Can you say yes?

mima,

I don't think you can ever say that to another person unqualified. It is possible to say IF you believe what the Bible says, IF you trust Christ to do what you cannot do, IF you place your trust IN Christ alone to save you, THEN the Bible says you are saved. I believe that we cannot and should not simply tell someone that we know they are saved. We CAN tell someone that "I know I am saved"....but no one can know for sure for another person except based on that other person's own testimony.

Only the individual knows for sure for himself.

 

I pretty much agree with bapmom. After all, "Man looketh on the outward appearance, but God looketh on the heart."

I believe I have told people this before, based on their obvious sincerity, new-found peace and joy on their faces, etc.--but very rarely. But here in Japan they are so eager to please that they will do anything you say, so I am very careful about not telling anyone they are saved based simply on how they prayed.

 

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I for one am grateful that God decides who is "saved". If it was left up to us, I am afraid Heaven would be empty. :tear:

I do have a question though, what about a pathological liar? I have seen some very convincing ones.

leenies

 

I've taken someone through the plan of salvation, heard them say they were trusting Christ, and then had them hit me up for bus fare! All you can do is hope for their sake that they truly did believe! In the end, like you say, God knows who are really saved, who are truly His. :saint:

 

as you said, God knows and the person knows. Im not held responsible by God to know if anyone else is saved for sure. That is, Im not held accountable if someone makes a profession but is lying. That person IS held accountable t hough....and they know if they are lying or not. God will deal with them.

We are responsible for presenting the gospel in as clear a manner as we are capable. If they lie about their response, well, that is between them and God.

 

No. I don't feel like I can tell someone for sure they are saved. We don't do the saving. We point them to the one who does. We lead them to Christ, their life from that point on will determine if they are saved. It is not a one-time prayer. Salvation, though many choose to believe it to be so, is not a one-time decision and then we are saved for eternity no matter what we do. In fact, some believe this so much to be true that they don't even think they need to confess their sins. If someone is saved, they will know. Their life will change and the things they say and do will be a reflection of their salvation. Sure we all stumble, but as saved people we will not stay down. To tell someone they are saved or not saved is not for us to do. They have to trust their own heart, their own relationship with Jesus. We aren't the judge.

 

ok, it's off-topic, but Ive got to ask..........

PutGodFirst......how would you present the gospel to a person then? Are you espousing a works salvation? because that is the definite impression I got from your last post.

 

mima,

thing is, yes, you can take someone back to when you heard them make a public profession and you can ask them if they truly believed and trusted in Christ at that time, and YES, based on their response you can form an opinion about their salvation. Yet, it still remains true that only they and God know for sure if they actually trust Christ. It is not the words the person used, it is the belief in their heart. And because only God looks on the heart we cannot determine the state of another person with one-hundred percent accuracy.

This is a gigantic problem I see in our churches, mima, when dealing with children especially. A young child comes and walks the aisle or talks to his mom or dad about salvation. That child makes a profession, but then a few years later comes with some doubts. Should the parent alleviate those fears by telling the child "Sure, I know you got saved. Don't worry about it". NO, please do NOT say that to a child! Go over the simple plan of salvation again and again if need be, until that child has assurance of salvation because of what GOD places in his heart.

We just went through that scenario with our 8 year old son. He had talked with my husband about salvation a couple years ago, said he had gotten saved and was even baptized. But then, since that time, he has not given a clear testimony to several people who asked, including his school teacher. We have all been concerned, but PRaise God! this last Wednesday his school teacher talked with him about salvation and he now professes this last Wednesday as the day he was saved! We are so rejoicing over that! But by no means were we going to tell our son that he had been saved before and not to worry. Believe me, I wanted to be the one to talk with him about it, but when it comes to my own children I get too intense and it turns into them doing it just to please me or obey.

I have heard many testimonies of people who had continual doubt that were assured over and over by well-meaning Christians around them that told them they were sure the person was saved. When the doubting person knew for themself that they were not........

If someone comes to you with doubts about their salvation help them nail it down! If they get saved the second or even third time or more that they talk with someone about it, than what is the harm in that? The important thing is that they trust in Christ, right?