Can We Have Assurance Of Salvation?

Discussion in 'Faith & Religion' started by Babs Hunt, Jun 20, 2016.

  1. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
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    Numbers 12:1-17.

    In a way, these verses give another side of Salvation.
    Toward about the 14th verse we have Moses, a figure of Christ, speaking to God and asking that Miriam be forgiven and healed. God relented with a 7 day provision but nonetheless, she was forgiven.

    Jesus is our intercessor for He, like Moses, speaks to God “mouth to mouth” and He did after all, give His life that we can also be forgiven.
     
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  2. Jeff Elohim

    Jeff Elohim Very Well-Known Member
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    Yes, this is one of the Biblical accounts I was thinking of. (there may be more posted later) >>>
    "And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Miriam and Aaron, and He departed.

    But when the cloud had withdrawn from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow.

    And Aaron turned and looked at Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.

    Then Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, I plead with you, do not account this sin to us, in which we have acted foolishly and in which we have sinned.

    Oh, do not let her be like one dead, already half decomposed when he comes from his mother’s womb.”

    So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, “Heal her please, O God, I plead with You!”

    But the LORD said to Moses, “If her father had but [d]spit in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be shut up outside the camp for seven days, and afterward she may return.”

    So Miriam was shut up outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was brought in again [and declared ceremonially clean from her leprosy]."

    RSVCE
    kiss his feet, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way; for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

    Amplified Bible
    The Murmuring of Miriam and Aaron

    Now [a]Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married

    (for he had married a Cushite woman);

    and they said, “Has the LORD really spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken also through us?”

    And the LORD heard it.

    Now the man Moses was very humble (gentle, kind, devoid of self-righteousness), more than any man who was on the face of the earth.)

    Suddenly the LORD said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle).” And the three of them came out.

    The LORD came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the doorway of the tabernacle, and He called Aaron and Miriam, and they came forward.

    And He said,

    “Hear now My words:

    If there is a prophet among you,

    I the LORD will make Myself known to him in a vision

    And I will speak to him in a dream.

    “But it is not so with My servant Moses;

    He is entrusted and faithful in all My house.

    “With him I speak mouth to mouth [directly],

    Clearly and openly and not in riddles;

    And he beholds the form of the LORD.

    Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?”
     
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  3. Joan Kuper

    Joan Kuper Very Well-Known Member
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    When I read the title I thought of it as a yes to no question..but I do not want to offend anyone and will just say I find differing interpretations fascinating and I learn a lot from them
     
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  4. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
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    The point I was trying to make is that Moses was Miriams’s advocate just as Jesus Christ is ours ergo a good example of a type of salvation.
     
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  5. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
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    Oh no, there was nor is any offense taken.
    I am indeed in no position to pontificate because I too have been amiss on other subjects but what one believes to be the very center of one’s life is much more important than many realize.

    It’s a promise and that promise is the end result of grace, something not earned nor even warranted in my case.
    Earlier on, Lon accused me of being self righteous but how can that be so when according to my scripture, there is none righteous, no not one?
    To think that I am righteous in any way would be to put myself ahead of grace and deny the very sovereignty of the Christ.

    I, like “most” other Christians recognize that the best we can do is to try to be good, faithful and loving but alas, we make mistakes and sometimes even intentionally which makes grace even more important. Without it and our advocate Jesus Christ, the Kingdom of Heaven would be an unreachable endeavor.

    Salvation is more than just going to heaven though, it entails a lot of things which makes it even more important to be assured that one is saved because we all have doubts at one time or another.
    @Babs Hunt might be a good example here. She faced something that many Christians would go off the deep end and deny God entirely. She might have had some doubts early on which I am not privy to but one thing is for sure and that is that her faith has seemed to have grown immeasurably throughout her ordeal.
    “For we know that all things come together for good, to them that love God and them who are called according to His purpose”. (Rom. 8:28).
    Note: It doesn’t say that all good things come together for good. It says All Things meaning, .good and bad.
    She knows that she knows that she knows that she is saved and life or death on earth isn’t as important as that salvation and the love that God has shown.

    “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature can separate us from the Love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”. Rom. 8:38-39

    I have never felt that kind of love from any person on the face of this earth and to be very truthful, it was the promise in those two verses that first brought me to know what I needed and still do. God’s love and grace.
    He loves me so much that He gave His son that I might have life. Incredible feeling of sadness and joy all at the same time!!
     
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    Last edited: Jun 14, 2021
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  6. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    Supported by who? That's the pertinent question.
     
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  7. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
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    True.
    But then, not to recognize a “higher power” is the same as saying, “I am my own higher power” and my actions and thoughts are only held accountable by me.
    Bottom line is that if I am my own higher power then a higher power does indeed exist and I am the living example and evidence of it.
     
