Are All Professing Christians Going to Heaven?

 July 4, 2024

Thursday

I know that my Lord will hold onto me. My commitment to Him was sealed by the Holy Spirit. That is a settled matter. However, I am concerned that the scripture speaks of those who have gotten very close but do not know the Lord. They act so very much like they know the Lord that they cannot be distinguished from those knowing the Lord. In some cases, it is evident that even they don't know the difference between knowing the Lord and being a professing Christian. Yes, they profess to be Christians. They give, serve, worship, and pray like they are Christians. They are more than people who sometimes doubt their salvation. If they fall away from this pseudo-faith, they will become worse than they were before. The question is: How would they know?

2 Peter 2:20 (NASB 2020) ²⁰ For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.

This scares me. It doesn't scare me because of my own condition. It scares me that I am somehow allowing or encouraging people to believe that they have an eternity in heaven when they don't. It scares me that by my own words, I have given them an assurance that will be met with surprise when this life is over. 

Now, I don't want people doubting their salvation but I also don't want them believing in a salvation that they do not possess. Maybe I should apply my own evidence for salvation when I speak to others.

I know the Holy Spirit is with me. He is more than just a conscience that makes me realize when I have done something wrong. He leads me in truth. He reads the scripture to me. He comforts me. He empowers me when I preach. He helps me interpret my own circumstances to make godly decisions. I know His presence.

I hear from the Lord. He speaks to me when I pray, when I read scripture, and when other godly people speak to me. I don't just believe in Him. I know Him. I know what it is to be forgiven. I know His love. I understand what Paul said when he said, "I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me."

When I share this with people, will they believe me? Will they assume that their works and their history of saying a prayer which they were told was all they needed for salvation overrule their true need for Christ? 

I don't know. I know I can't assume that everyone in church knows the Lord. The scripture says that I must be aware of this. This is why I must not be a witness at church as well as outside the church.