We are ALL THE ELECT. So yes you can follow Jesus.   While there are numerous ideas of precisely what election means in regards to salvation, the fact that believers are elect is indisputable (Romans 8:29-30; Ephesians 1:4-5, 11; 1 Thessalonians 1:4). Simply put, the doctrine of election is that God chooses/determines/elects/predestines who will be saved. It is not within the scope of this article to determine how election works. Rather, the question at hand is “How can I know if I am one of the elect?” The answer is exceedingly simple: believe!

The Bible nowhere instructs us to be concerned regarding our status of elect vs. non-elect. Rather, God calls us to believe, to receive Jesus Christ as Savior, by grace through faith (John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8-9). If a person truly trusts in Jesus alone for salvation, that person is one of the elect. Whether belief secures election, or election causes belief – that is another debate. But what is sure that belief is evidence of election. No one can receive Jesus as Savior unless God draws him or her (John 6:44). God calls/draws those whom He has predestined/elected (Romans 8:29-30). Saving faith is not possible without divine election. Therefore, saving faith is evidence of election.

The idea of a person wanting to be saved but being unable to, due to not being one of the elect, is absolutely foreign to the Bible. No one seeks after God’s plan of salvation on their own accord (Romans 3:10-18). Those without Christ are blind to their need for salvation (2 Corinthians 4:4). This only changes when God begins drawing a person to Himself. It is God who opens eyes and enlightens minds to the need for Jesus Christ as Savior. A person cannot repent (change the mind about sin and the need for salvation) unless God grants repentance (Acts 11:18). Therefore, if you understand God’s plan of salvation, recognize your need for it, and feel compelled to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior, then believe, and you are saved.

If you have received Jesus Christ as your Savior, trusting Him alone for salvation, believing that His sacrifice is the full payment for your sins – congratulations, you are one of the elect.  

God created us in His own image so we can know Him personally and have a joy-filled life. He did not make us as robots to automatically love and obey Him, but gave us a will and a freedom of choice. Since the beginning of time, we have chosen to disobey God and go our own willful way. We still make this choice today. This results in separation from God and ends in misery. The Bible says that disobeying God results in being separated from Him.  Our attempts can never unite us with God. Through the ages, people have tried many ways to bridge this gap and reach God – without success.  I believe that each one of us has a little puzzle piece in each of our bodies that only the love of God can fill.  We try to fill it with all kinds of things like sex, boyfriends, children, drugs, alcohol, education, clubbing, partying and everything else that you can think of.  The thing is nothing fits right in there.  Only God can quench the longing of your soul.

3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” 4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second into their mother’s womb to be born!” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. John 3:3-6

If you want a new life in Christ Jesus, ask Him into your heart today.  Simply pray this:  Lord Jesus Christ, I believe that you took the pain of the cross to give me new life. I ask you to come into my heart and to give me your peace and joy. I confess that I am a sinner that I have gone my own way and have done wrong. Please forgive me for my sins. I receive you now as my Lord and Savior. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit. Help me to follow you and to serve you all my life. Thank you, in Jesus name I pray, Amen.  If you prayed that prayer you are a new creature in Christ Jesus!  You are Born Again!

Next, you really need to read the Bible if you are serious about your walk with the Lord Jesus.  The Bible is your spiritual food.  You need to read and meditate on the Word of God daily to be fed as a

Christian.  When you don’t spend time daily in the Word of God your spirit withers and dies.  Just like all “living things” your spirit needs food to thrive and grow.  God communicates to us through prayer and His word.  I would like you to set aside time every single day just for Jesus. I want it to be at least 15 minutes and I want you to read the Bible every day during this time and pray.  If you need a little more direction go to cbn.com (and no I don’t work for them) they have a sight that I use every single day.  I signed up for their read the Bible in a year.  They will e-mail you 2 scriptures every single day.  One from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament.  There is also an app that you can have loaded on your phone for free.  It is called Bible.is.  I love listening to the Word when I am out and about.  I promise that if you do this you will see a marked difference in your walk with Jesus Christ.  Next find a really good Bible based church to attend for teaching and fellowship.  If you need help finding one I will be happy to help you.

In my own life I have felt the Lord since I was very young.  Every time I look at the sky and marvel at the sun, moon and stars I have known that the Creator of all of this is AWESOME!!! To believe that I came from nothing is even harder to believe.  This universe didn’t come from nothing.  Just like you see a beautiful gold watch lying on the sand at the beach. You know it has a creator who made it.  Anyone who can look at this world and believe that it came from a bang or a blob…  Well I see my Creator in His creation everyday.  Every time I look in a mirror or see a child being born or someone die. When I look at the sun, moon or stars.  The mountains and the oceans.  They didn’t come from a blob or a bang.

