Day 287-289 - Make Your Destiny Sure! Now!

After nearly a year of sharing the gospel with at least one person almost daily, I have learned most people assume they're going to heaven. Shockingly few, however, can given a correct biblical explanation of the gospel that saves. Should we care? Absolutely! Jesus and the Apostles cared about people being sure of their salvation. They died that we might be absolutely sure. We should care, too. If a person cannot explain why they think they're going to heaven, odds are they don't really know. If they don't really know, Jesus said they remain under God's just condemnation and wrath (Jn. 3:36). We should care enough to help them "make their calling and election sure" before it's too late.

God cares so much about the certainty of our eternal destiny that He sent His Son to explain to us "The Way" to the Father (John 14:6) and to avoid "eternal punishment" in "eternal fire" (Matt. 25:41, 46). He cares so much that He suffered an eternity of torment for our sins that we might be certain of our eternal destiny based on solid belief and sincere repentance (2 Cor. 5:21; Mk. 1:15).

Everywhere Jesus went, He warned people to "repent." (Matt. 4:17; Lk. 13:1-5). He urged them to act quickly because "the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" (Matt. 4:17). Jesus taught that belief in Him and repentance from sin are the essentials of the gospel, The Way (Jn. 3:3-36).

When convicted first century sinners asked Peter what to do to be saved, he told them to "repent" for the forgiveness of sins through belief in Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38). But Peter didn't stop there. He pleaded with the "saints" to "be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure" (2 Pet. 1:10). Why did Peter take great pains to urge "saints" to be "sure" about their eternal destiny? "For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (vv. 11-12). Peter was so consumed about their eternal welfare that he added, "I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder" (2 Pet. 1:13-14).

Jesus' half-brother, Jude, said we should know the gospel well enough to defend it and to share it in such a way as to "snatch others from the fire and save them" (Jude 23).

Paul wrote to believers that we should share the gospel "as though God were making His plea through us" (2 Cor. 5:20). The NIV says that God "appeals" to the lost through us and that we should "implore" others to make their salvation sure. The NASB says we should "beg" people to be saved. Like Peter, Paul longed so intently for people to be sure about their salvation that he warned them to "examine" themselves (1 Cor. 11:28). He warned that "now is the acceptable time; look, now is the day of salvation! (2 Cor. 6:3).

I met a man named Bryce yesterday who thought he was going to heaven. When I asked him why he thought that, he told me that "he goes to church." I asked him if what he believed weren't true would he want to know it. Definitely, he said. I then shared with him the full gospel:

• After we die, we will stand before God in judgment (2 Cor. 5:10; Heb. 9:27).
• God will judge us according to his moral law (Matt. 5).
• He will be found to be a guilty sinner like the rest of us (Rom. 3:23).
• If judged guilty his eternal destiny will be hell, not heaven (Matt 5; Rom. 6:23).
• Jesus took his punishment for him on the cross so he can receive mercy and righteousness to enter heaven (Jn. 3:14-16; 2 Cor. 5:21; Is. 61:10).
• To get the benefit of what Jesus has done he must believe Jesus is the Son of God who died for his sins and rose again according to the scriptures (Mk. 1:15; 1 Cor. 15:1-4).
• And he must repent (cry out for forgiveness of all of his sins, past, present, and future, and turn to follow Jesus on the narrow way) (Ps. 51; Mk. 1:15; Lk. 13:1-5; Matt. 7).

After I shared, Bryce thanked me. He urged me to share that truth with others. Let's not be content to hear that people think they're going to heaven, or believe in Jesus, or go to church. Let's dig deeper. They may not be saved. They may not know the truth. They may not have acted on the truth. Let's ask them the questions that will allow us to help them examine themselves and make their calling and election sure.