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HOW CAN I KNOW I'LL MAKE IT TO HEAVEN?
Tony Scialdone of godwords.org in black fonts with comments in
{brackets and blue font from biblestudymanuals.net}
This is a very important question! I can tell you whether you’ll make it to Heaven. Seriously. It’s not that difficult. I can tell whether anyone will make it to Heaven… not because I’m special, but simply because I know what it takes to go to Heaven. When I’m done explaining it to you, you too will know whether you, or anyone else, will make it to Heaven. First, let’s clear up a couple of things.
{I cannot trust you because you are not a Christian because you think you have to surrender your life to God in order to be assured you are going to heaven which you stipulate in this study and on your website everywhere - this is no where in the Bible. All men will fail this means to have eternal life because no one can offer a satisfactory surrender to God in this life - nobody but Jesus Christ is perfect!
On the other hand, Eph 2:8-9 explains how one may be saved unto eternal life:
"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that [salvation] not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast."
So it is by grace = unmerited favor you have been saved = present tense + perfect participle signifying a point of time in the past of having been saved with the perfect participle phrase "having been saved" + present tense = "are saved" signifying an ongoing permanency in the present tense following that moment in the past of faith alone in Christ alone] of having been saved unto eternal life. "Through faith" signifying that single moment of faith alone in Christ alone - His payment for mankind's sins [per preceding context in Ephesians chapter one] at that point of time in the past which provided a permanent salvation unto eternal life with ongoing present results in every present moment for eternity because eternal life is eternal in duration forever by definition. Hence salvation unto eternal life is completely and eternally secured before anything can be offered by the individual such as surrendering ones life to Jesus Christ because it is solely by grace / unmerited favor precluding any human doing of any kind, through faith which is not a proactive meritable human doing. Note that the first moment of faith occurs before one can do anything and this first moment secures eternal life completely and forever - that's all it takes according to Scripture.
Furthermore, that salvation [neuter gender, hence it does not refer to faith which is feminine] is declared "not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast." Hence we have four more things which preempt any effort to offer a surrender of your life or to do anything in order to be saved. Furthermore, other passages indicate that any effort made to surrender ones life will not be acceptable being tainted with the intrinsic sin nature within all people since Adam and Eve sinned.
Tony, admit it, you can't know what's in a man's heart 24/7 for the rest of his life; so you cannot know whether or not a man is saved or not. You don't even have the gospel right anyway. For you wrote "When we tell God that we DO believe He’s trustworthy, and we surrender our lives to Him, we’re saying that we’re going to do things His way instead of our way. It’s not enough to know about God, or even to believe He’s awesome. To go to Heaven, we have to sit. Like on the chair. We have to actually trust God to guide us through life." That's human doing and Eph 2:8-9 and many other verses exclude that!
Have you heard of 1 Jn 5:13,
(1 Jn 5:13 KJV) "These things {I wrote to} you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that {you} may know that {you} have eternal life, {unto believing} on the name of the Son of God."}
THE PHRASE THAT BEGINS 1 JN 5:13, "THESE THINGS I WROTE TO YOU" REFERS TO THE TESTIMONY OF GOD THAT ETERNAL LIFE IS IN HIS SON THROUGH A MOMENT OF FAITH ALONE IN HIM ALONE WHICH JOHN WROTE ABOUT TO THOSE WHO HAVE BELIEVED ON THE NAME OF THE SON OF GOD: CHILDREN OF GOD, BORN OF GOD; SO THAT AS THEY DETERMINE TO RECALL THAT THEY BELIEVED ON THE NAME OF THE SON OF GOD FOR ETERNAL LIFE, THEY MAY KNOW THAT THEY HAVE ETERNAL LIFE AND CONTINUE TO BELIEVE SO THAT THEY MAY THEN BE BETTER ENABLED TO CHOOSE THE MEANS AVAILABLE TO THEM TO HAVE FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD AND WITH ONE ANOTHER ACCORDING TO SCRIPTURE}
What will NOT get you into Heaven?
