Are You Really Sure Of Your Eternal Salvation?"

by Ron Boatwright

Welcome to studying the Bible on the Internet. You are to be commended for your interest in studying God's word, the Bible.  This course pertains to a very important subject concerning our Eternal Salvation. What subject could be more important? It is my hope that the scripture references pointed out in this course will be of benefit to your faith in your striving to go to heaven.

This course is divided into twenty-five (25) lessons. After each lesson you are asked to answer several interactive multiple choice and true-false questions concerning what you have just studied. The correct answer is found in the scripture reference that is listed with the questions.  Click on the answer of your choice and a dialog box will appear telling you if your answer is correct or wrong and why.  It is my hope and prayer that this course will help you in some way.

Let us go back to the Bible. As God tells us in I Peter 4:11, "If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God." In other words, we are to speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where the Bible is silent. We must call Bible things by Bible names and do Bible things in Bible ways. We will not be wrong in doing this. To do this we must get rid of all the manuals, creeds, disciplines, and confessions that men have written and follow only what we can read in the Bible, because the Bible is our only guidebook to heaven.
We must dust our Bibles off and start studying them for ourselves. We must stop taking someone elseís word for what it says and find out for ourselves what God is trying to tell us, if we will only listen to God. This is very important, for God says in Hosea 4:6, "My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge: because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you." It is a very serious matter to be rejected of God because we did not care enough about what God is saying to us in His Word to read and study it for ourselves. Instead, we have taken someone else's word over God's Word. This is the reason we have so many different kinds of churches today. It is not good enough to be religious, but we must be right religiously.  Everything we do must be according to God's word in the Bible.  We will not make it to heaven by following guidebooks which men have written. Please don't think less of me for trying to point you to what the scriptures say concerning our salvation.  As the apostle Paul says in Galatians 4:16, "Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?"  In am only wishing the best for you.

In closing, we ask the question again. Are You Really Sure Of Your Eternal Salvation? If you have seen from the scriptures that have been pointed out in this course or from your further study of the Bible that you have not done all the will of God and only the will of God, so that you can go to heaven, then please make those changes now so that your salvation can be assured. We are told in Amos 4:12, "Prepare to meet your God." On the Day of Judgment we will be either prepared or unprepared. Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people.  What are your plans for eternity?  Are you going to be spending eternity in Heaven or in Hell.  The choice is yours.  Remember that only few will go to Heaven but the majority will go to Hell.   This great responsibility rests upon each of us.
If you are not prepared to go to heaven, then make things right now.  Don't put it off. Satan wants you to put it off. Satan works on all of us all of the time. He does not want us to change for the better. He wants our company in hell. He will do anything and everything to get us there. Do not allow anyone to explain away what you can read in the Bible that God wants you to do. We must take God seriously, because God is serious in what he is telling us in his word. Ecclesiastes 12:13 (KJV) sums up everything quite well when it says: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments for this is the whole duty of man."

We have tried to be open and honest with you. If you have any questions concerning the things discussed in this course or any other
Bible questions please let us know. We would also like your input as to what you think of this course. Please feel free to contact us anytime.

If you were to die today, do you know for sure, without a doubt, that you would go to heaven? Remember most people will not go to heaven, Matthew 7:13-14. Do you believe in God and Christ? I am sure you do. Are you willing to repent of your sins and confess that you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Will you be baptized (immersed) for the remission of your sins so you can be saved? Then the Lord will add you to His church, the church of Christ, where we can worship Him faithfully until death when we will receive the crown of life in heaven.

1)  Do you want to go to heaven?
2)  Have you been saved the Lord's way as specified in the Bible?
3)  Have you been baptized for the remission of your sins?
4)  Were you baptized in order to be saved?
5)  Did your baptism put you into Christ where all spiritual blessings are such as: salvation, forgiveness of sins and eternal life?
6)  Do you wear only the name Christian?
7)  Are you really sure of your eternal salvation?


