A friend doesn’t want to think her parents might not be saved
Question:
Hello,
Thank you for all the information you have on your website. I use the resources weekly! We visited your congregation a few years ago when we were in Omaha for a hockey tournament.
My wife studied with her friend for 5-6 months, almost weekly, and she obeyed the gospel and was baptized. She grew up with Catholic parents. We continued studying with her and gave her several books and lessons to help her study. She attended services with us for about a year, then slowly began to miss more and more. Several members have reached out to encourage her. She sent this text to us today:
I want to apologize for going radio silent for so long. I have been soul-searching, praying, and reading His word. Since my Dad passed away, the thought that the Church of Christ holds is that he couldn't go to heaven because he didn't follow the Bible exactly, and I can't abide by that. My father was a great man with flaws, but he loved God and would do anything for his fellow man. He converted to Catholicism when he married my mom and was active in the church. It wasn't the right fit for me, but my parents were committed to God through their faith. And to think that my Mom won't go to heaven either because she follows the same path my father did is not something I can abide.
I don't think this church is the right fit for me. I will be forever grateful to your wife for her patience with me and my request for Bible study. She has done more for me than she will ever realize, and she deserves to hear that from me.
The Catholic Church is not for me either, as I have many issues with that teaching as well.
For now, I'm going to pray and continue reading my Bible, and know God will always lead me where He wants me as long as I am open to Him.
Again, it means the world to me that you reach out and continue to pray for me, and if I may be so bold as to ask that you continue to do the same.
With love from your sister in Christ.
My first Bible verse I thought to encourage her with is Luke 16:19-31 -- The rich man and Lazarus.
Do you have other encouraging verses that would help? I don't want to push her away. She clearly doesn't believe the Catholic way, but struggles with the thought that her parents aren't saved.
Appreciate your thoughts!
Answer:
Many don't realize how difficult it is for the teacher to lose a student. "If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire" (I Corinthians 3:15). I've had a number of studies with people whom I put my whole heart into teaching, and it still pains me when I recall the day they walked away from the truth.
Salvation is an individual matter. As Paul stated, "work out your salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12). A person's choice to follow God doesn't change another person's choice. "The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father's iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son's iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself" (Ezekiel 18:20). Therefore, your friend's acceptance of the truth did not cause her parents to be lost or saved. Her rejection of the truth does not cause her parents to be saved or lost.
Another point is that truth is not relative. Truth remains the truth regardless of how you feel about it. Your friend rejected the truth because it made her realize that her parents had made the wrong choice in some aspects of their lives. She acknowledges that the religion that they chose is not correct, but she wants to pretend that this doesn't matter to the Lord. Ultimately, she puts her desires above what God has said. Her god has become her own desires.
When we suspect that someone has not lived as a Christian ought to live, we can pray that God show mercy, but in the end, we must accept that this is God's world, we are God's servants, and the final decision is God's. "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me" (Matthew 10:37-38).
You are correct that the story of the rich man and Lazarus is fitting. If someone has lost eternal life because of their sins, then we can be certain that they won't want the people they knew and love to follow them into destruction.
Response:
Thanks for the reply. I agree completely.
