BEP- I understand what a church is and I fully agree that a church is built of the members and is not just a building. I thought that the point of discussion in this thread was that people know they are saved and haven't yet been judged. Typically, this conclusion is derived from some of Paul's letters when Paul himself, when asked, said he did not yet know if he would merit eternal salvation because he had not yet stood before the Lord for judgment. I feel that that is an erroneous belief based on misinterpretations.
Mathurin,
The Apostle Paul had no doubt at all about his Salvation. He knew 100% that he belonged to JESUS.
What the Apostle Paul doubted was the quality and quantity of his faith for the work and ministry God gave him to do. Paul struggled to do what God sent him to do, and Paul referred to it as a fight and a race. The Apostle Paul described many times and many ways the Grace and GIFT of God that results in Salvation. Paul also made it exceptionally clear that no man would ever deserve or earn Salvation, that it had to be a GIFT from God based on belief and faith in JESUS and the CROSS.
The Apostle Paul believed completely for him, "Absent from the body, present with Christ." The Apostle Paul also knew with all certainty that Christians would never face a condemnatory judgment like the lost do. Paul clearly taught that the only judgment that Christians would face is for their good works and the rewards God promised to those who love HIM.
Christians already belong to JESUS, and their hearts are
SEALED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. The Salvation issue is already decided for eternity
IMMEDIATELY for those who have faith, believe, and accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. Christians don't have to wait to find out if they are saved or not. That reality and assurance is possible right now in this life. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ, and that is RIGHT NOW, EVEN IN THIS SHORT LIFE. The only judgment a Christian must wait for is the judgment for good works and the reward or lack of reward for the works a Christian has done in this short life.Mathurin, the fight and the race of the Apostle Paul was not for Salvation, rather the work and ministry God sent him to do. No man can work for his Salvation. That work was completed perfectly on the CROSS by Jesus Christ. What a man SHOULD work and strive for is yielding to God and doing the work GOD has for all of us. Yielding to God and being a willing vessel for HIS work is the fight and race, not Salvation. The thief on the cross next to the CROSS OF JESUS had no good works, but he was saved most certainly and simply by his faith in JESUS. The thief didn't have to wait for judgment because JESUS told him then where he was going after death. GOD'S WORD has already told Christians where they are going after physical death. It's a beautiful and precious
PROMISE BY ALMIGHTY GOD THAT WILL MOST DEFINITELY BE KEPT MOST COMPLETELY AND PERFECTLY.Love In Christ,
Tom
John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
Romans 10:9-10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Galatians 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Romans 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Philippians 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Romans 5:17-18 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Romans 8:38-39 For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Ephesians 2:1-7 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
Colossians 1:12-14 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Galatians 4:4-7 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Ephesians 1:12-14 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
2 Corinthians 5:17-18 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
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