If we can help you to become a Christian or to
locate the church of Christ in your area or study with you further over the internet, please contact us directly.

You can also visit our Study Topics area for more specific Bible study issues as well as our Bible Questions section. Both of these areas can provide you with more information about God's word.


Each congregation of the Lord's church is to be overseen by a group of elders. In Acts 14:23 we read, "So when they had appointed elders in every church." Notice there is to be a plurality of elders in every church or congregation. This is the way the Lord set up His church.

But what does the Lord intend for the elders to do in His church? In Acts 20:28 the apostle Paul was talking to the elders from the church at Ephesus and told them, "Therefore take heed to yourselves, and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers." The church the Lord built is to be overseen by a plurality of elders. The qualifications of elders who are to oversee each congregation of the Lord's church are given in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and in Titus 1:3-9. Is each congregation of the church you belong to overseen by a plurality of elders? If not, why not? If it is to be the Lord's church and has men who qualify, each congregation is to be overseen by a plurality of elders.

If we really accept the Bible as our only authority, we will want to worship God only as He has specified. We must reject human traditions and doctrines that members are required to follow such as creed books, catechisms, manuals, articles of faith, the book of Mormon, the Koran, constitutions, disciplines and other guidelines of men, all of which produce new religious doctrines.

We are warned in Colossians 2:8, "Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ." It would be a tragedy to find out on Judgment Day we have been cheated of our eternal reward in heaven because we followed the doctrines of men; but it will be too late then.

II Thessalonians 1:12 tells us "That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ." Jesus Christ is to be glorified and honored in us. Besides doing all that he tells us to do, we glorify the name of Christ by wearing the name "Christian". I Peter 4:16 says, "Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God in this matter." It is an honor to wear the name "Christian." In wearing this name we are glorifying God and Christ.

We should not be ashamed to wear the name "Christian", yet many seem to be. Men want to wear other names that give honor and glory to someone or something other than Christ. For example honor and glory are given to Martin Luther, the day of Pentecost, the apostles, the methodical way of doing things, the town of Nazareth, John the Baptist, John Wesley, the hill of Calvary, the city of Rome, the city of Antioch, the names of the different "saints", and the list goes on and on. None of these names give any glory or honor whatsoever to God or Christ to whom honor is due. How do you think God feels about this situation? Do you actually think that He is pleased with it?  Do you wear only the name Christian?

God tells us in Jeremiah 10:23, "It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps." Man has tried but has always made a miserable failure of it. In Colossians 3:17 we read, "And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus." We are to do all in the name of or by the authority of the Lord Jesus. Can it be said that Jesus has authorized any of these different names?

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Questions Lesson 24
The Lord's Church
(Part C)

1)  (Acts 14:23 & Acts 20:28) Each congregation of the Lord's church is overseen by
       The preacher.
       A board of deacons.
       A plurality of elders.
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2) The Bible specifies that the Lord's church is to be overseen by a pope.
      
      

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3)  (2 Thessalonians 1:12) What name should be glorified?
       The town of Nazareth.
       John the Baptist.
       Our Lord Jesus Christ.
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4) We should glorify every religious name.
      
      

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5)  (1 Peter 4:16) We should not be ashamed to suffer as a
       Pentecostal.
       Christian.
       Lutheran.
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6) We should wear different names religiously even if they do not glorify Christ.
      
      

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7)  (Colossians 3:17) The things we do and say religiously must be done by whose authority?
       The Lord Jesus Christ.
       The authority of each different church's creed book.
       Our own authority.
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8) The things we teach and do must be done by the authority of Christ.

      

      

Copyright © 2000 internetbiblestudy


There is one other thing that concerns our salvation that I would like for us to look at in the Bible. In response to Peterís confession to Jesus in Matthew 16:16 that, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God". Jesus then says in Matthew 16:18, "On this rock I will build My church." To whom was this church to belong?  "My" is possessive, which shows the church belongs to Jesus. How many churches did Jesus say He was going to build? He said He was going to build "My church", which is singular not plural. The Lord only promised to build His one church.