• Being good.
• Being good enough.
• Being mostly good.
• Being more good than bad.
• Sinning less.
• Going to church.
• Reading the Bible.
• Praying.
• Anything else YOU do to earn going to Heaven.
You
see, nobody has what it takes to get to Heaven on their own. Nobody
ever has, and nobody ever will. That’s not how it works.
{So why do you insist that you must surrender your life in this article to God which implies that everything you do must be faithful actions 24/7?}
If it did, we
could just make a checklist of things to do, and things to not do, that
would make sure we get to Heaven. There is no checklist. So:
What does it take to go to Heaven?
Trust.
{Trust in what??? Further on down this diatribe you wrote you insist you must surrender: "When we tell God that we DO believe He’s trustworthy, and we surrender our lives to Him, we’re saying that we’re going to do things His way instead of our way. It’s not enough to know about God, or even to believe He’s awesome. To go to Heaven, we have to sit. Like on the chair. We have to actually trust God to guide us through life."}
That’s it. Seriously. That’s all. Of course, that raises a few questions. Trust what? Trust who?
Trust
God. In the Bible, over and over again, we see the word “believe.” The
Greek word that was originally used is better than just “believe.” It’s
PISTEUO, and it means ‘to be persuaded,’ and ‘to commit.’
{Trusting
= believing = having faith in: according to the dictionary which
reflects an accurate usage of the English / koine Greek language, the
words trusting,
believing and having faith in are interchangeable words, i.e.,
synonyms. Just consult your dictionary or go to
biblestudymanuals.net/believe.htm Note that the same Greek word
“pisteuo” translates to trust, believe and have faith in any koine
Greek dictionary. There are
other words when properly fitted with the right context which at times
convey believe, have faith in, trust - persuade, acknowledge, accept as
true, (1 Jn 5:9-13); for example. You cannot make up new,
unsupported definitions, Tony - that don't appear in the dictionary.
You cannot make up your own personal dictionary.
Just consult your koine Greek dictionary which says: 3961. πιστεύω
pisteuō verb
Believe, have faith in, be convinced of, trust, rely on, have confidence in according to the
Complete Biblical Library Greek-English Dictionary.}
We can’t just believe in God and go to Heaven.
{Yes you can if the context includes God's giving of His one and only Son for your sins = try Jn 3:16 and Eph 2:8-9!!!
Trust and believe and having faith in are synonyms. Just consult your
dictionary. Going to heaven, i.e., having eternal life is a simple
moment of believing, trusting, having faith in: “pas ho pisteuon”
in Jn 3:16 = literally translated whoever is the believing one – trusting one – the one
having faith that God gave His one and only Son for your sins. That’s
what the Bible says in dozens of places beginning with Jn 3:16. Tony,
you don’t even read the simplest of verses and interpret it correctly.
Obviously you have your own agenda.}
We have to TRUST God. We
have to be persuaded that God exists, and that He’s trustworthy… and
then we have to commit to trusting Him.
{The content of
what one has to believe in order to have eternal life is different in God’s Word from what you say
above. You are too general. We don’t have to commit to trusting Him, that’s redundant or
worse: suggestive of some kind of ongoing effort / committal to keep on believing
and even persevering in ones faithfulness, i.e., works. This idea is
NOT in Scripture relative to the reception of eternal life. Go to
Scripture: biblestudymanuals.net/indxb.htm#salvation. Jn
3:16 and
dozens of passage simply read “Whoever believes {lit., whoever is the
believing one, i.e., a moment of faith alone in Christ alone having
paid for the sins of the world} in God’s
One and only Son being given for ones sins and one has present tense
forever possession of eternal life forever because it is eternal by
definition and the verb form is whoever is the believing resulting in
present tense possession of eternal life. The definition of whoever
believes is whoever accepts as
true – a single and present tense moment of mental assent. Check
Webster’s dictionary –
of accepting the testimony of God about His Son, (cf. 1 Jn 5:9-13).