You atheist love to ask “where is the proof of your God?  Now I ask you where is your proof there isn’t one?

The atheist, believing they have triumphed, usually concludes their demand with a folding of the arms, as if no good evidence for the Christian worldview has ever been put forward. This, of course, is a position that is either unknowingly or willingly ignorant of the weighty philosophical, empirical, and historical evidence that has been provided from the first century all the way up to the present by Christian apologists in defense of the faith. 

Such demands by atheists are naturally designed to put the Christian on the defensive, but let me ask: do atheists not bear any burden for the exact same type of proof they demand from Christians for their own worldview and faith? Indeed they do. 

The implied idea that just because a person holds a worldview that is devoid of God means that no evidence needs to be brought forth in defense of that held belief is absurd. The atheists have much to prove, and the fact is, when their own set of criteria they apply to Christianity is aimed back at their own belief system, it is shown to be in need of immediate CPR. 

Let’s look at three particular areas where the atheist needs proof to back up their claims. 

Where is the philosophical evidence for atheism? 

Some atheists scoff at the idea that philosophical evidence is needed to justify atheism. For example, Stephen Hawking has said that “philosophy is dead”.[1] One can only roll one’s eyes at such a statement, especially since Hawking goes on to philosophically argue much in his book to support his anti-supernatural position. 

From the start, the atheist puts him/herself in a difficult philosophical position because they make a negatively existential proposition (i.e. “no god”); a type of proposition that can never be proven. Intellectually honest skeptics will admit this and retreat to an agnostic position instead, which is more defensible. 

It’s important to note that with its primary assertion (no god), atheism has much prove and explain. First, it must answer the primary philosophical question put forward by Leibniz, Heidegger, and others: why do we have something rather than nothing at all? Recent attempts by atheists have failed miserably at providing proof for an answer to this query. For example, Dr. Lawrence Krauss’ latest book embarrassingly shows how far some committed atheists will go. Krauss is only able to give an answer by redefining ‘nothing’ to be the quantum vacuum or empty space, neither of which are ‘nothing’. 

Unless they believe in an infinite regress of causes, the atheist must philosophically defend his or her concept of the existence of an eternal/self-existent being that caused everything else. To date, no hard proof has been offered for the atheist’s eternal first cause. 

No matter how you section reality, the fact is, you will always end up with something that owes its existence to something other than itself. In other words, everything that is known is a contingent being in one form or another. This being true, the atheist must produce sound proofs for what necessary being exists that provides existence to everything else. 

Further, this necessary being must match the effects we observe all around us. The atheist has to explain how an impersonal, amoral, meaningless, purposeless universe accidentally created personal, moral beings who are obsessed with meaning and purpose. As a cause cannot produce an effect that possesses something it doesn’t (i.e. you can’t give what you don’t have), the atheist struggles greatly for a satisfying philosophical solution to their dilemma. 

This issue is multiplied greatly when the question of unity and diversity is added to the mix. Unity and diversity in effect necessitates unity and diversity in the first cause, and while the Biblical concept of the Trinity comes to the aid of the Christian, the atheist has no such answer to fall back upon. 

The atheist must also explain the notion of absolute moral values and how the concepts of good and evil are defined and managed. Some atheists such as Sam Harris have attempted to explain these things in recent works through pure natural means, but have been soundly refuted by both religious and non-religious ethicists. 

The logic the atheist must deal with where morality is concerned is the following: If there’s such a thing as evil, you must assume there’s such a thing as good. If you assume there’s such a thing as good, you assume there’s such a thing as an absolute and unchanging moral law on the basis of which to differentiate between good and evil. If you assume there’s such a thing as an absolute moral law, you must posit an absolute moral lawgiver, but that would be God – the one whom the atheist is trying to disprove. So now rewind: if there’s not a moral lawgiver, there’s no moral law. If there’s no moral law, there’s no good. If there’s no good, there’s no evil. Some atheists, such as Richard Dawkins admit there really is no good or evil, but most atheists aren’t willing to make such a confession. 

Again, some atheists will try and dismiss these and other similar philosophical issues that confront their worldview and will attempt to assert that the only evidence worthy enough to be considered is that which is scientific/empirical in nature. However, this presents them with another philosophical problem. 

When the atheist says, “We should only believe that which can be scientifically proven”, they aren’t aware that the truth claim that has just left their lips is one that cannot be scientifically proven (it is a philosophical proposition). This means their position is a non-starter right out of the blocks. 

