Will my dad, who was saved when he was young, still go to heaven even if he denounces God now?
My dad said he thought he was saved when young (when I asked him). He now says that if God were who he claimed to be, he would have.... He doesn't believe there is no God. I know this because he said that he couldn't say he was an atheist. (He was raised as Southern Baptist in the hellfire & brimstone era of preaching in Alabama.) If he now denounces God, and has for decades (he's 91), will he still go to heaven when he dies?
Romans 10:13
ESV - 13 For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Anonymous
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Danny Hickman
Let's shorten the question for clarity: 'Will my dad still go to heaven if he denounces God'?
If he is born again, he will. Which spawns the question of whether a born again person can/will denounce God. Here's my take:
A born again person has been given a gift; the gift of the Holy Spirt; the gift of eternal life; the gift of salvation. So where's the problem? The problem is the prevalent teaching that if a person isn't given this gift, that person will suffer unending punishment for their sinful life. Since everyone sins, some people need to come up with an equitable reason for the gift; if no one ceases to sin, why are some people given the gift of salvation and others are doomed to suffer endlessly?
That creates a problem! And the reason is FALSE TEACHING!!
The penalty for sin is death! Everlasting death! Outer darkness death! The penalty for sin is not everlasting life in outer darkness.
Salvation is not a 'Reward' for believing in Jesus; it isn't an 'Award' for living a portion of your life righteously. It's not an escape plan to avoid eternal life in a prison known as Hell. IT'S A GIFT!!
It puts God's love and mercy on display! It shows God's gracious character. And none of that plays a role in a courtroom of justice. But Jesus! Jesus and the Cross! The sacrificial Lamb! Justice was served!
God demonstrates His love for us in that Christ died for sinners (Rom 5:8). For SINNERS, not saints. It's a GIFT!! Are there terms for disqualification? It's a GIFT!!
Danny Hickman
"For by grace you have been saved... it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8). "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life..." (Romans 6:23). "Repent... and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38).
Peter's explanation can cause us to believe that there's a cause and effect to receiving the GIFT if we're not careful. But listen to him in Acts 11 when he teaches about how God's grace was extended to Gentiles:
"The Spirit told me to go with them" (the men whom Cornelius had sent to get Peter to come to his home in Caesarea). "As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning." He continues: "If God gave them the same GIFT as He gave us... who was I that I could withstand God?" (vss 15-17)
Did you catch that? The Holy Spirit fell on the hearers of the gospel as soon as Peter started preaching to them. Otherwise, they would not have repented. Repentance is a GIFT!
The letters to the Church in the Scriptures are redundant; the theme is about how undeserving the Church is of the GIFT of eternal life and peace with God! It speaks of the love of God in Christ Jesus.
IT ISN'T ENOUGH for many people! They want something that explains how some are given the gift and others aren't. So for them, GIFT creates a problem. They prefer it to be an award.
Award ~ to give as due or merited; assign or bestow; something awarded, as a payment or medal.
They teach that! It's false teaching!! It ain't the good news!!