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    Eternal Life - Can You Really Be Certain You Have It?
    Eternal Life - Can You Really Be Certain You Have It?
    Eternal Life - Can You Really Be Certain You Have It?
    Ebook129 pages1 hour

    Eternal Life - Can You Really Be Certain You Have It?

    By R Larry Moyer

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    About this ebook

    Many people struggle with assurance of their salvation. In resolving these doubts, they often go to the wrong source - the promises they made to God or the life they have lived. In so doing they confuse many Biblical issues. Veteran evangelist R. Larry Moyer looks at the Biblical basis of o

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherEvantell, Inc
    Release dateDec 15, 2023
    ISBN9798988975038
    Eternal Life - Can You Really Be Certain You Have It?

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      Book preview

      Eternal Life - Can You Really Be Certain You Have It? - R Larry Moyer

      Introduction

      Many people experience the hardest and worst struggle they have ever had. They struggle with knowing for certain that they are going to heaven. When that struggle is at its worst, there are those who have been so frank as to call it hell on earth.

      Some want to be certain that they are what the Bible calls saved but are uncertain how to be sure. They have heard all kinds of gospels and are confused which is the right one.

      Others would claim to be believers, but they are uncertain if they are genuinely saved. One day they are convinced that they will live forever with Jesus Christ; the next day they are not as sure. They pass a fatal car accident and wonder, Where would I be if something happened to me? Even though they have gone through motions such as repeating the sinner’s prayer or responding to an altar call at a church, doubt still lingers. The pendulum in their mind consistently swings from He loves me to He loves me not.

      Numerous times people have sat in front of me with tears running down their cheeks as they told me of their uncertainty about their salvation. For some it has been a lifelong struggle.

      My dear wife, Tammy, was one of those — and here she was marrying an evangelist! So why would I marry someone who was not certain of her salvation? If she were not a believer, how could I marry her when the Bible explicitly says, Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers? (2 Corinthians 6:14)Because by that time, having already counseled many individuals about their salvation, I knew why and where she was struggling. I simply needed to help her think biblically and I knew her doubts would be behind her. Quite honestly, it did not take long. A brief time into our marriage she became as certain of heaven as though she were already there. Now, she never has a question about where she will be when she dies. And being certain of her salvation has increased her desire to tell others how they can be certain of theirs.

      This book is written for those who want to put the question of where they will spend their eternity forever behind them and look forward to seeing Jesus Christ face to face. You may be one who has never settled the issue but want to. Or you may be one who thinks you have settled the issue but are not sure.

      Once you understand why biblically your salvation is guaranteed, you can shout and sing with millions of others, Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. It may cause you also to reach out to others with the Good News. With your salvation settled in your mind, you want their salvation to be settled in theirs.

      Chapter One

      So why are so many uncertain?

      Before we discuss how and why one can be as certain of heaven as though they are already there, it helps to ask, But why are so many people uncertain?

      There are a number of reasons.

      1

      Some have not fully grasped the message of the gospel and what the Bible means by believe. Unless those two are understood, one will never have the assurance of his salvation that God wants him to have. If he does not understand anything else in the Scriptures, to be certain of salvation he must understand the most important message of the Bible that is referred to as the Good News and then the response God desires from us when He uses the word believe. Along with that, we must examine the confusion that surrounds the word repentance. A clear understanding of the biblical truths surrounding these subjects enables one to clearly understand what one must do to be saved.

      2

      Too often even after responding to Christ’s call to salvation, we look at ourselves and the promises we have made to God in order to feel certain of our salvation. We think of the temptations we promised to say no to, the ways we were determined to clean up our act, and the new habits we wanted to form. Failure in any of those areas then takes away the assurance of our salvation. Satan, our enemy, delights in having us think in that direction.

      Instead, we must do what the Scriptures do — look at the basis for our eternal security as it is found in the deity of Christ and the promises God has made to us. The more one understands how these two make us eternally secure in Christ, the more excited one can be that we are forever His. Assurance of salvation is found as we look to Him and His promises to us, not to ourselves and our promises to Him.

      3

      Others have been the victims of wrong teaching. Ideas have been shared as though they are biblical when, in fact, they are not. Some thoughts or ideas have been handed down from one generation to another and are tradition-based rather than based on God’s Word. These must be carefully examined so we know that we are directed by Scripture, not tradition.

      4

      Still others have suffered from a misunderstanding of particular paragraphs of Scripture. We must look at these Scriptures in context. What God is actually saying versus what a person understood Him to say may be two different things.

      5

      Some doubt that they are saved because they do not always feel saved. They must understand that salvation is based on fact, not feeling.

      6

      Another reason is the failure to grasp two important biblical distinctions — the distinction between entering the Christian life and living the Christian life. There is a difference between salvation and discipleship. While they have a relationship to one another, they are also distinctive concepts. The more one is clear on these distinctions the more assured he will be of his salvation. He will also find himself more motivated to live a life committed to following Christ.

      No book on the certainty of our salvation would be complete without addressing the issue that if our salvation is guaranteed, why sell out for Christ. What more is there? The more we grasp the answer to that question the more excited we can be with building on the security we have in Christ. We can then be equally excited about becoming every inch the person God wants us to be as we await that time when we will see Him face to face.

      What God is actually saying versus what a person understood Him to say may be two different things.

      So, let’s examine each of these topics. A person who understood these issues from a biblical perspective was once asked, When you see the Lord, what do you think is the first thing He will ask you? The man answered, Oh, I don’t think He will ask a thing. I think He will simply look at me and say, ‘He’s mine!’

      The more we understand our eternal security and have the assurance of it upon trusting Christ, the more we can look forward with excitement to a day when we will see Him face to face knowing that, even now, He is rejoicing in the fact, You’re mine.

      Questions for Reflection

      When you think of times you have struggled with your salvation, which of the reasons given would be most appropriate to your situation?

      When you think of others who have struggled with their salvation, which of the reasons given might be most appropriate to their situation?

      Chapter Two

      An important clarification

      As we get started, we need to make an important clarification.

      The words eternal security and assurance are often used interchangeably. It is easy to understand why, yet this can be confusing. For example, some say, I just do not understand how you can be certain that once you have come to Christ, that you will never lose your salvation. ‘Once saved always saved’ just sounds too good to be true.

      Then others say, I believe in eternal security, I just do not have assurance of my salvation. What they are saying is, I believe that if I am genuinely saved, I am His forever. He will never disown me. I just don’t know for sure if I am saved.

      So, by eternal security they are referring to the biblical teaching that to be His is to be His forever. We cannot lose our salvation. By the term assurance they are referring to their personal confidence that they have done what they needed to do to be saved — that they were sincere, that they fully understood the plan of salvation, that there is enough evidence in their life that they are saved, and a host of other items.

      What many fail to realize is how eternal security and assurance of our salvation are interconnected. The reason many lack assurance is because they have failed to grasp the security we have in Christ. The more one understands the basis of eternal security as it relates to the message and our response to it, the teaching of Scripture regarding salvation, and the need of handling Scripture in proper context, the more assurance one has. What God is actually saying versus what a person understood Him to say may be two different things.

      As will be explained, the Bible does not disconnect the two.

      The more we understand the Scriptural teaching in regard to our eternal salvation, we realize that there is one thing we need never doubt. That is that as long as we have received God’s gracious and generous offer, we are eternally His. There are some things in life about which we cannot be absolutely certain. Our relationship with Him need not be one of those.

      What many fail to realize is how eternal security and assurance of our salvation are interconnected.

      One thing might be added. Some people doubt their salvation because they doubt everything. They doubt that their mate loves them, they doubt that

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