For atheists that either already understand this fact or are forced to awaken to this truth, they then are brought to a couple of other unpleasant realities. If science cannot be the end all/be all where truth claims are concerned, then why demand that evidence for God must be found only in the empirical-only dimension? If questions of morality (e.g. “were the Nazi’s evil?”) and concepts like justice cannot be empirically tested and validated, perhaps neither can God. 

Further, the legal/historical method of ascertaining truth is widely accepted and can also be used to investigate things that cannot be handled by pure, repeatable empirical methods. If the atheist denies this, then they must explain how courtrooms worldwide arrive at their findings. 

In the end, the atheist cannot escape the need to provide philosophical evidence for their position that God does not exist. Their attempt to rely only on empirical methods to support the atheistic worldview cannot be maintained, and, as we’ll now see, science isn’t much help to their cause either.

I can tell you that God is very real He changed my life for eternity and He can change yours too.

God created us in His own image so we can know Him personally and have a joy-filled life. He did not make us as robots to automatically love and obey Him, but gave us a will and a freedom of choice. Since the beginning of time, we have chosen to disobey God and go our own willful way. We still make this choice today. This results in separation from God and ends in misery. The Bible says that disobeying God results in being separated from Him.  Our attempts can never unite us with God. Through the ages, people have tried many ways to bridge this gap and reach God – without success.  I believe that each one of us has a little puzzle piece in each of our bodies that only the love of God can fill.  We try to fill it with all kinds of things like sex, boyfriends, children, drugs, alcohol, education, clubbing, partying and everything else that you can think of.  The thing is nothing fits right in there.  Only God can quench the longing of your soul.

3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” 4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second into their mother’s womb to be born!” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. John 3:3-6

If you want a new life in Christ Jesus, ask Him into your heart today.  Simply pray this:  Lord Jesus Christ, I believe that you took the pain of the cross to give me new life. I ask you to come into my heart and to give me your peace and joy. I confess that I am a sinner that I have gone my own way and have done wrong. Please forgive me for my sins. I receive you now as my Lord and Savior. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit. Help me to follow you and to serve you all my life. Thank you, in Jesus name I pray, Amen.  If you prayed that prayer you are a new creature in Christ Jesus!  You are Born Again!

Next, you really need to read the Bible if you are serious about your walk with the Lord Jesus.  The Bible is your spiritual food.  You need to read and meditate on the Word of God daily to be fed as a

Christian.  When you don’t spend time daily in the Word of God your spirit withers and dies.  Just like all “living things” your spirit needs food to thrive and grow.  God communicates to us through prayer and His word.  I would like you to set aside time every single day just for Jesus. I want it to be at least 15 minutes and I want you to read the Bible every day during this time and pray.  If you need a little more direction go to cbn.com (and no I don’t work for them) they have a sight that I use every single day.  I signed up for their read the Bible in a year.  They will e-mail you 2 scriptures every single day.  One from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament.  There is also an app that you can have loaded on your phone for free.  It is called Bible.is.  I love listening to the Word when I am out and about.  I promise that if you do this you will see a marked difference in your walk with Jesus Christ.  Next find a really good Bible based church to attend for teaching and fellowship.  If you need help finding one I will be happy to help you.

 God bless you!!! :):):)

That is a really hard one because when you take your life you are committing murder. Suicide is still a serious sin against God. According to the Bible, suicide is murder; it is always wrong. Serious doubts could be raised about the genuineness of faith of anyone who claimed to be a Christian yet committed suicide. There is no circumstance that can justify someone, especially a Christian, taking his/her own life. Christians are called to live their lives for God, and the decision on when to die is God’s and God’s alone. Although it is not describing suicide, 1 Corinthians 3:15 is probably a good description of what happens to a Christian who commits suicide: “He himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.”  If it were me, I wouldn’t do it.  I would get into the Word of God and immerse myself in it and would step out in faith and live my life for Jesus Christ no matter how I felt.  No one promised us that life would be great.  That is only things you see on TV.  The real truth is life is hard, but as Christians we have something the world doesn’t His name is Jesus and we need to put all of our trust in HIM. Let us all pray for you that the Lord will touch you right now with His peace that passes all understanding.  That you will hold tightly to His hand and trust in Him to guide you through this maze of depression and darkness and back into the light of HIS love and peace. That you will believe the four words that He told us to give us hope.  I am with you…Consider these four words your safety net, protecting you from falling into despair.  To know that because you are human you are always going to have ups and downs in your life but the promise of HIS Presence how far you can go.  Sometime you may feel like you are in a free fall, when people and things you have counted on have let you down.  Yet as soon as you remember that Jesus is with you, your perspective will change radically.  Look to Him for help.  Never forget that He is right there with you, holding your right hand and guiding you with His counsel, and after that He will take you into glory.  This is the perspective I pray you get through the Holy Spirit inside of you.  In Jesus name I pray, amen and Amen.  God bless you !!! <3<3

