Christians: Do we have the right to guarantee salvation to another individual?

Question

Why does presentation of the gospel so often include a promise that you are saved if you say "the sinners prayer?"

Can we possibly know if these individuals have REALLY have become true believers, thereby being justified by faith?!?

Isn't it dangerous to assure someone of salvation, when we don't know their hearts nor their standing before God?

Answer 1

Jesus conferred this right upon His disciples:

"On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."

John 20:19-23

This was not some special privilege conferred upon the Apostles, but was based upon the truths Jesus had taught them.

Thus Paul was able to answer the Philippian jailer in this way when he asked what he had to do to be saved:

"They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household." "

Acts 16:31

So Here Paul also was not saying that if the jailer believed his household would be saved - but that if every member of the household believed, they also would be saved.

So Paul was able to state this to the Romans:

"That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."

Romans 10:9-10

If God assures them salvation, then we can assure them salvation if they conform to God's requirements.

Answer 2

no....he or she must be born again....but ive said before that if you ask Jesus into your WILLING heart, you wont regret it..

Answer 3

That is a brilliant question.

Even to offer salvation is to jugde that someone does not already have it!

Judge not, lest you be judged.

For more questionable theolgy... some of it is on my biography.

So you are right on target. Keep on thinking. That was brilliant.

Answer 4

Legally, we have the right to lie. And they have the right to be gullible, and believe us.  

Answer 5

Sometimes.  It depends on if Jesus tells you or confirms in your spirit man that this person is saved.  

And also, If someone prays the sinners prayer, I confirm that I am her witness that she did this.  Someone did this for me, when I first prayed the sinners prayer, at the end of a breakdown I was going through.  That was so important to me.

So shortly before my grandmother died, she confessed Jesus Christ her Lord & Savior over the phone to me.  I believe she actually was saved when she was water baptized in the River Jordon in Israel or around there.  But I never heard her & wanted confirmation she was heaven bound.  The Lord confirmed to me she was heaven bound by letting me hear her confession shortly before she died.

When my sister n law confessed over the phone, I told her I would be her witness.  Now I knew she was born again at her confirmation camp years before.  But I had a vision of me having a baby & the umbilical cord was cut.  I asked God who this was. And it was my sister n law. I was confused because I thought she was already born of God.  So God said that her umbilical cord was cut.  Since then, I realize that this was a time when she was cut off from the religiosity of the Church that the placenta symbolized. There was a stronghold of condemning religiosity in the Lutheran Church she grew up in. Though the foundational teachings in the Church was salvation through the blood of Jesus & Christian foundational.

I don't think we can know for sure, unless the Lord gives us assurance it is so. And I can certainly tell someone that I am their witness. They confessed Jesus Christtheir Lord and I heard.  I pray for my family & friends or others.  And I ask Jesus where they are. So this helps give me assurance that they are saved, or will be saved, etc... Also helps me know how to pray for them.

If you have received a word of knowledge from God that some one is going to get saved or is saved or has honestly to God confessed Jesus Christ their Lord while believing He raised from the dead.  Then, it would be much more dangerous to tell them they may not be saved.  I think God would give you a big spanking.

Answer 6

+ Fides Spes Caritas +

Hello. Been a while here in Yahoo.

The bits with Sinners Prayer Does tell you that repentance and admitting your wrongdoings are fundamental and essential for your salvation.

But that is not to say Sinners Prayer = Salvation. One's perception of Sinners Prayer may not be what God means by "Sinners Prayer".

Interesting thing to see here, is therefore, what the fathers in Faith had thought of these issues. The following will be profoundly catholic so if you feel unhappy with it, do skip it but I recommend a good read.

St Augustine has left a lot of teachings and discoveries of spirituality in the issues regarding sins and forgiveness. His book Confessions is known to deal with these issues in a very profound, powerful yet personal way. I remember hearing about the level of repentance that one goes through. We have something called complete (might be called something else. Direct translation from Korean, actually) and partial repentance. Complete repentance is when you repent your sins completely so that you understand all the following consequences and the damages done to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. And the partial repentance is when you repent but not because you are truly sorry for your sins but also because you are afraid of meriting the punishments especially the eternal death. The latter requires Confession. And since it is impossible that we totally understand all the consequences and graveness of our sins, we often result in partial repentance and therefore we go to confessions for the full explanation of what has happened and what should be done and so on and so forth.

That is why catholics focus on the meditation before going to confession to help ourselves understand the graveness of the matter better and to actively seek the grace of knowing all that we have done against God and to be truly sorry for it.

Onto the Second Question, we may have two different approaches.

One is more protestant and the other is less so.

First one which is more protestant is that a faithful with a good, well-formed faith will not commit mortal sins often at all and therefore there faith will in certain ways justify themselves.

The second is that since we do not know we have good faith or what, we try to pray more, dedicate ourselves more fully and freely and then with the grace of God we will receive the grace of True Faith and understanding of the Divine Will, the Cosmos. That is called the Beatific Vision, known to be achieved by Saint Francisco of Assisi.

His prayer/poem <<Canticle of the Sun>> shows the ultimate understanding of the Cosmos and the utmost gratitude towards the creative order.