There
is no commitment to trusting God stipulated. God’s Word only stipulates
a moment of faith / trust / belief alone in Christ alone everywhere!
Interesting to note that you wrote " We
have to be persuaded that God exists, and that He’s trustworthy… and
then we have to commit to trusting Him." which
leaves out what one must do to have eternal life - the key thing to do
if you want to have eternal life. If one trusts in God's giving of His
one and only Son for payment for your sins, it is implied that you
trust in God - that is self evident. Otherwise if you don't trust in
God, why trust in what He has said about His Son!!! Furthermore, there
is the implication in such verses as Jn
3:16 that God does exist, otherwise why even believe in the Son of
God to provide eternal life? So it is redundant even nonsensical to
demand that one has to be persuaded that God exists and that that must
be stipulated in Jn 3:16 et al when it is already implied by the
response to believe in God's Son for eternal life. Furthermore, if one
were to believe in the Son of God for eternal life then that also
implies that God is trustworthy, otherwise why trust in His Son at all?
Finally, it is incorrect to say "then we have to commit to trusting Him." The
idea of committing to what one believes is redundant and in error
because all that Jn 3:16 requires is to express a moment of believing /
faith / trust {pas ho pisteuon = everyone who is the believing one. Ongoing faith or a committment to believe is not in view in the words}. So a committment to believe is not stipulated in this or any other salvation unto eternal life passage}
Think of it like a chair. If you see a chair, you know that it’s something used for sitting. That’s knowledge, not trust.
{Making
it up as you go again, Tony. The bible does not write of chairs like
this relative to eternal life, or anything that suggests such an action in order to prove out
your faith / knowledge as true. When you have knowledge of, i.e., faith
in something that is the same thing as saying
that you believe something to be true. And this can be said using other
words as well. All such phrases when properly utilizing the normative
rules of language, context and logic are saying the same thing!!!
For example "I believe the chair will hold me" = "I know that the chair
will hold me" = "I trust that the chair will hold me" = I am persuaded
that the chair will hold me; etc., etc.
That's how languages work. And all of this WITHOUT HAVING TO PROVE THAT
YOUR TRUST / KNOWLEDGE / FAITH / BELIEF is true or not. Maybe the chair
will hold you up, maybe it won't. Evidence is necessary to prove out the matter. Believing it will or not does not
change the capacity of the chair to hold you up. Believing does NOT make something true. Evidence does. The construction of
the chair, it's age, etc. determines that; not whether or not you
believe it will hold you! For believing
something does not make that something true. Evidence establishes the
truth of the matter, not faith. Remember when you used to believe in
Santa Claus? Did your belief make Santa Claus actually real in the way
you believed in him coming down your chimney?
(Compare Isa 53:11 NASB) "As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; by {(the) knowledge of Him} the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities."
¤ {As a result of the anguish of His {the
Servant's} soul / of His life which has in view the suffering of being
pierced for mankind's transgressions, crushed for all of their
iniquities, (ref. Isa 53:4-7, 10 and especially 53:5 ), He {the
LORD God} will be satisfied, i.e., propitiated by the Servant's actions
which resulted in all of mankind's sins being satisfactorily atoned for
without violating God's Righteousness and Justice.
For without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins:
2) {Compare Lev 17:11}:
(Lev
17:11 NASB) "For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have
given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it
is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement."}
Note that
the phrase in Isa 53:11 rendered "by the knowledge of Him," has the
Hebrew word transliterated "beda'attô" = which can mean subjectively
"by His knowledge," or objectively "by the knowledge of Him." According
to the Masoretic markings, the phrase links to the words which follow
it and thus it is best rendered "by {the} knowledge of Him" as opposed
to "by His knowledge." So the former, rather than the latter rendering
best suits the context:
Since the context of this passage, (Isa
52:1-53:12) has One - a single Human Being in view - Who would provide
Himself as a subsitutionary atonement, i.e., a sacrifice for the sins
of all mankind by bearing all of their iniquities, as the last phrase
in the verse stipulates, (Isa 53:11c); so that a Savior, the knowledge
of Whom - and not a Teacher who has knowledge - would justify, i.e.,
declare righteous, those of mankind who have a knowledge of Him. i.e., believing in Him doing
this - the Servant's propitiation - payment for sins - for them, in the sense of those who believe in Him for it, (cf.
