Your eternal state is the most important thing you could ever consider. After all, once you pass from this world, you will cross into eternity. The decisions you make here will carry into eternity.
The purpose of this article is to dispel the belief that you have nothing to do with what happens to your soul once you die. There are those who teach that God has already made the decision for you and that you have absolutely NO control over what happens once you pass from this world. I believe the evidence is clear to the contrary. The bible is very clear that you and only you are in control of your eternal destination. It is by your choice alone what happens to you after death. Of course I am speaking in terms of heaven and hell.
First of all, I would like to present you with many verses in which I see requires one to believe BEFORE eternal salvation is granted:
“Jesus said to the woman [who had washed His feet], “Your faith has saved you; go in peace” (Luke 7:50).
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12).
Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life (John 3:14-15).
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son (John 3:16-18).
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him (John 3:36).
I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life (John 5:24).
For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day (John 6:40).
I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life (John 6:47).
I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins (John 8:24).
I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die (John 11:25-26).
How can anyone say that faith and some sort of repentance is NOT required for Eternal Salvation. Repentance is a changing of ones mind, A willful change in ones outlook on life and their spirituality. The bible uses the word “Metanoia” which is defined as “a transformative change of heart; especially : a spiritual conversion”.
One must have a spiritual awakening. This is brought on by conviction from the Holy Spirit. This realization comes after a monumental occurrence in ones life that makes them pause and realize their own sin and mortality. This is the work of the Holy Spirit. But not all choose to heed to this conviction. Instead, many choose to trust in themselves, the world, and their own understanding. They fail, by their own choice, to trust God because they desire to follow earthly lusts, the deception, and the understanding in which only Satan offers them.
As far as Eph 2:5, some try to use this verse to prove that God preordains heaven and hell for every soul that ever lives. But, you can not read that verse in context without reading the previous verses, which describes the state they were in BEFORE, by God’s grace, they realized they were in need of the salvation in which only God is able to offer them. If this realization was not required than why would the author have included this additional information included in verses 1-4 to begin with?
And then a bit further after verse 5 God says: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;” (Eph 2:8)
This verse says that salvation comes through FAITH! The act of salvation is given as a gift by God AFTER you transfer your faith from other things unto God. If this is NOT true, than once again, why did the author include the extra information in the phrase “saved through faith”?
Some think that your act of repentance is works therefore is not required for eternal salvation. That is just plain silly. Repentance is a action, by the new believer. This repentance is a choice to stop trusting in their own actions in order to win God’s favor as a ticket to heaven and replace this with the simple trust that Jesus Christ has already done everything that is required for you to be able to be reconciled to God! Trusting in works is believing that one must do something in addition to simply deciding to put their trust in Jesus Christ for their personal salvation. But as in the verses above, it is clear that one MUST believe and accept this truth into their life and rely on it as the sole means of their personal salvation.
When you think about it, belief in works is actually a result of unbelief.
People often read certain parts of scripture and fail to put things into context. They come up with big scholarly thoughts and then reshape scripture to fit their hypothesis. I think that many of these people may still searching for God’s truth because they have failed to accept the simple truth of the gospel that requires one to leave the things of this world and instead simply trust in God for their happiness.
The bible is NOT complicated. Many people fail to see or understand the simplicity of the bible because they choose to look at it through the dark spectacles of their own earthly understanding.
I do not believe that God pre-chooses who goes to heaven and who is destine to eternal punishment in Hell where “wailing and gnashing of teeth” exists and the worm never dies! I serve a JUST God and banishing someone to hell just because is NOT just. And the bible clearly over and over again describes God as Just.
I do believe in a literal Hell and I do believe it will be filled to maximum capacity. But it will be filled with those who have rejected to accept the completed work of Christ and have exchanged the truth for a lie. My personal belief is that God foreknows who will believe and who will not, but I don’t believe that he makes that decision for us. Yes! He did die for me while I was yet a sinner. But, through His grace he chose to give me conviction and the ability to choose to follow him and I eternally thankful for this.
I pray that everyone who reads this, heeds to the work of the Holy Spirit in your life and that you do listen to that small still but consistent voice in your life telling to to stop trusting in the world for your happiness. Everything you trust in, that is the things of this world, are going to one day fade away and will no longer help you. I can attest personally that trusting in God, WILL forever, change your life. At first I did not understand this, but the closer I draw to God, the more I am able to love others and the more content my life becomes.
Draw near to Him!
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.” Galatians 6:7
Pass this podcast around as a rebuttal to that video.
