Expert: Carl Fuglein - 7/22/2010

Question
dear sir,
what makes a person born again/saved/child of God? according to Romans 10:9 a person is saved,does it mean that his/her name is wriitten in the book of life and will never be put to hell? my mom was a believer so due to her influence &preaching i accepted Jesus wheni was 9 yrs hardly realizing the importance.its only after many years i understand . in short the decision which i took at 9 hardly had any influence in my life ,it just continued the way it was.if a person is saved and then commits sins  and doesnt repent will he be thrown to hell and lose his salvation.i  feel i come closer to god slowly /gratually,is that also salvation?

Answer
Leja=

Thanks for writing.  The concept you are talking about is called, "Once saved, allways saved".  What it means is that once you accept Christ, you are eternally saved.  Will you continue to sin?  Yes, because mankind is inherently sinful.  The United Methodist belief is that we are "going on to perfection".  We might not be perfect now, but if we accept Christ, we will gradually stop sinning so much and ultimately, after death, become perfected in Christ.  It's not going to happen while we here on Earth.

A more detailed and excellent discussion of this concept can be found here:
http://www.allaboutgod.com/once-saved-always-saved.htm

There are also a lot of churches, most notably the Roman Catholic church, that don't believe in this doctrine.  In order to be fair, here is a discussion of why they belive that way:
http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/spiritualdeath.htm

It's up to you, but I'm firmly in the first camp - I believe that I am saved and there is nothing to keep me from that salvation.  Do I sin?  Each and every day, but as I grow older, I sin less and less, and I believe that I will go on to perfection.

This is a very controversial topic among some Christians.  You have to decide for yourself.  What's important is that you recognize that you ARE a sinner, and you WANT to stop sinning and live with Christ in your heart.


Hope this helps,

Carl

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