Isa 50:10-11 ; 53:1);
and since the context of this passage cannot have in view the Servant solely by His knowledge - solely by means of what He would know - automatically justify the many without any participation or volition on their part because that would violate the perfect Justice and Righteousness of God;
and since any
alternative for God's provision of justification to an individual
without the individual's consent and without exacting payment for the
individual's sins would also violate the perfect Justice of God Who
cannot forgive sins without exacting payment for them or trusting in a
substitutionary atonement for him as Abraham did;
then the
correct rendering for the phrase in question in Isa 53:11 would be that
one is justified by the knowledge of Him, i.e., by a moment of faith
alone in Who He is and what He did - that He {the Servant} bore ones
iniquities for justification / God's declaration of one being Righteous
resulting in everlasting life.
So Tony go check Webster’s Dictionary or go to biblestudymanuals.net/believe.htm}
If you’re confident that the chair will support your weight, that’s belief, not trust.
{Believing and trusting are synonyms. Check Webster’s dictionary and the proper use of the English language or go
to biblestudymanuals.net/believe.htm and get the truth and not false
semantics. Where did you learn to read?}
The only way to actually trust the chair is to
sit on it. Until you sit on the chair, you’re not actually trusting it
to hold you up.
{Trusting / believing / having faith in
something is simply a mental assent. Read 1 Jn 5:9-13 & check your
dictionary – no testing required. You can believe that the skies are
clear, then go out of your building and find out it is raining. Was
your belief that the skies were clear untrue??? No. Was it
nevertheless an actual thing that you believed, albeit it was not
accurate? Yes. So the mental assent that the skies are clear may or may not
be true. What you believe in does not have to be true to be a belief.
Remember believing in Santa Claus? The chair may be an old, old antique
chair that does not support your weight. Nevertheless your trust in the
chair does not depend upon whether or not the chair will hold your
weight. You don’t have to sit in the chair to verify that you believe
it will hold your weight even if it will not! That’s not part of
trusting. Believing in something does not make what you believe true.
Check Webster’s Dictionary or go to biblestudymanuals.net/believe.htm}
Believing in God is just like that.
{No
it is not. Read 1 Jn 5:9-13 or go to
biblestudymanuals.net/1jn5_observe.htm#IN. How do you test your faith
in God to provide eternal life for you in this temporal life?? Can you
do it by your works, by a perfect record of faith??? No. Believing in /
trusting in / having faith in / God does not make God trustworthy. God
is trustworthy because He is Who He is, with or without your belief.
BTW I thought you indicated that believing in God is not sufficient,
you have to trust in Him. Looks like you keep changing the rules}
We can
learn all kinds of things about Him, but that’s only knowledge. We can
say that we believe He’s trustworthy, but that’s not the same as
trusting Him.
{Having knowledge that God is Who He is implies
believing in Who God is. That’s simple semantics = using different
words to say the same thing – language, context and logic – grammar
school reading skills. To believe that God is trustworthy is saying
that you trust that God is trustworthy since believing and trusting are
synonyms. Check any dictionary or go to
biblestudymanuals.net/believe.htm#III}
When we tell God that we DO believe He’s trustworthy,
{This
is illogical. God is trustworthy whether we tell God we
believe He is trustworthy or not. God’s trustworthiness does not depend
upon man’s telling Him He is trustworthy}
and we surrender our lives to Him, we’re saying that we’re going to do things His way instead of our way.