In Ephesians 4:4-6 there are seven ones listed: "There is onebody, and one Spirit, even as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all, and through all, and in you all." Just as there is only one God and only one Lord we also see there is only one body. The Bible says there is only one body; so what is this one body? In Ephesians 1:21-22 we find out what this one body is, "And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church, which is His body." Here we see that the Bible says the church is the body. So if there is only one body and the one body is the church, then there can only be one church that belongs to the Lord.

In Colossians 1:18 in speaking of Christ, we read, "And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He may have the preeminence." Here again we see that the body (singular) is the church (singular). Again the Bible tells us that the Lord has only one church. We also see that in all things Christ is to have the preeminence. For Christ to have the preeminence in all things, we must follow Christ in all things and not follow man. If we follow men in some things then Christ does not have the preeminence in all things.

Since Christ only built His one church, we need to ask where did all these other churches come from? The only answer is they were built by men, so men could "attend the church of their choice", and not Godís choice. We read in Ephesians 5:23, "Christ is the head of the church, and he is the savior of the body." Christ is only the saviour of His one body, His one church. He is going to only save His one church.

We have seen in the Bible that the one body is the one church, which the Lord built. We have also seen that Christ has only promised to save His one body, His one church. What then is going to happen to the hundreds of different kinds of other churches we see in existence today? Again let us let God answer this question. In Matthew 15:13 Jesus said, "Every plant, which my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted." What will happen to all those churches that God did not plant? They will be rooted up. This is what God has said He will do. This is frightening. I want to make sure I am in the Lord's church, the only one He is going to save.

In Psalms 127:1 we read, "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it." No one has the right to start a church or religious organization that is different from the one Jesus built.  But we see hundreds of different kinds of churches that men have built, each with a different creed.  We must recognize the difference between the church the Lord built and the many counterfeit churches men have built.  Why not be a member of the church that Jesus built, the church of Christ so you can go to heaven.  This is a sad but serious situation; one that concerns me greatly and causes me much grief and sorrow to see honest people, who are honestly mistaken, laboring in vain. This is a supreme tragedy.


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Questions Lesson 22
The Lord's Church
(Part A)

1)  (Matthew 16:18) How many different churches did the Lord say he was going to build?
       Many so we could attend the church of our choice.
       More than 500.
       My (possessive) Church (singular), in other words one.
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2) Christ built only His church.
      
      

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3)  (Ephesians 4:4-6) There are how many bodies?
       One.
       One hundred.
       One thousand
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4) There is only one body.
      
      

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5)  (Ephesians 1:21-22) What is this one body?
       There is not one body but many bodies.
       All the different kinds of churches.
       The (Lord's) Church.
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6) The Lord only has His one body, the church.
      
      

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7)  (Colossians 1:18) Christ is the head of
       The body, the church.
       Many different kinds of churches.
       No church.
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8) Christ is the head of all different kinds of churches.
      
      

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9)  (Ephesians 5:23) Christ is going to save
       His body which is His Church.
       All the different religious bodies (churches).
       No church.
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10) Christ is the Saviour of the church He established.
      
      

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11)  (Matthew 15:13) Those plants which God has not planted
       God will accept.
       God will water and cultivate.
       Shall be rooted up.
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12) Those plants which God planted shall be saved.
      
      

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13)  (Psalms 127:1) If the Lord has not built the house
       They labor in vain who build it.
       It doesn't matter if the Lord has not built it.
       Those who labor in it are accepted.
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14) People labor in vain if they are in a house the Lord did not build.

      
      

Copyright © 2000 internetbiblestudy


The one church that Christ purchased with His own blood belongs to Him and the name it wears must honor Him. We read in Romans 16:16, "The churches of Christ greet you." This name glorifies and honors Christ, the one who built it. Other names honor and glorify John the Baptist, Martin Luther, the day of Penticost, the apostles, Rome, Antioch, Nazareth, the Greeks, the Russians, the methodical way of doing things, Christians, the free will, being primitive, southern, missionary, general, the seventh day, science, catholic, the advent, and the list goes on and on. Even by their names they do not claim to be Christ's one church. Why canít we give the glory and honor to God and Christ where the honor belongs?

