Fear and Trembling

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.” - Jesus (John 6:47, NKJV) Many in the world do not have a firm knowledge that they will go to heaven when they die. Some have a vague trust in their idea of a God who may honor their faith and may not. Some have only the hope that, when God judges the world, He will find that their good works outweigh their bad. Some have not yet reached the point in their thinking that they can acknowledge a God who judges or a heaven that they can go to (Many posts on this blog lay out reasons for believing in both.). We can know that we are on the way to heaven if we have faith in Jesus. This faith is a confident assurance that what Jesus says about how to live life is true. This assurance brings us to a knowledge that we have not, even for one moment, lived free from sin; that is, we have done things that God tells us not to do or failed to do things that God tells us to do. This knowledge of the right path leads to rep...

My last two posts have discussed antinomianism.   This one will help to point Christians to the one Person who can provide assurance of salvation in view of their remaining sin. Assurance is Christian ‘shorthand’ for the knowledge that one will be in heaven when he / she dies.   I have treated the subject of assurance of salvation in otherposts .   This post will ‘plough some of the same ground.’   From John Calvin: The consciences of believers, in seeking assurance of their justification before God, should rise above and advance beyond the law, forgetting all law righteousness…For there the question is not how we may become righteous but how, being unrighteous and unworthy, we may be reckoned righteous. If consciences wish to attain any certainty in this matter, they ought to give no place to the law. Nor can anyone rightly infer from this that the law is superfluous for believers, since it does not stop teaching and exhorting and urging them to good, eve...

“There is nothing in us or done by us, at any stage of our earthly development, because of which we are acceptable to God. We must always be accepted for Christ’s sake, or we cannot ever be accepted at all. This is not true of us only when we believe. It is just as true after we have believed. It will continue to be true as long as we live. Our need of Christ does not cease with our believing; nor does the nature of our relation to Him or to God through Him ever alter, no matter what our attainments in Christian graces or our achievements in behavior may be. It is always on His “blood and righteousness” alone that we can rest.” - B. B. Warfield I have had many times of doubt in my life. I have convinced myself I was on the way to hell because of my mediocre Christian life, my personal suffering, and my doubts. In my times of despair, I have learned to look to three things: Look to my attitude toward God. "The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love...

How does a Calvinist know he is on the way to heaven? This post is about how one Calvinist sees things. We can know that we are on the way to heaven if we have faith in Christ ( John 6:47 ). This faith has two parts. The first part of this faith is a confident assurance that what Jesus says about how to live life is true ( John 3:12 ). This assurance brings us knowledge that we have not, even for one moment, lived free from sin. We have done things that Christ tells us not to do or failed to do things that Christ tells us to do. This knowledge of the right path leads to repentance, turning from our sins to God and His way of living. This faith is also an assurance that Christ paid the penalty for our sins. Not just for sins in general, but for our sins in particular. Christ is God who became a man. He laid aside His rights and abilities and came to earth. He lived a perfect life. This life is an example to us, but it also gives Him credit for a life lived in perfect obedience ...

Christianity has certain features that make it unique among the world’s major religions. I believe that these features make an excellent case for exploring the case for Christianity before exploring the other faith traditions. I am not trying to make a positive case for Christianity in this post. I have done that here . I am just trying to help those seeking truth to start with Christianity. Christianity is dependent on the truth of certain historical facts concerning Jesus. These include His life, death, and resurrection. It is possible to test the truth of these claims. For example, did Christ’s resurrection actually take place? If it did not, then Christianity can be dismissed, and other options explored. If so, then you must take all of Christ’s teaching on matters of religion as authoritative. It is difficult to start a religion on this basis. The easiest way is to develop a religion based almost entirely on feelings and experiences. It leaves other interesting question...

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. - Jesus (John 6:47, NKJV) Recent conversations with a Muslim have reminded me that many in the world do not have a firm knowledge that they will go to heaven when they die. Some have a vague trust in their idea of a God who may honor their faith and may not. Some have only the hope that, when God judges the world, He will find their good works outweigh their bad. Some have not yet reached the point in their thinking that they can acknowledge a God who judges or a heaven (A future post will lay out some of the reasons for believing in both.). We can know that we are on the way to heaven if we have faith in Christ. This faith is a confident assurance that what Jesus says about how to live life is true. This assurance brings us to a knowledge that we have not, even for one moment, lived free from sin; that is, we have done things that Christ tells us not to do or failed to do things that Christ tells us to do. This ...