The Bible does not specifically say whether or not mentally ill people go to heaven. However, there is some biblical evidence that anyone who is not able to make a decision for salvation is covered by Christ’s death. This is similar to how it is commonly believed that children are automatically taken to heaven when they die until they reach the point in which they are able to make a decision for or against Christ. David had a child die, and he comforted himself with the thought, “Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me” (2 Samuel 12:23). David knew that he would see his child in heaven one day. From that statement, we can assume that babies and young children were, by God’s grace, covered for salvation by Christ’s death.

We can postulate from this that mentally retarded people are covered by this principle as well. The Word of God does not specifically say this, however. Knowing the love, grace, and mercy of God, this would seem consistent with His character. Any person who is mentally challenged to the extent that he could not be aware of his sinful state and believe in Christ for salvation, is in the same category as a child and it is not unreasonable to assume that person is saved by the grace and mercy of the same God who saves babies and small children.

As in everything, however, we must be careful not to be dogmatic about any issue the Bible does not specifically address. We do know that Jesus receives as His own all that the Father has given to Him and He will lose none of them along the way (John 6:39). Jesus said of these “And I give to them eternal life, and they shall never ever perish, and not anyone shall pluck them out of My hand” (John 10:28). We can take comfort in knowing that our God’s plan is always perfect, He always does what is right and just, and His love and mercy are infinite and everlasting.  God bless you!!!! :):)

The concept of the “age of accountability” is that children are not held accountable by God for their sins until they reach a certain age, and that if a child dies before reaching the “age of accountability,’ that child will, by the grace and mercy of God, be granted entrance into Heaven. Is the concept of an age of accountability biblical? Is there such a thing as an “age of innocence”?

Frequently lost in the discussion regarding the age of accountability is the fact that children, no matter how young, are not “innocent” in the sense of being sinless. The Bible tells us that even if an infant or child has not committed personal sin, all people, including infants and children, are guilty before God because of inherited and imputed sin. Inherited sin is that which is passed on from our parents. In Psalm 51:5, David wrote, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” David recognized that even at conception, he was a sinner. The very sad fact that infants sometimes die demonstrates that even infants are impacted by Adam’s sin, since physical and spiritual death were the results of Adam’s original sin.

Each person, infant or adult, stands guilty before God; each person has offended the holiness of God. The only way God can be just and at the same time declare a person righteous is for that person to have received forgiveness by faith in Christ. Christ is the only way. John 14:6 records what Jesus said: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, except through Me.” Also, Peter states in Acts 4:12, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” Salvation is an individual choice.

What about babies and young children who never reach the ability to make this individual choice? The age of accountability is a concept that teaches those who die before reaching the age of accountability are automatically saved, by God’s grace and mercy. The age of accountability is a belief that God saves all those who die before reaching the ability to make a decision for or against Christ. Thirteen is the most common number given for the age of accountability, based on the Jewish custom that a child becomes an adult at the age of 13. However, the Bible gives no direct support to the age of 13 always being the age of accountability. It likely varies from child to child. A child has passed the age of accountability once he or she is capable of making a faith decision for or against Christ.

With the above in mind, also consider this: Christ’s death is presented as sufficient for all of mankind. First John 2:2 says Jesus is “the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” This verse is clear that Jesus’ death was sufficient for all sins, not just the sins of those who specifically have come to Him in faith. The fact that Christ’s death was sufficient for all sin would allow the possibility of God’s applying that payment to those who were never capable of believing.

The one passage that seems to identify with this topic more than any other is 2 Samuel 12:21-23. The context of these verses is that King David committed adultery with Bathsheba, with a resulting pregnancy. The prophet Nathan was sent by the Lord to inform David that because of his sin, the Lord would take the child in death. David responded to this by grieving, mourning, and praying for the child. But once the child was taken, David’s mourning ended. David’s servants were surprised to hear this. They said to King David, “What is this thing that you have done? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” David’s response was, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who knows, the LORD may be gracious to me, that the child may live.’ But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.” David’s response indicates that those who cannot believe are safe in the Lord. David said that he could go to the child, but that he could not bring the child back to him. Also, and just as important, David seemed to be comforted over this. In other words, David seemed to be saying that he would see the child (in heaven), though he could not bring him back.

