Jump to content
  • Welcome Guest

    For an ad free experience on Online Baptist, Please login or register for free

Never Too Late


Recommended Posts

  • Members


“And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:42-43)



One of the two thieves on the cross continued in unbelief right up until the time he died (Luke 23:39), but the second repented and ... More...jcaPRRRTeO0

View the full article

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Excellent article IMO.

What is upsetting is that most who witness these days use it as the only example of the new birth giving license to their unrepentant head acknowledgment sales pitches.

The truth of the matter is that thief would have left all to follow Jesus had he survived just like the dozens of living examples of the new birth in the NT.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Indeed we read of the call to surrender all to Christ, Christ Himself telling us we should count the cost, and we read of the many who came to Christ and actually gave up all to follow Christ or were wiling to but commanded of the Lord to another area.

While salvation on ones deathbed (as it were) is possible, this seems to be rare. How often does the dying one have someone present to rightly present the Gospel before the die? Even if they heard the Gospel many times in their life, and rejected it, how many will suddenly have a soft heart and rightly call out to the Lord.

Each time a celebrity dies we see this attempt to find a means of believing they went to heaven. Sure, it's possible they may have came to Christ before they died, but realistically it's not likely. Even so, according to millions, including many actual Christians, Elvis, Prince, Houston, and most of those other TV, movie and music celebrities who have died are now in heaven. Not based upon any of them having a testimony of salvation, but based upon some things they said about religion, or some gospel song they sang, or their attending church when children, and the idea that surely God spoke directly to them as they were near death and brought them into heaven.

Of a truth, nothing is required of us to be saved (baptism, a life well lived, giving to the church, etc.), but a saved person will have a transformation because as Scripture declares, they are become new creatures in Christ. The "simple prayer" evangelism which basically tells folks to "just believe", "just accept Jesus into your heart" and you will go to heaven; nothing ever expected of you beyond that, go and live as before if you wish, is very dangerous and some folks use this method without even realizing it or understanding it. Thus we have millions who believe they are heaven bound while yet lost in their sins.

Had I realized I was dying prior to salvation I may have called out to the Lord, but I have no confidence I would have done so in a manner necessary for salvation. My Sunday school upbringing was long on works, short on the actual Gospel.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...