Hi Eileen,
None of us know if we are chosen to be the elect. None of know if we will endure to the end. We all have the assurance of our salvation. That's a wonderful truth in itself. Lake of fire or no lake of fire.
I did not start learning truth until I was close to 40 years old. God used the time before that to prepare me to receive that truth and prepare me to have idols ground to powder through the most severe trials. If he had not prepared me I surely would have died through that process. I witnessed miracles in my life when I had given up all hope. It's absolutely amazing what God can do in a few years. If I hadn't experienced it myself I would have never thought it possible. I have such a long way to go, but I press on knowing that God has a sure plan and his plan is not in my hands. He is in control of all of it.
Mark 10
26And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved?
27And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.
Psalm 51:5-7
5Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,
And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.
7Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Ray's paper on Paul really helped me.
http://bible-truths.com/lake3.htmlTHE CALL OF PAUL
When Jesus desired to ask the worst sinner who had ever lived (that would be Paul):
"This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to SAVE SINNERS; OF WHOM I AM CHIEF," I Tim. 1:15)
To volunteer to teach the gospel to the Gentiles, He merely shined a bright light in Paul’s face to get his attention. Here are just a few revealed events in the life of Saul before God turned him into PAUL:
"Now Saul [Paul], yet breathing out THREATENINGS and SLAUGHTER against the disciples of the Lord. . ." (Acts 9:1):
"And I [Paul] persecuted this way unto THE DEATH, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women" (Acts 22:4).
"And I PUNISHED them OFT in EVERY synagogue, and compelling them To BLASPHEME; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them unto strange cities" (Acts 26:11).
"For I am the LEAST of the apostles, that am not meant to be called an apostle because I PERSECUTED the church of God" (I Cor. 15:9).
"For ye have heard of my conversation [behavior] in time past in the Jews religion, how that BEYOND MEASURE I persecuted the church of God, and WASTED it" (Gal. 1:13).
Most people believe that when Paul said he was the "chief of sinners" he was just blowing hot air--trying to play super humble or something. That he was so spiritual that he equated persecution of the church with being the grossest sin of all time. Not so. God’s Holy Spirit did not inspire Paul to "blow hot air" to make himself look artificially humble! Paul (Saul before his conversion) really was THE WORST SINNER THAT HAS EVER LIVED IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD! (Including Hitler!)
There is a very important reason for understanding how gross a sinner Paul really was. There is a paramount reason why you will NEVER be able to out-sin Paul. NO ONE has ever been able to out-sin Paul. Men like Hitler and Hussein may even come close, but no one will ever hold that infamous distinction of being the "chief, preeminent, foremost sinner of all time" but the apostle Paul. Jesus Christ had to fill that position two thousand years ago for our understanding of upon whom the ends of the ages are come! Here’s the proof:
The phrase "beyond measure" in the KJV (Gal. 1:13) is translated from the Greek word hyperbole and has two primary usages:
"TRANSCENDENT" as found in Scriptures such as II Cor. 4:17
"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more EXCEEDING AND ETERNAL [eonian] WEIGHT of glory."
The Greek translated "exceeding" is huperbole, and means TRANSCENDENT. Transcendent describes something that is highest, incomparable, consummate, matchless, preeminent, sublime, perfect, unequaled, unparalleled, and unrivaled! In other words the highest possible degree. Nothing is higher than that which is huperbole -- TRANSCENDENT!
"INORDINATE" as we read in Gal. 1:13,
"For you hear of my behavior once, in Judaism, that I INORDINATELY persecuted the ecclesia [church] of God and ravaged it." (Concordant Literal New Testament).
Inordinate describes something that is excessive, exorbitant, extravagant, unreasonable, and too much. Now here’s the kicker: "Inordinately" is translated from the SAME GREEK WORD huperbole which is also translated "transcendently"! (For more details on this see my paper entitled Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh Identified).
Here then is the Biblical truth of this matter. To the degree that "transcendently" describes the HEIGHT of God’s goodness and glory, so likewise does the word "inordinately" describe the HEIGHT of evil that Paul perpetrated on the Church of God. God’s transcendent (huperbole) goodness and glory are UNPARALLELED! Likewise, Paul’s inordinate (huperbole) slaughter (murders) and threatenings are also, UNPARALLELED! God’s Word does not say in vain that Paul was the CHIEF, FOREMOST, PREEMINENT (very, very WORST) of ALL SINNERS WHO HAVE EVER LIVED! He really WAS.
Now then, what do we read next after all these "threatenings and slaughter?"
"And as he [Saul] journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth ... And he TREMBLING AND ASTONISHED, said, ‘LORD, WHAT WILL YOU HAVE ME TO DO?" (Acts 9:3-6).
By all Scriptural indications, it probably took no longer than 30 seconds before Paul was fully committed to His New Lord. Do you reckon Jesus could ever do such a thing again? Or, was this incident a mere fluke? Don’t you fancy that Jesus could possibly convert one of the lesser sinners of the world (say Ted Bundy) in maybe 29 seconds? Or 28 seconds? Then why do you suppose that the High Priests of Christendom are teaching the world that there are billions and billions of LESSER sinners that Jesus CANNOT convert in 29 seconds or 29 QUADRILLION CENTURIES?
