Sin & Salvation Flashcards
(5 cards)
What is the unforgivable sin? How do I know if I’ve already committed it?
Empathy: Maybe you’ve heard about this unforgiveable sin, or heard somebody call it the “blasphemy of the Holy Spirit”.
Bible: Jesus mentions that in Matthew 12. He’s just healed a blind and mute man possessed by demons. The Pharisees accused Jesus of casting him out by Satan’s power.
This is more than just saying something bad about the Holy Spirit. This is, just like the Pharisees, a continued rejection of the gospel and of who Jesus is. (John 3:18, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”) It’s a refusal to believe and trust in Jesus.
Connect: Outside of that God promises us in the book of 1 John 1:9 that if we confess our sins, he is faithful to forgive us…” And Romans 10 says “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Does someone go to hell if they commit suicide?
Empathy: First off, I am so sorry to hear that. Could I ask a little more about their faith? Did they have a relationship with Jesus?
What we know: The reason I ask that is because we know that suicide is still wrong, it’s taking a life. But it’s not an unforgivable sin. In fact you think about someone like Sampson who pulled that building down upon himself and the Philistines, or even King Saul, “the Lord’s anointed” killed himself in battle by falling on his own sword. There’s a good argument that those men are in heaven…why?
Because how we die does not determine where we go. It all comes back to what you’ve done with Jesus.
For someone that’s placed their faith in Christ, Romans 8:38-39 says …“that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” [38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[a] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.]
Connect/Your step: So it comes back to that question…have you placed your faith in Christ?
Can you lose your salvation?
Empathy: Sounds like that’s something you’re worried about.
Bible: But here’s what the Bible tells us that if you’ve put your faith in Jesus, trusted Him to be the leader and forgiver of your life, then you can’t. Jesus even says in John 10 “I give them eternal life, they shall not perish. And no one can snatch them out of my hands.” So you with Him, you are secure.
But I know it seems like people can…especially when we see them claim Christ, but then fall away. Jesus knew this would be the case and even explained it in the Parable of the Sower…that the gospel is like seeds…some of it fell on “rocky ground”, it quickly grew up and withered away because it never took root. That’s what happens when it looks like someone had faith, but the gospel never took root into their lives.
Can Jewish people go to heaven if they follow the Law like other OT saints?
Doesn’t Acts 2:38 teach we must be baptized to be saved?
