Happy Camper, the "sinner's prayer", another difficult topic.
Reconcile this:
From the minute you transfer the object of your faith....your filthy rags to INSTEAD making The crucified Savior the Object of faith..... that is when He gives that gift of everlasting life. You can never go to hell from that point on. What about sins? You will be treated as sons. Discipline on earth in time, but never hell. It will hurt, but Jesus is the only One Who paid for them.
To this:
3 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God's children now....
Yes, ctsmith, to know Him is to place 100% of your trust in Him for salvation. That is when you become a child of God..... spiritually born into His family.
So others know the address, you are showing I John. From the first few verses, it clearly addresses an audience of believers who have already obeyed the gospel by believing in Jesus. He goes on in the same letter to assure them that once they are saved, they will always be saved. " 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 not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." I John 5:11-13
What John states in his 3 letters is addressed to a saved audience that already have the gift of eternal life. On the contrary, who he addresses in his larger gospel is primarily to a lost audience who has no assurance of heaven. See John 3:36 & 20:31
"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name."
It's as clear as our beautiful cloudless sky today. After making Jesus Christ the Object of your faith, read the gospel of (St.)John KJV. This clarifies the many supposed contradictions and confusions that the so called "reverends" cause to their churches. It's no wonder that Jesus rebuked them more harshly than any others.
May I recommend to all to prayerfully go back and study the Questions and Answers clearly stated in my previous post. There's much to gain by setting aside the other distractions for an evening or morning and settling that issue. There's nothing more important.