Lastly, Catholics do not assure anybody of salvation and equally we do not condemn anybody to h**l. We leave it to God. As we should.

Only God has the right to salvage or d**n a soul. It is indeed very dangerous to assure anybody of anything as it not only goes against the Christian teaching of God being the Master of Life. After all, when Catholics talk about life, it not only means the bodily life but also the life of the soul.

Answer 7

"Salvation" is an absurd tortured lie invented by the early Church.

Answer 8

you have no problem guaranteeing the damnation of others, so why not?

Answer 9

Wow could not have said it better myself

God knows the inner most being of us and he is the only one that rightgeously can judge for salvation.

shalom

Answer 10

Only God can Judge

all others are speculation

and it is a shaky speculation at that...for what you judge you will be judged for also

Answer 11

Jesus has given us that right by way of the Great Commission. Jesus Christ himself commands us! Yes, we have the right and are commanded by Jesus to do just that!

Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. Matthew 22:9.

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen. (Matthew 28:18-20)

The Great Commission - Its Significance for Christians

The Great Commission is the end of a Gospel and the beginning of faith in action for all Christians. This command from Jesus is significant because it's a personal instruction for Christians to have a profound faith in Jesus Christ as indicated in verse 18. "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth." This is an incredibly powerful statement which demands faith in Jesus Christ, validating His power in the lives of Christians and their commitment to Him. This verse acts as a clear claim to Christ's omnipotence, and therefore His deity. If Christians do not believe this statement, complete faith does not exist. Jesus is very clear about His authority in the world -- it is complete and total from the beginning of time itself (John 1:1-3).

In verse 19, Jesus gives His believers specific directions to follow after they have affirmed their faith. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Jesus calls all His followers to act and share the Good News of salvation throughout the world. People hear this calling and travel each year on missionary trips throughout the earth, spreading the word of Jesus Christ. Many Christians have made incredible sacrifices, traveling to remote regions of the world beyond the civilized cities into jungles and deserts. Mission fields can also be very close to home. It could be a neighbor who has not heard the Good News, or a poverty stricken area just down the road where people can't afford Bibles. In the 21st century, the Internet has become a mission field where people can reach out and share Christ's love. The places and people who need to hear the Gospel are everywhere!

Another important aspect of verse 19 is that Christ is specifically teaching the doctrine of the Trinity to His followers. The three Persons of the Godhead are each equally and fully God and here presented in the logical order of Father, Son and Holy Spirit - yet only One God from the beginning (see Romans 1:20).

Finally, in verse 20, Jesus provides specific direction with affirmation to His followers, "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Christians are instructed to teach others about Jesus Christ and the entirety of His truth. We can't profess Christ as Savior and Lord, while rejecting certain of His teachings. As we teach Christ's truths, verse 20 declares that we can be confident, in faith, that Jesus Christ will support us. This fact has proven trustworthy throughout the centuries as millions of believers have heard, accepted and shared the Good News of Jesus Christ. Yes, Christ has ascended back to heaven, but He is present by the power of the Holy Spirit in every believer!

The Great Commission - A Personal Calling

In the Great Commission, Jesus calls every Christian to step out in faith and spread the Good News. This is faith in action! People who obey this command change their spiritual lives forever! It could be spreading the Good News to a neighbor or moving to another country to reach the people there. It could be sharing with less fortunate kids down the street or spreading the Word in a town two hours away. Wherever we go, every faithful Christian is compelled through obedience to share the Gospel. If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, where has He called you to go? Who has God put on your heart to share the gift of salvation? What small or large steps can you take, with the knowledge that Christ will be by your side, "to make disciples of all the nations"?

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

1 John 5:11-13 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath n

Answer 12

No.  That is the job of the Holy Spirit.  We all just need to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith.(2 Cor. 13:5)  Afterall, we can't trust our hearts because they are wicked. (Jer. 17:9)

I say, just stand back and watch.  Jesus said "You will know them by their fruits."

Answer 13

We are not to judge either way whether it is for someones salvation or against it....we have the parable of the wheat and the tares.  God is the harvester and only he knows the heart.  We are called to plant the seeds.

Answer 14

Wow, thee of little faith.  

Answer 15

Hit the nail on the head, why dontcha!  :)

You are absolutely right.  

Answer 16

No, only God knows if they truly believe,they must ask Him into their heart.

Answer 17

You can lead a person to salvation, but God is the ultimate judge.

Only God knows the heart of a person.

Answer 18

Didn't Christ himself say that there will be those who will call me "Lord" who will not enter the kingdom of Heaven.  So unless you are God's Secretary, who knows who will make it in.  (What is the Sinner's Prayer?)

Answer 19

You don't know that there is a God, so even your own (supposed) salvation is just a lot of talk.

Answer 20

God guarantees salvation to those who follow Christ and believe he is the Son of God. I guarantee nothing.

Answer 21

That's pretty much what the entire faith rests upon; being born a horrible sinner, but hoping that believe in God & Jesus will help save you.

We can't know if these invidividuals have become REAL believers, but God knows for sure.  Best to let Him decide for Himself since all we could do is propose the idea to them.

I don't think it's dangerous at all.  All we're doing is opening the door for them.  We can't help it if they don't decide to step through. :P