better know the answer already, or have approached an elder or leader in the church for the answer.
Maybe I can conclude that most of them have no interest in finding out whether they are really going to Heaven or not. If they are very sure, then they are clearly deluded, because at least from my observation, and like I mentioned during the youth service, it is quite clear that a significant number of them aren't going to be there.
It kinda sucks to be the one to give the painful truth. But it's even more worrying when it doesn't wake people up.
On the opposing end, when I made those statements during DG just a few hours ago, I remembered seeing one of my disciples, Samuel, get increasingly puzzled. It bothered him for so long, that it was two entire hours after DG that he called me to clarify the position, saying that it got him extremely worried and desperate.
Now that's what I called "Heaven-oriented".
As I was talking to Zhiqi on the bus when he called, so I owe her an explanation also. Well, here it is.
The explanation for the above two verses come from Matthew 25 and Matthew 7:21.
Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
So it seems that our salvation hinges on our obedience to God's will. But Samuel posed a counter-verse to this, one that is commonly cited:
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. (Eph 2:8-9)
So the question is, where does salvation hinge on? Is it free, or can it be lost when we do not obey?
So I pondered for a while, and then my very first meeting at Auntie Connie's cell group made everything clear.
There are two assurances that a Christian must be aware of. The assurance of salvation and the assurance of eternity.
The assurance of salvation, as explained in Ephesians, is free. Any other doctrine that tells you otherwise is a heretic interpretation, for it's clearly stated. I don't think I need to expound on this, the Bible has it written out clearly that Jesus' death on the cross is the paid penalty of our sins, available to whosoever should believe and acknowledge that He is indeed the Savior of the world (2 Cor 5:14).
But the assurance of salvation is wrongly interpreted as the assurance of eternity. Being assured of salvation does not guarantee you a place in Heaven. Yes I'm sorry if it hurts, but then the Bible does not justify bad behavior, endless sinning and corrupt practices after this acknowledgment has been made. You are NOT guaranteed a place in Heaven if sin continues to play a big part in your life.
Let me draw you an analogy that might be useful for understanding. Heaven, is like a beautiful garden that you know exist, but you cannot get inside because the hedge is too tall. We can try to climb the hedge, symbolized by our piety, philanthropy and good works, but we'll never get over because of sin. The assurance of salvation is simply that Jesus came to Earth, died and paid for our sins, and thus He became the "gate" (John 10:9) into the garden. The assurance of salvation as written by Paul in Ephesians merely states that there was nothing that we did to deserve God sending His Son down to die for us, so that no one can boast of "earning" this salvation.
Now comes the big BUT. There's a gate now, correct? In other words, there's entry into the garden. BUT does it mean we're inside the garden? We forget that our original state is OUTSIDE the garden, and that Jesus is the only way in. The assurance of salvation guarantees that the gate will never be closed or taken away. The assurance of eternity comes when we WALK THROUGH THE GATE.
Jesus invites us to walk through the gate based on the narrow path leading up to it (Matt 7:13). That narrow path is simply the Word of God = Jesus = The Way. This comes only through obedience. Acknowledging Jesus as Lord and Savior without obedience is simply saying that yes, you understand and see that a gate exists, but you make no effort to walk through it. Thus the above two statements stand true and the Bible does not contradict itself. The assurance of salvation will never be taken away. But the assurance of eternity rests on our obedience to God.
Any sin or act of disobedience is equivalent to straying off course from the path that leads towards the gate, and is recognized as an act of rebellion that has little difference from not recognizing that a gate exists. Yes, we Christians falter at times, but through confession, repentance and resuming a life of obedience, our eyes are still fixed on the goal. It can be seen as falling onto the side of the path, but also picking up where we left off and resume the walk towards the gate.
Salvation, defined as God's saving grace, cannot be lost, for God never did and never will retract His hand. But Eternity can be lost, for God's love also meant that He gave us the right to retract ours when we sin and refuse to repent, living a life of disobedience.
The history of free men is never really written by chance but by choice; their choice! -Dwight D. Eisenhower
Some people ask: if God loves us so much, why doesn't He just save everyone? But I say that God loves us so much that He wanted us to be free and was thus compelled to give us the right to choosing the option of whether we wanted to be with Him for eternity or not. Surprising as it might be, some people don't live life like they want to be with Him. No, not at all. -Valentino Casanova
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