Publisher's Synopsis
Is it possible for a person to know with certainty that they have a future with God in Heaven?
Some hold the position that no one can know the answer to that question until they pass on from this life.
In a sincere search for an accurate answer, guesswork will not provide the kind of clarity we seek.
It has to be one of the most serious questionsif not the most serious question we each need the answer for. Either a person can know that assurance or they cannot. If we can know we have a home in Heaven, then how? If we cannot have that assurance, then why not?
Is it too much to hope for that a person could have the promise of eternal peace with God? As Believers, we rejoice that the Lord Jesus promised His followers peace not as the world gives, and that one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is a continuing ministry of peace while we, His people, are here on earth.
Could it not be considered Biblically normal for a Believer to enjoy the comforting assurance of eternal life even as the Lord promised His followers abundant life while on earth? If not, it certainly appears that Believers are missing out on peace, comfort, joy, happiness, security, and a source of fervor for a life of service to the Lord. I believe the Lord wants the best for His people and that the Bible teaches we will never perish and never thirst again.
Perhaps the most challenging question a professing Believerespecially a new convert has to deal withis whether or not a Christian could ever go to hell. It is shocking to find that there is such unsettled belief about such an eternally serious question. I was raised in a church that taught a person who professed Christ could be truly redeemed, saved, born again, and then later in their Christian walk, turn away, be deceived away, rebel, sin away their faith, and end up lost and undone and headed for separation from God. Its as if what they are advocating is OK, Jesus, your sacrificial blood was sufficient to get me saved, but if Im going to make it to heaven someday, I have to be faithful, read my Bible every day, pray regularly, witness to others daily, win others to Christ regularly, attend every church service and church-sponsored event coming or going, in effect saying Christs Work needs supplemented! I now believe that this doctrinal position is blasphemy. When Jesus cried out from His cross, It is finished! He wasnt talking about His ordeal of suffering, He was talking about His Sacrificial Work of Redemption, nothing to be taken from It, nothing added to It. He alone accomplished it. (Heb. 1:3) Anything mankind would offer could try to take away from His Glory. The good works that a Believer does (Bible reading, witnessing, praying, etc.) are done because we are saved not in order to be more assured of making it to Heaven someday. Nothing human could ever supplement the atoning Work of the Lord Jesus Christ, a ministry only HE has (Heb. 1:3)
