InterruptorJones wrote:
Can you tell me, then, where I stand? Clearly I haven't "recieved Christ", don't see any evidence of any god around me (not an discussion I want to have right now), and, by Christian standards, I'm a sinner who has not repented. Then again, I'm not a bad person. If the roof falls down on me at this very moment, do I get a Grace pass, or not? I'm not trying to be egregious, here; I really want to know.
First off, let me say that this is an extremely delicate subject. I feel as though I've been put on the spot, but I would like to answer your question as honestly as I can. I like you, Jones. I wish I could say something more positive than what I'm about to say, but I feel bound by the truth to say these things.
Do you realize how you've contradicted yourself above? (1) "I'm a sinner who has not repented" and (2) "I'm not a bad person". I'm more apt to conclude you believe statement #2 because you prefaced statement #1 with the phrase "by Christian standards".
By many peoples' standards, you may indeed by a "good" person. You may be a better person than many of your neighbors, and if you tallied up all your good deeds, they may outweigh your sins. Unfortunately, this is not how God determines things. God's standard is perfection. If you have violated God's law even once, you
are a bad person by God's standard.
Now, don't get me wrong, I don't have a leg to stand on here. I can't say I'm a better person than you are. The Bible says that we are all sinners. I'm no better than the next guy. In fact I may be worse in a lot of ways.
JoeyDay wrote:
These decisions are the Lord's to make.
It's not my decision whether you will be in heaven or hell, and ultimately my thoughts on this matter are worthless. The Bible tells us we shouldn't make these kinds of judgement calls, but it does provide us with some external evidences that saved people should manifest.
When a person is saved, the Holy Spirit will dwell in their heart. The Spirit creates within that person certain character traits (
Galatians 5:22-23).
In addition, the Spirit gives spiritual gifts to saved persons. There are several different lists of spiritual gifts in the Bible (
Romans 12:6-8;
1 Corinthians 12:1-11,
28;
Ephesians 4:11; and
1 Peter 4:10-11). These gifts do not manifest themselves as simple natural abilities, but seem to be heightened and in some cases supernatural. In any event, they will probably be new abilities that the person did not have until after they accepted the Lord. A spiritual gift is a fairly sure manifestation that a person is saved.
I can't look for these chacter traits or spiritual gifts in your life because I've never met you IRL. All I can really go off of is what you've told me. The Bible also tells us that a saved person will confess publicly that Jesus is their Lord and Savior (
Romans 10:9-10). Jesus is the only name under heaven whereby men can be saved (
Acts 4:12). People who think they are "good people" and who are trusting in their own goodness to save them are probably not saved.
As difficult as it is for me to say this, Jones. I don't see any evidence of salvation in your life. I'm forced to conclude personally (and quite myopically) that you aren't saved, and that you will be condemned to hell on judgement day.