Although it is possible that God applies Christ’s payment for sin to those who cannot believe, the Bible does not specifically say that He does this. Therefore, this is a subject about which we should not be adamant or dogmatic. God’s applying Christ’s death to those who cannot believe would seem consistent with His love and mercy. It is our position that God applies Christ’s payment for sin to young children and those who are mentally handicapped, since they were not mentally capable of understanding their sinful state and their need for the Savior, but again we cannot be dogmatic. Of this we are certain: God is loving, holy, merciful, just, and gracious. Whatever He does is always right and good.  God bless you!!! :):)

Yes I do. Peter was a mighty man of God.  Jesus asked Peter the threefold question “Do you love me?” as recorded in John 21:15-17. This occurred when Jesus was having breakfast with His disciples soon after His resurrection. Jesus used this opportunity to encourage and exhort Peter about his upcoming responsibilities and even prophesies the manner in which Peter will die. By asking Peter “do you love me?” three times, Jesus was emphasizing the importance of Peter’s love and unswerving obedience to his Lord as necessary for his future ministry. 

Jesus begins by questioning Peter about His love for Him, and each time Peter answers in the affirmative, Jesus follows up with the command for Peter to feed His sheep. His meaning is that if Peter truly loves his Master, he is to shepherd and care for those who belong to Christ. His words reveal Peter’s role as the leader of the new Church, the Body of Christ there in Jerusalem that will be responsible for spreading the Gospel after Jesus’ ascension into heaven. 

It is possible that by His repeated question Jesus is subtly reminding Peter of his three denials that took place as Jesus was being led away to appear before the Sanhedrin, Pilate and Herod, and later crucified. There’s no doubt those denials made by Peter, the subsequent crowing of the rooster just as Jesus prophesied would happen (Luke 22:34), and how he felt when Jesus turned to look at him at that moment became an event seared deeply into his mind (Luke 22:54-62). It wasn’t lost on Peter that Jesus repeated His question to him three times, just as Peter previously denied Him three times.

There is also an interesting contrast when you look at the Greek words for “love” used in John 21:15-17. When Jesus asked Peter “do you love me?” in John 21:15-16, He used the Greek word agape which refers to unconditional love. Both times, Peter responded with “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you,” using the Greek word phileo which refers more to a brotherly/friendship type of love. It seems that Jesus is trying to get Peter to understand that he must love Jesus unconditionally in order to be the leader God is calling him to be. The third time Jesus asks “do you love me?” in John 21:17, He uses the word phileo, and Peter again responds with “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you,” again using phileo. The point in the different Greek words for love seems to be that Jesus was stretching Peter to move him from phileo love to agape love.

Whatever the reason for the three-fold “do you love me?” question, Jesus was impressing on Peter how important his new role of tending the flock of Christ’s followers would be. When someone repeats instructions to us over and over, we quickly understand that it’s extremely important for us to heed them. Jesus wanted to make sure Peter understood this vital charge He was tasking him with and the ultimate reason for it, to follow Him and glorify God (John 21:19).  

Judas went to hell.The Bible clearly indicates that Judas was not saved. Jesus Himself said of Judas, “The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born” (Matthew 26:24). Here is a clear picture of the sovereignty of God and the will of man working together. God had, from ages past, determined that Christ would be betrayed by Judas, die on the cross for our sins, and be resurrected. This is what Jesus meant when He said He would “go just as it is written about him.” Nothing would stop the plan of God to provide salvation for mankind.

However, the fact that it was all foreordained does not excuse Judas or absolve him from the punishment he would suffer for his part in the drama. Judas made his own choices, and they were the source of his own damnation. Yet the choices fit perfectly into the sovereign plan of God. God controls not only the good, but also the evil of man to accomplish His own ends. Here we see Jesus condemning Judas, but considering that Judas travelled with Jesus for nearly three years, we know He also gave Judas ample opportunity for salvation and repentance. Even after his dreadful deed, Judas could have fallen on his knees to beg God’s forgiveness. But he did not. He may have felt some remorse born of fear, which caused him to return the money to the Pharisees, but he never repented, preferring instead to commit suicide, the ultimate act of selfishness (Matthew 27:5-8).

In John 17:12, Jesus prays concerning His disciples, “While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.” At one time, though, Judas believed that Jesus was a prophet, or possibly even believed He was the Messiah. Jesus sent the disciples out to proclaim the gospel and perform miracles (Luke 9:1-6). Judas was included in this group. Judas had faith, but it was not a true saving faith. Judas was never “saved,” but for a time he was a follower of Christ.  God bless you!!! :):)