{No
where is this in Scripture. Man is flawed and cannot surrender his life
to God by any credible means. That’s why salvation is by grace through
faith and not of ourselves, it is a gift of God and not by works so
that no one can boast, (Eph 2:8-9). To attempt to surrender your life
to God in order to have eternal life is futile and of certain failure.
And it requires human doing which is ruled out Eph 2:8-9 and ruled out
even by you, Tony}
It’s
not enough to know about God, or even to believe He’s awesome. To go to
Heaven, we have to sit. Like on the chair. We have to actually trust
God to guide us through life.
{This is more false theology and bad language skills and false logic. To have eternal life one need only to believe that God’s one and only Son was given for us = "pas ho pisteuon" = everyone who is the believing one, the believer – that the Son of God, the one and only Son of God as it stipulates in Jn 3:16 was given in payment for our sins - the sins of the whole, i.e., believe that God's Son died for our sins, (Jn 3:16) - a moment of faith / mental assent alone in God alone + nothing else stipulated in Jn 3:16 or salvation unto eternal verse / passage. By the way, believing and trusting are synonymous according to the normative rules of language, context and logic as stipulated in English and Greek dictionaries and grammar books. To trust God to guide us through life is part of the Christian life, not to become a Christian / not to become a believer that Christ died for your sins in order to have eternal life, (Jn 3:16)}
When we do that, God does something in us. In John 3, Jesus called it being ‘born again.’
{Not
true. When we trust alone in Christ alone for salvation unto eternal
life we become born again. Take a look Tony – notice there is no
mention of surrendering to God or any participation on the part of one
to have eternal life:
(Jn 1:12 YLT) "But as many {individuals of His own creation, (Jn 1:11a)} as did receive Him to
them He gave authority to become sons {lit., children} of God - to
those believing in His name"
AS MANY INDIVIDUALS OF HIS
OWN CREATION WHO RECEIVE THE WORD, THE LIFE, THE LIGHT OF MEN, CREATOR,
ETERNAL GOD IN A COMPLETED ACTION INSTANT OF BECOMING BELIEVERS IN HIS
NAME, I.E., BY TRUSTING IN HIS CAPACITY, WILLINGNESS AND
TRUSTWORTHINESS TO PROVIDE AN ETERNAL LIFE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
THROUGH HIS ATONING SACRIFICE FOR SINS; ARE BORN OF GOD, AS CHILDREN OF
GOD, TO WHOM GOD GAVE HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS AND THE AUTHORITY TO BECOME
CHILDREN OF GOD, RESULTING IN AN ETERNALLY SECURE ETERNAL LIFE FAMILIAL
RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD}
The apostle Paul said that if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here.
{And
if you keep reading it does not say that you have become a different
person unable to sin. If that were the case you don’t need the Bible
especially the letters to believers in the church, i.e., Christians -
which admonish, instruct, command them not to sin but how to lead a
holy
life, etc. Believers are in view, not a message on how to act in order
to have eternal life. Believers by faith alone already have forever -
eternal life.
{2 Cor 5:17}:
"Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.' "
BELIEVERS ARE A NEW KIND OF CREATURE IN CHRIST JESUS, NEITHER JEW NOR GENTILE THEY ARE NOT ANY BETTER THAN UNBELIEVERS IN THEIR CONDUCT
{Dr. Danish, cont.}:
'''Now
this word 'creation' is stressed because it... has no verb {italics
above indicate no verb is in the Greek text}... Being in Christ means
to be born again making us a new creation. We are not new creatures
because of something we do or don't do.... This verse has to do with
what God in His grace has done for us, not what we do for Him or for
ourselves...
{"new = "kaino"} which means... a new kind, a new species - not a better behaving creature.
What this word is saying is that Christians in the Church Age, of the
Age of Grace, are a new species of human beings in God's Creation....
And this new species began on the Day of Pentecost with the baptism of the Holy Spirit when {God} joined all believers together into one body called the Church... We are part of the body of Christ.