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  8. Martha Ferris

    Martha Ferris Well-Known Member
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    More like by what:
    "The scientific method is an empirical method of acquiring knowledge that has characterized the development of science since at least the 17th century. It involves careful observation, applying rigorous skepticism about what is observed, given that cognitive assumptions can distort how one interprets the observation. It involves formulating hypotheses, via induction, based on such observations; experimental and measurement-based testing of deductions drawn from the hypotheses; and refinement (or elimination) of the hypotheses based on the experimental findings. These are principles of the scientific method, as distinguished from a definitive series of steps applicable to all scientific enterprises.[1][2][3]

    Although procedures vary from one field of inquiry to another, the underlying process is frequently the same from one field to another. The process in the scientific method involves making conjectures (hypotheses), deriving predictions from them as logical consequences, and then carrying out experiments or empirical observations based on those predictions.[4][5] A hypothesis is a conjecture, based on knowledge obtained while seeking answers to the question. The hypothesis might be very specific, or it might be broad. Scientists then test hypotheses by conducting experiments or studies. A scientific hypothesis must be falsifiable, implying that it is possible to identify a possible outcome of an experiment or observation that conflicts with predictions deduced from the hypothesis; otherwise, the hypothesis cannot be meaningfully tested.[6]

    The purpose of an experiment is to determine whether observations agree with or conflict with the predictions derived from a hypothesis.[7] Experiments can take place anywhere from a garage to CERN's Large Hadron Collider. There are difficulties in a formulaic statement of method, however. Though the scientific method is often presented as a fixed sequence of steps, it represents rather a set of general principles.[8] Not all steps take place in every scientific inquiry (nor to the same degree), and they are not always in the same order." Scientific method - Wikipedia

    The exisitence of a higher power has been studied for centuries and continues tio be today by some of the most educated in the field and there has not yet been a difinitive answer.
     
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  9. Mary Stetler

    Mary Stetler Veteran Member
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    I wonder if the question is Can we be assured of Salvation? or Life after death? I would think fear of death would more be fear of Hell; not of nothingness or heaven. (salvation)
     
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  10. Jeff Elohim

    Jeff Elohim Very Well-Known Member
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    Yes , You can have perfect and full peace, and joy, and righteousness , as written, by faith and trusting daily in the Creator as He Says.

    What is falsely called knowledge , the human wisdom and knowledge of the flesh, including the so-called (fatal) scientific method,
    helps many souls to be destroyed, by unbelief and rebellion.

    Honest scientists have long been available who know and trust in the Creator, by faith in Jesus. They know the fatal errors of the so-called scientific method used by all the world, in the flesh.

    Faith is the evidence of things not seen. It is enough to please the Creator, to receive full peace and joy and righteousness.

    Woe to those who take the light out of a child's eyes, who deny the Savior and the Creator, who destroy not only their own soul, but the souls of others by causing them to stumble around in the darkness, blind leading the blind.
     
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  11. Jeff Elohim

    Jeff Elohim Very Well-Known Member
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    Well,
    as Planned since before Creation,
    The Creator supports all those who trust in Him.

    Of course, that is few in the world, and the children of hasatan far outnumber us.
     
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  12. Martha Ferris

    Martha Ferris Well-Known Member
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    We have free will regardless of our beliefs. We have the ability to make choices therefore if that equates to "I am my own higher power" then, yes, I am. For me my own "higher power" are my values and I have to answer to myself as to how true I have remained to those values.
    There is no evidence that we will be held accountable by anything after this life. See my response concerning the Scientifc Method.
     
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  13. Jeff Elohim

    Jeff Elohim Very Well-Known Member
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    "1 Corinthians 11:32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we ...
    biblehub.com/1_corinthians/11-32.htm
    But whilst we are judged, we are chastised by the Lord, that we be not condemned with this world. English Revised Version But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world. Good News Translation But we are judged and punished by the Lord, so that we shall not be condemned together with the world."

    'For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God." So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.'
    (excerpt from someone's commentary online)
     
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  14. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
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    See, that’s probably the largest problem most non-believers have with those who worship the Father.
    Heaven and Hell are simply end results to me and totally on some back burner and not why I passionately love the Lord.

    I have “felt” His presence and know many of the things that He has done for me. He is the Father and a Father I never had on earth.
    A Father who taught me more about life, a Father who has held me accountable for my mistakes but at the same time, forgiven me for them.
    The joy I have had knowing a REAL Father’s love is the most important thing to me and if I die and there is indeed “nothing” then at least during my lifetime I will have known real joy and real happiness and perhaps left behind that same lasting impression.

    A person who truly loves the Lord doesn’t even think of heaven nor hell. We love Him because He has shown how much He loves us time, after time, after time.
    Having a “fear” of the Lord is interpreted badly by the secular sect because it actually means “reverential trust” which we do, as a child would his or her parents.
    It’s not about shaking in your boots because of some threat. God never threatens, He promises and with those promises we are heavily chastised but with love when we err but again, forgiven just as a parent would forgive a child for as the Master said, Go and sin no more.

    The promise of salvation is again, the end result of grace and His unconditional love.
     
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  15. Jeff Elohim

    Jeff Elohim Very Well-Known Member
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    Cool!

    Simple, direct, faithful, daily, realize we live moment to moment, abiding in and following Jesus, not being distracted with future events we have no control over, nor past events other than what the Father inspires in us.

    Just like a 3 year old son , walking happily with his hand in his father's hand, a single eye, a single purpose, by God's Grace,
    being one with the Father as Jesus prayed it to be, being one with the Son Jesus, as Jesus is one with the Father, so are we to be today.

    Oh the marvelous grace and beauty and joy and peace and righteousness and hope all the time, dwelling with Jesus in the Father.

    A big difference, a total difference from worldly religions, (even totally different from most of Christendom the world sees).
     
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