Hallo Jack !
i am a newborn Christian…i got saved in the age of 37 which was in 1997. I came in the age of 32 to the USA from Germany. I was very lost and did not had a good marriage…even i came here for the love of my husband…but always thought i made a mistake. BUT…after i received the Gift from our Savior…i finally thought, it don’t matter where i am…because the Lord wanted me to come here, also to hear the truth … i am so thankful…from then on. … i learned a lot, had a lots of downs, dooooooooowns…but with the bible in my hand and the faith in GOD i got trough it…and i also prayed for my husband…needless to say…my prayers got answered…he got saved…., but just today…my husband brought this up…the loosing of salvation, I knew, from what i read in GOD’ s word, that once you accept Christ…there is no where else to go then to heaven…i believe this deep in my heart and i know i will go to heaven and everybody who believes in him…ohhh, this is blowing my mind….but i always have problems to remember where to look in the bible, so i could show my husband…so i went to the internet for some help…i read all of your scripture and explanation and printed it out…so i can show my husband, IF HE REALLY BELIEVES, he should know, that we can not loose our salvation.
He said…what about…you know, accept Christ, and go the next day and rob a bank….Well, i pray that he will read your “article” and that his light will go on with the help of the holy spirit.
GOD BLESS YOU and thank you for your help…i will forward your site to my family in Germany…need to do a lot of witnessing there, have a brother and his wife which totally reject the BIBLE as such a antique story telling book…and there is no Christ which returns…
also a almost 90 year old grandma, who believes in GOD the creator who made all things…but says CHRIST IS dead….this is so hard, but i know GOD is able through prayers…i just pray that he did not hardened her heart.
AND my Dad…he always change subject when i talk about Christ, but sometimes he asks for prayers…i just wish they get saved…because we never know what will bring the next day and it could be to late.
THANKS FOR LISTENING TO ME
And God bless youGOTT SEGNE DICH
Cornelia in Indiana
Jack Heckathorne’s Reply….
Greetings,One thing that your husband should understand is that people are not condemned to hell because of sin. No one is. Jesus Christ took away the sin of the world and paid the penalty of death for everyone. In John 3:18 the Bible tells us that “He that believes on Him is not condemned but he that believes not is condemned already, BECAUSE he has not believed in the only begotten Son of God.” This verse does not say that he is condemned because he robbed a bank or committed any sin. If you stop and think about it everyone sins after they are saved to one degree or another don’t we? If we lost our salvation every time we sinned we would all go to hell because we all sin just about every day. Only the rejection of Jesus Christ will cause us to be condemned.
Your brother should ask himself if the Bible is not the inspired word of God how is it that all of the prophecies have been fulfilled. For example it says that Israel will be destroyed in 70 ad and it was. It also says that Israel would get it land back and it did. This was written over 2000 years ago. Israel got its land back in 1947. Israel is the only country in world history which was completely destroyed and was restored. There are literally hundreds of prophecies that have been fulfilled. Only a True God could know these things.
How could your brother know that there is no Christ who returns? Where did he get this knowledge? He is claiming to have knowledge that he could not possibility have. Our knowledge is reviled to us through the Bible which is based on historical events and writings. He is making an assumption.
As for grandma, bless her heart, she should know that Christ is Deity. It was the Lord Christ who created the universe and man. Jesus was the name of his humanity and Christ was the name of his Deity, Deity cannot die. Jesus did die on the cross BUT he was resurrected by the power of the Holy Spirit. He had to die because God said the penalty of sin is death. So he died as a substitute for us to pay the death penalty. When he was resurrected he was transformed to a resurrected body as we will have one day.
Jesus was seen ascending into heaven by more than 500 witnesses. One thing to remember is that the same people (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) who wrote about Jesus dying on the cross wrote about his resurrection. So why does grandma believe about his death and not his resurrection?
You know, sometimes people don’t want to talk about Christ because they feel like they will have to give up something that they love to be saved. Of course this is not true. If they could read some of the salvation verses and realize that salvation is not a hard thing and you don’t have to give up everything to be saved and it is a simple belief in Jesus Christ they will be more likely to believe. Pray for them to open up their mind and let the power of Gods word and the Holy Spirit convince them of the truth. Some times it is good to ask them point blank if they are seeking the truth. It will make them think.
Some good salvation verses are: John 3:16,17,18,36. John 11:25&26, Acts 16:31, Acts 4:12, Eph. 2:8&9, 1 John 5:11-13. Revelation 20:15
Thank you for your letter. Write anytime.
Regards,
Jack Heckathorne
GJCN