ON THE OTHER HAND, BELIEVERS CONTINUE TO POSSESS A SIN NATURE = THE CAPACITY TO SIN
The phrases "new creation" {NIV} or "new creature" {KJV} and "the old things passed away" are widely misinterpreted as signifying that the believer no longer has a sin nature when other clear passages indicate otherwise, (Ro 6:all; 7:14-23; 1 Jn 1:8, 10; Eph 5:1-14; Gal 5:13-25). Furthermore, it is falsely maintained that the new nature has completely replaced the 'old man' sin nature in the born again believer. But the text in this particular passage is indeterminate on the matter. So conclusions from 2 Corinthians chapter 5 in any direction relative to this matter are not warranted. Other passages must be consulted to provide the answer as to what this passage does not state, (an extremely important rule in interpreting Scripture). All this passage in 2 Cor 5 is saying is that those who are in Christ, i.e., permanently indwelt with Christ are a new kind of human being.
1) {Compare Gal 3:27-28}:
(v.
27) "For all of you who were baptized into Christ {i.e., all of you who
have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit} have clothed yourselves
with Christ.
{And the phrase "the old things passed away; behold, new things have come" is clarified by the next verse}:
(v.
28) There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free
man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ
Jesus."
To paraphrase:
'You who are believers in this age are all
new creations as part of the body of Christ, neither Jew, nor Greek,
neither slave nor free, neither male nor female. Old things have passed
away relative to your old position in Adam and now your new position in
Christ and your brand new uniqueness to God as being part of the Body
of Christ.'
On the other hand similarities amongst species of humans
do remain, one of which can be observed in practice amongst all humans,
believers and non-believers alike: the sin nature. Characteristics of
the old kind may or may not be part of the new kind, the passage does
not stipulate. Just as certain kinds of species have similar
characteristics so it is with the Church Age believer as opposed to
Jewish and Gentile unbelievers and believers. Sometimes one cannot tell
who is who on the basis of outward behavior. The key difference is that
Church Age believers are members of the body of Christ, permanently
indwelt by His Presence. Other believers of other ages are not so
indwelt nor part of the Body of Christ - an invisible characteristic of
position established by the sovereignty of God with a primary view to a
grand functioning in the millennium and eternity future. And
unbelievers are not part of God's eternal order with Him at all.}
The
Holy Spirit – who is God Himself – comes and lives in us. He guides us,
helps us, trains us, and corrects us. It’s pretty awesome, I must say.
Living God’s way has made my life so much better than living life my
own way! I have a tendency to mess things up, but He doesn’t. He knows
better than I do.
{Tony, believers while in their mortal bodies cannot claim to live God's way for a moment, and neither can you:
(1 Jn 1:8 NASB) If we {believers are in view} {should} say that we have no sin, we {deceive} ourselves and the truth is not in us."
A
child of God, born of God may not be conscious of any acts of sin in
his life, or maintain that he no longer has a sin nature which produces
acts of sin; or he may think that he has overcome his sin nature with
his new nature via the indwelling Holy Spirit 
for a period of time in order to achieve moments of sinless perfection.
Some might even falsely contend that they are beyond the categories of
good and evil because they possess the Spirit of God or have achieved
some kind of spiritual transcendance. But whatever one thinks does not
contradict the fact that while in one's mortal body, one nevertheless
has a sin nature, commits sin all the time, and constantly falls short
of the glory of God - His Absolute Righteousness all the time -
children of God, born of God including apostles (as well as all
unbelievers are in view). This is clearly and repeatedly conveyed in Scripture, (1
Jn 1:10; even admitted to by the apostle Paul after he became a child
of God, born of God and an apostle: ref. Romans chapter 7 ).