I did not use up a couple of pages here just to tell an interesting story from the Bible. It is more than just an interesting story, it is an amazing and marvelous story, and it portends profound hope for a lost and sinning world. Why does Paul tell us that he was the chief of ALL SINNERS? Why did our Lord choose this worst of sinners to be His apostle at this particular time in history? Why didn’t He choose a mediocre sinner like James or John to be His apostle to the Gentiles? Why did it have to be THE WORLD’S WORST SINNER? What did our Lord prove by using the world’s worst sinner that He couldn’t have done by using a lesser sinner? MUCH!
I have heard people say already that "God won’t save me; I have committed too many horrible sins for God to ever save me!" And I have heard and had people personally tell me that God will never save men like Ted Bundy or Adolph Hitler because their sins were so evil and so many. Oh, how we humans love to put limitations on an INFINITE GOD! Here’s the answer as to why God needed to chose the world’s WORST SINNER to be the apostle to the rest of the world:
"Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting" (I Tim. 1:16).
The King James really does not do justice to this verse at all. Most have read right over this verse and never saw the profound, universal, all-embracing teaching in this verse. Let me quote it from the Concordant Version:
"But therefore was I shown mercy, that in me, THE FOREMOST [the worst sinner ever] Jesus Christ should be DISPLAYING [publicly] ALL HIS PATIENCE [yes God has ‘patience’ with even the worst of sinners], FOR A PATTERN, of those who are about to be believing on Him for life eonian"
Jesus Christ chose Paul, the WORST, CHIEF, FOREMOST, PREEMINENT SINNER THAT EVER LIVED (huperbole), to be put on PUBLIC DISPLAY for the whole world to see Jesus Christ demonstrating ALL HIS PATIENCE, for a "PATTERN" that will be repeated over, and over, and over again billions and billions of times for all those that Christ will likewise bring to repentance at any second He so desires!!!
Here’s the lesson: If Jesus Christ can bring to repentance, and convert, and save the WORLD’S WORST SINNER THAT HAS EVER LIVED in about 30 seconds, then that drunken cussing uncle of yours (the one you believe is going to hell for all eternity), is NO MATCH FOR THE CONVERTING POWER OF JESUS CHRIST! And ALL OF THE LESSER SINNERS of the world also are no match for the converting, saving power of Jesus Christ. Once the Giant of all sinners has been conquered, converting the sinning MIDGETS will be an easy task!
Has no one ever considered what would happen if God were to strike down Hitler with a BLINDING LIGHT FROM HEAVEN? Do you really think he would shake his fist toward heaven in total human defiance? Well, if you do, you think as a fool! Paul despised the Church of the Loving God. He hated it with evey fiber of his being. He went to great length and personal hardship to seek out and TORTURE the Saints of God. But when God struck him down with a blinding light from heaven, Paul "trembled" (Greek, tremo, dreadful and terrifying FEAR), and was "astonished" (Greek: thambeo, to stupefy, astound, amaze, astonish), and melted like jelly in the noonday SUN!
And some would suppose that Hitler or any LESSER sinner would do otherwise? Well, God didn’t strike down Hitler with a blinding light from heaven, but guess what? HE WILL YET DO IT! And when He does, Hitler will sob like a babbling idiot! He will violently shake and tremble in UTTER DESPAIR AND TERROR, and he will REPENT, make no mistake about it! OUR GOD IS A CONSUMING FIRE! God has ways to MAKE carnal-minded, God-defying men and women VOLUNTEER real fast!
I am wearied by the countless times people have told me: "God will NEVER make anyone do anything against their own free will." Oh, really? Show me the Scripture. Show me the SCRIPTURE!! Are any so STUPID as to believe that on the very day that Paul was on his way to Damascus to persecute and torture the Saints of Jesus Christ with nothing else on his mind, but he paused for a moment in the middle of the road and thought to himself, "You know, I think that I will not go to Damascus today and persecute Christians. I believe that I will right now exercise my ‘free will’ and repent of all these sins and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ Whom I have been persecuting. Yes, I think I will do that right now, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE." Is THAT what the Word of God says? IS IT? Or rather did not Christ MAKE His will PAUL’S WILL in mere SECONDS?
So many ignorant people just do not see that they are BLASPHEMING the very name, nature, and character (LOVE) of God by their demeaning and hate-filled accusations about what God can and cannot do! God went AGAINST the will of Paul (Saul), and God MADE His will PAUL’S WILL in a matter of SECONDS. But Christendom teaches that God doesn’t do such things. It just isn’t right. It just isn’t God’s way. WELL, YES, IT IS RIGHT, AND IT IS GOD’S WAY, AND HE WILL DO IT AGAIN AND AGAIN UNTIL ALL HUMANITY IS SAVED!
And so we learn that God converted the world’s worst sinner in a matter of seconds. We learned that The Father inspired Jesus to pray: "Forgive them, for they know not what they do." We also learned that the "them" in this prayer includes the whole world, for the Scriptures plainly tell us that it is the whole world that is accountable for Christ’s Crucifixion, even though it was performed by the express foreordained will of the Father.
Now then, what do these marvelous and profound Scriptures accomplish in the hearts and minds of those who are teaching "eternal torment?" Nothing. Absolutely NOTHING! These Scriptural truths have NO effect on the hearts of those depraved persons who delight in the prospects of an eternal hellhole of torture for most of humanity. But at God’s choosing, they will all melt as Paul did in the blinding light of God’s noonday Sun!
For those few of you whom God is beginning to speak to through His spirit, it should now start to become clear that nothing can thwart the will of God which is to SAVE ALL HUMANITY. God has spoken it; He has willed it; He will perform it.