I AM GOING STRAIGHT TO HEAVEN

"I Know that I am Going Straight to Heaven when I die!"

So I was told by a non-Catholic recently. He would not tell me which denomination he belonged to but did say that he was an elder. He immediately started with his litany of criticism of the Catholic Church and said that he liked Martin Luther. When I realized that this was headed towards being a one sided conversation on his part, I replied that I would be happy to answer any question that he may have if he would first answer only one very simple question of mine.

"Please name the person who founded the Catholic Church?" He ignored it and continued with his litany. So I turned my simple question around with: "Please name the Church that Jesus Christ founded?" Again he refused to answer my simple question and continued with his agenda, so I ended the one sided conversation promptly.

You see we all must obey Holy Scripture: Titus 3:10-11, "As for a man who is factious, after admonishing him once or twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is perverted and sinful; he is self-condemned."

I believe he knew very well the answer to my question but was likely one of those who taught that the Catholic Church fell into apostasy as many denominations teach. Also by telling me the truth he would be admitting that Jesus Christ was the founder of the Catholic Church.

If he did admit that then I could see him as being a new Saul who persecuted Acts 9:3-5, "Now as he journeyed he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed about him. And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"" And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting."

Why did Jesus say "why do you persecute me" instead of saying 'why do you persecute My Church'? It is because His Church is His Body, Ephesians 1:22-23, Colossians 1:18,24.

Now let us go back to his remark, the title of this page... His remark of "I know that I am going straight to heaven when I die", is in reality the deadly 'sin of presumption', and I will explain. He is guilty of a false Protestant teaching, that is to grab one Bible verse that sounds goo exegesis, that is of context, context, and context.

Case in point: The entire Bible is harmonious. There are no errors within it, only 'apparent' errors as seen by those who seek the truth but not by those who have a contrary agenda. Here is the verse that they use mostly to try to justify their false belief in their 'guaranteed' salvation: Romans 10:9, "For if thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thy heart that God hath raised him up from the dead, thou shalt be saved."

Now if they would only read the very next verse there is a stumbling block therein that is ignored: Romans 10:10, "For, with the heart, we believe unto justice: but, with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation."

Now let us see what one of the best Bible commentaries has to say about Romans 10:9, Haydock's 1859 edition:"Ver. 9. Thou shalt be saved. To confess the Lord Jesus, and to call upon the name of the Lord, (ver. 13.) is not barely the professing of a belief in the person of Christ: but moreover implies a belief of his whole doctrine, and an obedience to his law; without which the calling of him Lord will save no man.

(St. Matthew vii. 21.) (Challoner) --- This passage must be understood like many others of this apostle, of a faith accompanied by a good-will ready to perform what faith says must be practised; as it is required in this very place, that what we believe in the heart, we should confess with our mouth. (Estius)"

Now since we all know that the Bible is harmonous from beginning to end, did you notice that Haydock's steered us to another verse that has more to say regarding Romans 10:9? Matthew 7:21, "Not every one who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."

Is that verse a contradiction of Romans 10:9? Not at all. It is merely adding to its c context. Not every verse can contain every condition associated with it for obvious reasons. For one, the fact that other Biblical authors had written regarding the same subject, but from a different point of view and their differences are an addition to the context of the whole subject.

Here are many more verses regarding the 'sin of presumption'.

James 4:13-16, "Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and get gain"; whereas you do not know about tomorrow. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and we shall do this or that." As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil."

Isaiah 13:11, "I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant, and lay low the haughtiness of the ruthless."

Romans 12:3, "For by the grace given to me I bid every one among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith which God has assigned him."

2Timothy 4:3-4, "For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths."

Luke 9:23, "And he said to all, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me"."

James 4:10, "Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you."

1Peter 5:5, "Likewise you that are younger be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

Numbers 15:30, "But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people."

James 4:6, "But he gives more grace; therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble"."

Deuteronomy 18:20, "But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die."

Philippians 2:12, "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;"

Luke 14:10-11, "But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher'; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

1Corinthians 10:11-12, "Now these things happened to them as a warning, but they were written down for our instruction, upon whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let any one who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall."

Rom 2:4-6, Or do you presume upon the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not know that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. For he will render to every man according to his works."

"Hebrews 10:26-27, "For if we sin deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful prospect of judgment, and a fury of fire which will consume the adversaries."

Deuteronomy 6:16, "You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah."

1Corinthians 10:9, "We must not put the Lord to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents;"

2Corinthians 10:18, "For it is not the man who commends himself that is accepted, but the man whom the Lord commends."

Oh yes, remember at the beginning of this message that elder who contacted me and would not answer a single question of mine? He said he liked Martin Luther. Well it is too bad that he either did not read the writings by Luther, or did and ignored much of what Luther wrote. Here is a gem that Luther wrote, complete with references:

Letter to Melanchthon, August 1, 1521 Luther's Works, vol. 48

"If you are a preacher of grace, then preach a true and not a fictitious grace; if grace is true, you must bear a true and not a fictitious sin. God does not save people who are only fictitious sinners. Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly.... as long as we are here [in this world] we have to sin.... No sin will separate us from the Lamb, even though we commit fornication and murder a thousand times a day."

Written by Bob Stanley

December 7, 2015