Peace be unto you
I am going to answer this question with scripture. Whatever you walk away believing is your choice. You should always seek answers to your questions from the Bible, and never from another person. People can mislead you. If all that you are looking for is reassurance of what you have already decided to believe, then you'll get plenty of that—but that doesn't make it true.
Matthew 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them,
Take heed that no man deceive you.
Romans 16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
Romans 16:18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches
deceive the hearts of the simple.
Ephesians 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to
deceive;
Ephesians 5:1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
Ephesians 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
Ephesians 5:3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
Ephesians 5:4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
Ephesians 5:5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Ephesians 5:6 Let no man
deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
I John 3:7 Little children, let no man
deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
I Corinthians 6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not
deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
I Corinthians 6:10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 6:7 Be not
deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Galatians 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
Will God ever forsake you?
Deuteronomy 4:31 (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God
he will not
forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.
Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor
forsake thee.
Deuteronomy 31:8 And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither
forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.
He told them that He wouldn't.
Deuteronomy 31:16 And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a ******* after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will
forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.
Deuteronomy 31:17 Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will
forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?
Joshua 24:20 If ye
forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.
I Chronicles 28:9 And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou
forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.
I Chronicles 28:20 And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor
forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD.
II Chronicles 15:2 And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye
forsake him, he will
forsake you.
Psalm 27:9 Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither
forsake me, O God of my salvation.
Psalm 119:8 I will keep thy statutes: O
forsake me not utterly.
A few more verses to think on:
I Timothy 4:16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both
save thyself, and them that hear thee.
( save thyself? shouldn't Timothy have already been saved? )
James 2:14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
Matthew 10:22
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
We've all heard this story:
Matthew 19:16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
Matthew 19:17 And he said unto him,
Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
Matthew 19:18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said,
Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
Matthew 19:19
Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Matthew 19:20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
Matthew 19:21 Jesus said unto him,
If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
Matthew 19:22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
Why didn't Jesus just tell this man something like, "If you'll just wait for a little bit longer, all that you'll have to do is 'believe' and you'll receive eternal life?" Why did it seem like Jesus was asking the man to "work" for salvation?
Luke 7:48 And he said unto her,
Thy sins are forgiven.
Luke 7:49 And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?
Luke 7:50 And he said to the woman,
Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.
Was this woman "saved" at this point?
Luke 8:13
They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
Luke 18:42 And Jesus said unto him,
Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee.
Was he "saved" at this point? Had this man turned to go home and fell off a cliff and died, would he have gone to Hell because Jesus hadn't died on the cross yet?
Acts 15:11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.
"We" is Peter and the Jews that are in Christ, and the word 'shall' is future tense.
Jude 5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having
saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
What's Jude's purpose in reminding us about this?
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.
The above verse is quoted often but the following two never seem to follow it.
Galatians 2:17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.
Galatians 2:18 For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.
( No big deal to someone who has been saved though, right? )
Revelation 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
Revelation 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Revelation 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Again, these verses could not be referring to the genuinely saved, right? Who has a part in the book of life and the holy city? The believer or the unbeliever?
Romans 2:6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds: ( "deeds" and not "faith" )
Romans 2:7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:
Romans 2:8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
Romans 2:9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; ( "doeth evil" and not "is an unbeliever" )
Romans 2:10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
Romans 2:11 For there is no respect of persons with God.
Romans 2:12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;
Romans 3:20 is commonly quoted, but Romans 2:13 is never.
John 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
John 8:51 Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.
John 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
John 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
The following are an interesting set of verses:
Romans 11:16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.
Romans 11:17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
Romans 11:18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
Romans 11:19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.
Romans 11:20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: ( standest by faith has to be referring to a believer, right? )
Romans 11:21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
Romans 11:22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. ( who shalt be cut off? )
Romans 11:23 And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again.
And then a few more:
I Corinthians 15:2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
Colossians 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
I Thessalonians 3:8 For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord.
Hebrews 3:6 But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
Hebrews 3:14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
Take care,
Read and Pray often