Today we hear the sincere but mistaken plea to "attend the church of your choice." Why not attend the church of God's choice, the church of Christ, the only one that Jesus "purchased with His own blood" (Acts 20:28). Christ did not shed His blood to purchase any denomination nor did He purchase a group of denominations.  The word denomination means a fraction or part of a whole.  The Lord's church is not a fraction or a part of anything.  It is complete within itself.
 
Any church claiming to be the only church Jesus bought with His own blood should be able to prove from the Bible they are that church of the Bible. Can the church which you are a member prove that it is the one and only church the Lord built, which is the church of Christ? If it canít then you will be laboring in vain if you stay in it. This may sound harsh. I say this with sincerity and sadness, but it will really be harsh if you are lost in eternity. We must wake up because this concerns the welfare of our souls and where we will spend eternity. People too long have ignored what the Lord has said in the Bible and have blindly followed men.

In order to be in the one church the Lord established, those added to it by the Lord must be saved according to His requirements. In Acts 2:47 we read, "And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved." The Lord only adds the saved to His church. There are no unsaved people in His church. We are not saved just because we think or feel in our hearts we are. We are saved only when we have done what God has said we must do. Jesus says in Matthew 7:21, "Not everyone who says to Me Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father which is in heaven." We must do God's will, not manís will, to go to heaven.

According to the Bible, who are the saved? Jesus is quite clear as to who the saved are. Jesus says in Mark l6:16, "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved." A person has to have help to misunderstand what the Lord says here. Here we see the Bible says we must believe and be baptized in order to be saved. This is what Jesus says. But men have tried to change what the Lord has said. Men say that one does not have to be baptized, to be saved. Who are you going to follow men or Christ? Jesus says in John 12:48, "The word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day."  We are not going to be judged by what our preacher says.

And also Peter tells us in 1 Peter 3:21, "The like figure baptism does now save us." Only when we have obeyed the Lordís command to be baptized will we be saved. The Bible will be the only standard of judgment on Judgment Day, and not what we think or what men say. Are you putting your trust and confidence in what men say or what God has said in the Bible? You are making this choice everyday as to who you are following.

Also in order to be the church which Jesus built, the church must worship God and Christ according to the way They have specified. We are told in Ephesians 5:17, "Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is." It is very unwise not to find out and understand what the will of the Lord is from the Bible.  Many people are not finding out for themselves but are relying on someone else to tell them. All you have to do is look around and see all of the differing doctrines that are being taught in all the different churches. Are they understanding and following the will of God? Absolutely not. If they were there would only be the one church, which Christ established, the church of Christ. What a pitiful condition the religious world is in, one of which people should be ashamed, but they are not.

If you are not worshipping God and Christ the way They have specified in the Bible then your worship is vain. Our Lord says in Mark 7:7, "And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." Have you been following the commandments of men and only some of what God says in the Bible? If you have then your worship is vain. Jesus says in Matthew 28:20, "Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you." We must observe all things and only the things  the Lord has commanded us. Is your worship vain? If it is then it will do you no good and you will be lost eternally.  Please follow God and not men.


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Questions Lesson 23
The Lord's Church
(Part B)

1)  (Romans 16:16) Which church do you read about in the Bible?
       Baptist Church.
       Lutheran Church.
       church of Christ.
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2) The Methodist Church is mentioned in the Bible.
      
      

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3)  (Acts 2:47) How do you get into the Lord's church? 
       You join His church.
       The Lord adds the saved to the church.
       You are voted into His church.
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4) Only the saved are added to the Lord's church.
      
      

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5)  (Acts 20:28) Christ purchased His church with
       Money.
       Nothing since it didn't cost Him anything.
       His own blood.
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6) Any church claiming to be the one church the Lord purchased with His own blood should be able to prove from the Bible they are that church.
      
