Dake Bible Discussion Board ⇒ Last minute salvation is possible.

[titus213]

That He's decided that you are better suited to be a vessel of wrath, rather than mercy?

The Father does not "decide" any such thing. Paul is very careful how he words his teaching in Romans regarding this and makes it clear that the vessel of wrath becomes such by the decision of the person himself. God would not need to "patiently put up" with someone He had determined to make that way!

Can a person be saved whenever they want? A misleading question. A person can be saved whenever the Spirit opens their heart to accept the message of Christ, as in the case of Lydia in Acts 16. She obviously could not have been saved without knowing about Jesus.

Is there a possibility of salvation after death? Scripture is crystal clear: no.

[DeafManHealing]

Thank you for the transcript of the video. I believe God in Heaven has the ability to send people to either Heaven or Hell.

There is a biblical verse somewhere, I know it is in there. I am not that " Christian " as some of you are but there is a biblical verse that says something like the body can be killed but fear the one who can cast your soul in hell ?

If God decides to call someone home then stop his heart then he goes to Heaven or Hell and comes back alive to talk about it to get more people saved by Jesus Christ. That is between him and God.

Kenneth Hagin and people like Colton Burpo ( the yellow book forgot name of the book but you probably know who I am talking about ... ) have returned from either Heaven or Hell for a good reason by God. I would think this is a very rare event.

It is much better to get saved by Jesus Christ while you are alive here on earth. Usually the norm is you die of a car accident, your health goes downhill or you have to go to war in the military. Once you check out of this world, It is a one way ticket to one of the two places, Heaven or Hell.

[titus213]

"So then I raised the question of scriptural accounts of people being raised from the dead. Where these people judged?"

No they were not judged… The judgment comes after their appointment with death. If they were raised from the dead, and then died afterward, their judgment did not occur until their ultimate death. It is appointed unto man to die once, not twice. And it is following that one death that judgment takes place.

[Grandfather]

"So then I raised the question of scriptural accounts of people being raised from the dead. Where these people judged?"

No they were not judged… The judgment comes after their appointment with death. If they were raised from the dead, and then died afterward, their judgment did not occur until their ultimate death. It is appointed unto man to die once, not twice. And it is following that one death that judgment takes place.

Okay, then you admit there is a time period between death and judgment. And from testimonies of respected Christians that have died they were conscious and aware. So why can't someone in this state cry out for God in faith? Also, because they were indeed dead and brought back to life, they indeed are given another opportunity to accept Christ, a second chance.

[titus213]

"So then I raised the question of scriptural accounts of people being raised from the dead. Where these people judged?"

No they were not judged… The judgment comes after their appointment with death. If they were raised from the dead, and then died afterward, their judgment did not occur until their ultimate death. It is appointed unto man to die once, not twice. And it is following that one death that judgment takes place.

Okay, then you admit there is a time period between death and judgment. And from testimonies of respected Christians that have died they were conscious and aware. So why can't someone in this state cry out for God in faith? Also, because they were indeed dead and brought back to life, they indeed are given another opportunity to accept Christ, a second chance.

No I do not acknowledge that there is a period of time between death and judgment. There is no so-called "state" in which someone is given an opportunity to cry out to God before they are judged. Among other passages, the Lord's teaching about the rich man and Lazarus makes this clear.
And no, there is no second chance.

[Grandfather]

No I do not acknowledge that there is a period of time between death and judgment. There is no so-called "state" in which someone is given an opportunity to cry out to God before they are judged. Among other passages, the Lord's teaching about the rich man and Lazarus makes this clear.
And no, there is no second chance.

Technically you did acknowledge there was a period of time between death and judgment when you admitted that people came back from the dead unjudged. What the Lord makes clear in the portion you mention is that neither came back from the dead because at that time they had been judged.

There are too many accounts of people coming back from the dead to say they didn't get a second chance... either a second chance to repent, or perhaps they were given a second chance to lose their salvation. (since most here believe that salvation is so fragile that it can be easily lost) So, to say there is "no second chance" is inaccurate... to say we are not promised a second chance would be true.

[titus213]

I don't want to dismiss something like the near death experience stories. I just know this is a very rare event.
The norm is once you die, that is usually it. I have never seen someone raised from the dead in a funeral home.

Exactly! The exceptional (such as God intervening in the usual death process to bring a person back to life) cannot be used to draw conclusions regarding His normal way of working. For the believer, and only the believer, it is "absent from the body . . . present with the Lord". There is no time period between death and judgment.

[DeafManHealing]

When you see the ancient word " slept with his fathers " You will see that they died.

1 Kings 2:10 King James Version (KJV)

10 So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.

1 Kings 11:21 King James Version (KJV)

21 And when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the captain of the host was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, Let me depart, that I may go to mine own country.


1 Kings 11:43 King James Version (KJV)

43 And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.

1 Kings 14:31 King James Version (KJV)

31 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead.

https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearc ... ersion=KJV

From doing a study on the ancient word, you can see death is a normal part of life signifying the end of somebody's lifetime in the Bible like King David & King Solomon.

Once they died, that was it and I can picture visually in my mind the funeral procession in the sunny desert city of Jerusalem for King David by the lined tropical palm trees and the blue river on the way to different parts of Israel and probably circling back to King David's tomb back into Jerusalem. I would imagine in those days, they had to do a funeral procession entering into every part of Israel from the north to south then east to west so that everybody in Israel knew there was a period of prayers & fastings, mourning and weeping in those days in ancient Biblical times.

I would have to do a study on how funerals were conducted in Ancient Israelite times but it is clear once they died, that was it.

I also think it does show how you are to use your time & your talent wisely here on earth because once you are gone, that is it. That is why getting saved while you are alive here on earth is so important.

Jesus Christ won the spiritual battle getting the key of death back and we have eternal life through Jesus Christ.

[Grandfather]

The norm is once you die, that is usually it. I have never seen someone raised from the dead in a funeral home.

That is not to say these things don't happen because the Bible says all things are possible with God.

Not only are all things possible, but there are several accounts in scripture of people being raised from the dead both in the Old and New Testaments, those have to be accounted for.

[titus213]

The norm is once you die, that is usually it. I have never seen someone raised from the dead in a funeral home.

That is not to say these things don't happen because the Bible says all things are possible with God.

Not only are all things possible, but there are several accounts in scripture of people being raised from the dead both in the Old and New Testaments, those have to be accounted for.

But it isn't valid to "account for" them by guesswork and imagination. It's always a dangerous approach to try to make up biblical facts when the Bible itself is silent.