The
second clause of the If-Then statement contains two phrases, "we
{deceive} ourselves and the truth is not in us." It declares the result
of when we children of God, born of God do say that we have no sin: we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." It brings
out into the light those children of God, born of God who have wilfully
hidden their mentalities from the sphere of light in which God dwells -
the sphere of His Absolute Righteousness, which sphere man cannot
attain under his own auspices in his mortal life. This is man's typical
self deception - his arrogance - which serves to puff himself up to
think that he has committed no sin for a period of time - that he has
no sin nature or has overcome it if he is a child of God, born of God
with the new nature within him that the Holy Spirit has provided .
The Greek word "heautous" rendered "ourselves" is the first word in the
second clause, "we {deceive} ourselves and the truth is not in us." It
is in an emphatic position emphasizing that such a self deception is
deliberate and wilful, bearing no resemblance to the truth nor to
innocence. Such children of God, born of God are in danger of becoming
progressively delusional and evil as the timespan that they claim to be
without sin increases.
So when children of God, born of God feel close to God, they should nevertheless remember that a closeness with God, i.e., genuine fellowship with Him is not due to their being free of sin - without acts of sin being committed by them, or by some kind of feeling based on emotion or some unbiblical idea. Fellowship with God only comes to a child of God, born of God via confession to God Who is Light / Absolute Righteousness, and out of the grace of God because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, which cleanses us from all sin, (1 Jn 1:7). Fellowship does not result from how good the child of God, born of God behaves or feels but how much more he is focused upon God's Absolute Righteousness as compared with the evil nature of his own thoughts, words and deeds which he acknowledges to God.}
What happens after we’re born again? Well, that’s
only the beginning of the awesomeness! God will change you from the
inside out to be the person you were always meant to be. Some of the
things you don’t like will change. Sometimes, the things we do like
will change, too… if they’re not good for us. That doesn’t sound like
fun, but you can trust God’s decisions. He’s always right.
That’s
God’s part. He remakes us.
{But none of this will actually occur in your temporal life. No one reaches even a single moment of sinless perfection, (1 Jn 1:8-10). That won't happen until after your temporal life is over when you will get your perfect and blameless resurrection body. That's why we have so many instructions in the Bible on how to conduct the Christian life. There are no guarantees that in this mortal life we will be changed into the person you were always meant to be. Blessings and disciplines are written about throughout the epistles in the New Testament. There are no guarantees of Christians being transformed "inside out to be the person you were always meant to be."}
What is our part? Well, remember PISTEUO. The word suggests some level of commitment, like deciding to actually SIT in the chair.
{The word PISTEUO rendered believe / trust / have faith in suggests nothing of the sort - no commitment is implied in a mental assent to something. If you believe the sky is blue, do I have to have a level of committment to the sky????? Do I have to go to a paint store and spray blue paint into the air to prove out that I actually believe the sky is blue. If I believe a chair will hold up my weight and I try it out and it does not, did I actually believe or was my faith imaginary or flawed????? Tony, you are talking semantical nonsense. People believe in innumerable things, some turn out to be true some not. But people do not contribute to what they believe in order to make it true or false. Believing is simply a matter of mental acceptance of something whether it is true or not.}
Our part in God’s plan is that we trust Him, and we
follow His lead. The Holy Spirit will do a lot of that on the inside of
us, and you should always listen to Him. That’s not all, though. God
has already given us some helpful information on how to live well. It’s
in the New Testament. I would suggest that you take some time to
regularly – daily, if possible – read what God says in the New
Testament.
{You will have to define "well." It can mean anything without a clear definition based on the context of the passage the phrase "live well" is located in. Furthermore, the phrase "live well" is not in the Bible. The first epistle of John instructs believers on what to do to stay in fellowship with God, i.e., to be on His good side:
{Compare 1 Jn 1:9}:
"If we {believers} confess our sins, He {God} is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." Confession brings fellowship. Perfect sinless behavior is not possible in this temporal life. On the other hand the Epistles do provide instructions in the new testament on growing in the Christian life. Never once does it say how to live well}
We all need help and encouragement from time to time, too… so I recommend looking around for some people in your area who already trust God, and build good relationships with them. You need them, and they need you. Let me know if you need a hand finding some of these folks. I’d be happy to help. God also puts us to work, helping other people learn to trust Him. For me, that’s one of the best parts of following Jesus.
