One thing even those that love Jesus ask is are we sure that we are saved? I want to bring out some of the verses that will let you know for sure so that you will know in your heart what you need for salvation and if your salvation is lasting. I have met those that feel that they have done things so bad in their lives that they cannot believe that they will be forgiven, I would like to touch on that as well.

• JOHN 1:12-14 "Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God-children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

• JOHN 3:16-18 "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."

• MARK 16:15-16 "He said to them, 'Go into the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.'"

• ROMANS 5:9-11 "Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through Him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through out Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation."

• ROMANS 10:13 "for, 'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'(Joel 2:32)"

And about your salvation, is it because of something you do?

• JOHN 6:28-29 "Then they asked Him, 'What must we do to do the works God requires?' Jesus answered, 'The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.'"

• EPHESIANS 2:8-9 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast."

But you do see there is a requirement, you must believe, have faith in God. For me, this was not a hard thing, but to believe that I could be "made clean", that is without sin, that was hard for me. For I have done so many things in my life that are wrong. But when I read in so many place in the bible that even I could be acceptable to God because of Jesus, I began to understand and to believe that a vile sinner such as myself could one day stand before the Lord and be without sin. And as you see from Ephesians 2:9, it isn't any type of Karma thing where my good deeds out weigh my bad deeds, it is a "gift of God", "not from yourselves", something given to me in love by the One that created me.

• 1TIMOTHY 1:15-16 "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on Him and receive eternal life."

  Paul felt that he was the worst sinner, that's funny, I thought I was the worst! No matter what you have done, salvation awaits if you will just follow Jesus. Heaven waits for you and His hand is out to you, please won't you take His hand and turn away from the life of sin and read the bible and get to know He who gave His life for you?

• TITUS 3:4-7 "But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life."

The Lord takes pleasure in one of us vile sinners turning from our ways and towards Him. But if you are waiting for something like what happened to Paul to happen to you before you turn to Him, you may never become a follower of Christ. If you know what is right and you still don't choose it because you need some sort of "proof", some miraculous sign to make you become a believer, it has been done before. And here is your answer:

• MATTHEW 12:38-40 "Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to Him, 'Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you.' He answered, ' A wicked and adulterous geration asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.'"

I don't know if you know about the book of Jonah, he was called to serve as a prophet by the Lord and he ran away from God. He got on a boat and the Lord made a storm come to the boat and the only way to save the lives of the men on the boat was to throw Jonah overboard. The sea calmed right away and Jonah was saved by being swallowed by a great fish, where he spent three days and nights and he prayed for salvation. The Lord had the fish vomit Jonah up onto dry land. The Lord had Jonah tell the people of Niveveh that they were going to be overturned in fourty days.

• MATTHEW 12:41-42 "The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgement with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgement with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here."

When Jesus talks about "this generation", I don't think He means the people of that time. I think He means the race of man as a whole. My study bible also has said this in the notes and I believe it based on the things He has said. And about the people of Nineveh, they were considered to be cruel and warlike and Jonah was afraid to go there. But he saw the whole city repent, some 120,000 people. Jesus came to His own people and here they were refusing to believe in Him right to His face. I don't think any sign would have caused them to believe, after all, they had seen Him heal the sick, raise the dead, and teach with an authority never seen before. He was truely in the world made by Him, but it did not recognize Him.

• JOHN 1:10-11 "He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him."

This is right out of my study bible: "All who welcome Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives are reborn spiritually, receiving new life from God. Through faith in Christ, this new birth changes us from the inside out-rearranging our attitudes, desires, and motives."(referring to John 1:12-13)

It may not happen at once, but if you will just turn your thoughts and attention to God, He will begin to transform you. Soon, you are not acting out of the flesh but out of the Spirit, that Spirit will grow within you. I am in no way perfect-nor do I expect to ever be in this life. But I continue the process of growth towards Spirituality everyday. I have my good days and my bad days, as they say, "life shows up". The more I turn to God the more He is in my life. I work at it, I do it out of love.

• ROMANS 13:11-14 "And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature."

• HEBREWS 2:1-4 "We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those that heard Him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will."

• JUDE 1:3-6 "Dear friends, although I was very eager to write you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. Although you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered His people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home-these He has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day."

  There is also the Parable of the Four Soils.
  

• LUKE 8:11-15 "This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the Word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the Word from their heards, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rock are the ones who receive the Word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the Word, retain it, and by resevering produce a crop."

I think you get the message. God has brought you this far, He will not just leave you here. You, however, can leave Him. Stay in the Word, that means keep reading the bible. Talk to God, He wants to hear from you-and He can help you with anything. And know that if you love God, believe Jesus died to bring you salvation, and repent your sins, you will be saved and one day be in front of Him and He will speak on your behalf. I've heard alot about what "we" think the kingdom will be like, I just know it will be with my God. I don't want to be anywhere else.

Now let's talk about those that have been saved, they have heard the Word of God and have believed in Jesus Christ but have slipped back into their lives of evil. Are they lost to the salvation given to them by God? Let's have a look at what Paul said:

• 1CORINTIANS 3:10-15 "By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames."

• 2TIMOTHY 2:11-13 "Here ia a trustworthy saying: If we died with Him, we will also live with Him; if we endure, we will also reign with Him. If we disown Him, He will also disown us; if we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown Himself."

What I have found is once saved by God-always saved by God. But there are those that claim to believe and do not. I hear that 90% of Americans claim to be Christians. But that does not fit in with that "narrow door", nor is it what I see everyday. But what I need to remember is that I am not the judge of others. My job is working to be a better Christian and being closer to the Lord everyday, keeping my side of the street clean. I have a hard enough time doing that.

Thank you for spending your time with me as we learn and grow.

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