      

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7)  (Mark 7:7) If we try to worship God according to the doctrines of men
       It will be alright if we are sincere.
       It is vain.
       God will overlook it.
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8)  If our worship is vain it will cause us to be lost.

      

      

Copyright © 2000 internetbiblestudy


Man does not have the authority to change the will of God on any subject. We have been given severe warnings in several places in the Bible concerning any changes that we try to make to Godís word. As we have already seen in Galatians 1:6-9, if we pervert the gospel by changing it, we will be accursed.

Another such warning comes in the closing verses of the Bible. Revelation 22:18-19 says, "For I testify unto everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; And if anyone takes away from the words of this book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, and from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book." These are very stern warnings that should get our undivided attention.
How much stronger warnings could God give to those who try to make changes to His will when they change immersion into sprinkling, or to change the necessity of baptism for one to receive forgiveness of sins and be saved to their saying that baptism is not necessary for salvation. God has said plainly that it is necessary.

They also say that oneís sins are forgiven and that one is saved when he accepts Christ as his personal savior. He can be baptized later if he wants to in order to join that particular denomination; but as we have already seen this contradicts what God has said and will cause many people to be lost eternally.  If you were baptized for some reason other than for forgiveness of sins in order to be saved then you do not have salvation and you are still lost.  Who are you going to follow: God or man?  As our Lord warns us in Matthew 15:14, "And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a ditch." Donít allow someone, who has added to and taken away from Godís word, to lead you. Open your eyes and read Godís word for yourself. Those who have added to and taken away from Godís word will be lost. If you continue to follow them, then you too will be lost.

What You Need to Do
In Acts 19:1-5 we have an example of twelve men, that the Apostle Paul met at Ephesus. They had something wrong with their baptism. In verses 3-5 we read, "And he said to them, into what then were you baptized? So they said, into John's baptism. Then Paul said, John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people, that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." When these twelve men found out that there was something wrong with their baptism, they made it right. They were then baptized for the right purpose.

Please refer back to how you answered the questions in
Lesson 8 concerning your prior conversion. If you thought you were saved and your sins forgiven when you accepted Christ as your personal savior and you were later baptized, then the purpose of your baptism was not for the forgiveness of your sins so that you could be saved. But now you have learned the truth about the purpose of baptism from the scriptures that have been pointed out.  Please don't rationalize away what you actually did to be saved and now say that you were actually baptized for the forgiveness of sins in order to be saved. Many people end up doing this.  Your soul's salvation depends on your being right with God.

Is there something wrong with your baptism? You may say no, but if there is, we cannot fool God. He knows for sure and you will suffer the eternal consequences. It will be a sad day if you stand before the Lord on the day of judgment and find out that there is something wrong with your baptism. Baptism, that is done according to scripture, for the right reason and purpose, is such an easy thing to do. It is not difficult, at all, to make sure that it is done right.


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Questions Lesson 21
Man Is Not To Change What God Says

1)  (Revelation 22:18-19) If we add to God's word
       God will add to us the plagues written in God's word.
       God will be well pleased.
       It will not matter.
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2) If one has added to God's word by substituting sprinkling for baptism, then God is well pleased.
      
      

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3)  (Revelation 22:18-19) If we take away from God's word
       We will still be saved.
       God will overlook it if we are sincere.
       Our name will be taken out of the Book of Life and we will be lost.
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4) We will be lost if we add to or take away from God's word.
      
      

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5)  (Matthew 15:14) If the blind lead the blind
       Both will fall into the ditch and be lost.
       God will have pity and save both of them.
       They are not responsible.
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6) We are in no danger of being led astray.
      
      

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7)  (Acts 19:1-5) What did these twelve men do when they found that there was something wrong with their baptism?
       None of these needed to be baptized.
       They were not baptized.
       They were baptized again for the right purpose.
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8) These twelve men refused to be baptized since they had already been previously baptized.

      
      

Copyright © 2000 internetbiblestudy


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