{You are not following Jesus at all. You are telling people a false gospel, that you have to surrender your life to God in order to be saved unto eternal life. Jesus condemns people who tell everyone they must follow the Law of Moses - God's commands - which amount to surrendering themselves to God in order to enter the Kingdom of God. You are not on Jesus' side at all.}
You may have noticed that I didn’t mention baptism. There’s a very good reason for that: baptism has nothing to do with going to Heaven.
{Which baptism. There are seven in the bible. Holy Spirit baptism is absolutely required in order to go to heaven which comes upon you when you believe, i.e., express a moment of faith alone in Christ, nothing else. But you tell people to surrender your life to Jesus. That will not get you Holy Spirit baptism. Go to biblestudymanuals.net/baptism.htm#SEVENIII - when you believe that Jesus died for your sins you will have eternal life and among many things, you will receive, i.e., be baptized in the HolySpirit Who guarantees your salvation unto eternal life}
New believers are baptized to show other Christians that they’ve decided to trust God with their lives.
{No. Wrong gospel. New believers are water baptized to show that they have trusted / believed in / expressed a moment of faith alone in Jesus Christ and Him alone to receive eternal life. All you are doing is condemning people when they believe in your false gospel}
It’s not a spiritual thing, it’s a social thing.
{It's both. A spiritual birth in the spiritual realm to become born again from above
Jn 3:5-6:
"Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."
John 3:6 (NASB)
6 "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
biblestudymanuals.net/jn3_observe.htm#IV
Social because the believer is to share the gospel and the other doctrines of the faith with others - the believer has his duty:
biblestudymanuals.net/contend.htm}
You should be baptized, but you wouldn’t go to Hell if you died first. It’s a ritual that tells your community of faith that you’ve joined them.
{Anything else? What does the Bible say about Christian water baptism? Go to Scripture and present your case or go to biblestudymanuals.net/baptism2.htm#SEVENVII }
There you have it. Does that make sense?
{No! There is little from Scripture to prove your case}
You and I can both know whether we’ll make it to Heaven.
{Not the way you have written it. Go to 1 Jn 5:9-13 for assurance not to Tony Scialdone of godwords.org who teaches a false gospel}
All we have to do is trust God with our lives.
{No! That won't get you eternal life. Besides God has decreed everything about our existence / our lives. Our trusting in His sovereignty does not get eternal life according to the sovereignty of God and the Word of God. A moment of faith alone in Christ alone does give you eternal life as it stipulates in Jn 3:16 and many other passages, biblestudymanuals.net/indxs.htm#salvation}
Reading the Bible will help you trust God better, since you’ll understand Him and His plan better. Spending quality time with other people who follow Jesus will help you trust God better. I can also recommend some websites and radio programs that you can learn from, for free … they can help you trust God better, too. They’ve definitely helped me.
{Apparently not. You preach a false gospel and cherry pick verses out of context. What good will that be in eternity}
What do you think? Do you trust God? Have you been born again? If not, or if you’re not sure, just do it now.
{Apparently not. You preach a false gospel and cherry pick verses out of context. What good will that be in eternity}
Tell God that you want to trust Him completely, and that you’ve decided to accept His invitation to become a citizen of His Kingdom. I’d love to hear that you’ve done that, so I can call you my brother, or my sister.
{Apparently not. You preach a false gospel - trusting in God completely won't get eternal life, trusting in / expressing a moment of faith alone in Christ alone will provide for you eternal life just read the many passages that stipulate this biblestudymanuals.net/indxs.htm#salvation. You also cherry pick verses out of context, even change the meaning of words. What good will that be in eternity}
If you need help, I will help you. Feel free to email me, too. Have a great day, my friend!
{Apparently not. You told me not to email you just because I disagree with you but am willing to dialog about it}