The Undiscovered Country

We Are Assured

My mom and I had a conversation today about religion and faith, specifically about whether or not a person is going to Heaven. She's Catholic, so she sees things from a Catholic perspective. As a Protestant myself -- well you get the rest.

We both agree that no one can guess if another person is going to Heaven. That's a given, because no one can know the relationship anyone else shares with God, if any. That's part of why we are to reach out to others about Jesus and explain the reason behind his life and his death.

Where our views take a turn is whether or not a person can be assured of his or her own salvation. A Catholic can't ever know whether or not they'll get to Heaven, because to think that is to assume they know the mind of God. No one can know the mind of God, and to assume that is beyond arrogance.

To get answers to difficult questions about faith such as this one, I turn to Scripture. The New Testament states multiple times that when we turn to Christ and ask for forgiveness of our sins, we are saved. One of Jesus' last statements was when one of the thieves asked to be remembered when he entered the his Kingdom, and Jesus promised him he would enter paradise that very day.

That being the case, for a Christian to state without a doubt that they will see God's face in Heaven when he/she dies is not assuming to know God's mind. It's taking him at his word. Isn't that the very definition of faith?

I shudder to think that my devotion to God and laying my sins at Jesus' feet is all for naught. Where is the hope in not being assured I will enter God's Kingdom no matter where my heart is, what I say or what I do? I could be wrong, but the way my mom explained salvation (or lack thereof) makes God seem almost capricious and he is anything but. He's a God who always keeps his promises, and he promised that whoever believes in him should not parish, but have everlasting life.