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Are you sure you're going to heaven?

Recently I encountered a Christian from a breakaway group who kept telling my friends that they need to be saved and all they needed to do was to proclaim Jesus as their Lord and savior. I couldn't help but think, "Is that really all one needs to do? I could clearly remember a scripture passage from Matthew 7:21 "Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven." However, most Christians still hold on to the notion that you can be saved by faith alone. 

So who can enter the kingdom of heaven? 
Luckily for us Jesus already answered this question in Matthew 19:16-22 when the rich man asked him what good deed he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus tells him that if he wants to enter heaven he must keep the commandments and he goes on to narrate all the commandments relating to ones neighbor. From this it is clear that good works are essential. The rich man, knew it and he kept all these commandments but was still lacking in one area. While he perfected love for his neighbor, his possessions came in the way of his love for God. He wasn't able to answer the call of Jesus to sell his possessions and follow him. Therefore, we understand that both faith in God and its translation into good works is important for salvation. 

Faith and works go hand in hand
No one summarizes it better than St James in chapter 2:14-26. He says faith by itself, if it has no works is dead. He goes on to point out that simply believing in God cannot be enough because even demons believe there is a God and they shudder at the thought of his majesty. He then gives the example of Abraham our father in the faith. It is important to note that Abraham believed and that lead him to obedience, even to the extent that he was willing to offer his son Isaac on the altar. 

Again in 1 John 4:20 we hear it said "for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom then have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brother and sister also." 

Can you lose your ticket to heaven?
Salvation is a free gift given to humanity, once and for all by the death of Jesus on the cross. However not everyone who receives a gift accepts it, some can lose it and others may even throw it away. Jesus opened the door to heaven, but you still need to make the journey there. Remember that the road that leads there is narrow and difficult as revealed in the scriptures. Which is why St Paul says "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure". Again in his letter to the Romans 11:22 he reminds us " see then the kindness and severity of God: severity towards those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off". However, we must know that God desires all to be saved and he has given us the grace through the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist to strengthen us for the journey and to pick us up when we fall through Baptism and Confession. 

Can those who do not know Jesus or the Gospel be saved?
There are those who have never heard the gospel and don't know of Jesus. Are they all doomed? The Catechism of the Catholic church states that " Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience, those too may achieve eternal salvation" (CCC847)

We cannot judge who will or will not go to heaven, for we cannot know the mind of God. We know however that he is a merciful Father, who didn't spare the life of his own Son to save us. Throughout the Bible we see the urgency of bearing witness and spreading the good news so that all may come to the knowledge of God and be saved by his grace. While we walk this earth, we will do well to walk hand in hand with God and also help our neighbor walk along. 


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  1. UnknownFebruary 1, 2019 at 9:01 AM

    Nice blog Karen. God bless you for the good word you are proclaimng. Keep it up my girl. We are truly blessed with a good daughter like you. You are a good wife and influence to our son Snadden. We love you for that.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownFebruary 1, 2019 at 9:56 PM

    Hi Karen. . Very well written.
    It's a great boost n inspiring for people like me who were lost n now seek to follow the path of our LORD .
    May you be BLESSED in ur endeavour to enlighten us on the WORD OF GOD
    Thank you n May Our LORD shower His Grace on you to continue in the Good work.
    Trevor

    ReplyDelete

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