wrong ideas about salvation. Are you sure you are saved?

Misconceptions about salvation

What happens to people who cross the border? Misconceptions about salvation can keep a person outside the gates of heaven

In this article, the most important thing in the world is brought to the fore: man's relationship with God and and what happens to man across the border. Many may have wrong ideas about salvation and may trust in things that will eventually lead to hell. Therefore, this topic should be discussed so that as many people as possible can receive salvation. I hope that the writing will make everyone think about whether they are really saved or not. The following topics will be discussed:

• Will everyone go to heaven?

• "Only the good get to heaven". Are you good enough?

• "When I first do my best, God will accept me because of Jesus' work of atonement"

• The merits of the saints

• Grace-oriented, but experienced a false conversion

• Once saved - always saved?

Will everyone go to heaven? If someone doesn't believe in the existence of God, they probably don't believe in heaven and hell either, but this article assumes that the Bible is true and that these places exist. Jesus mentioned them repeatedly in his speeches.

So what kind of misconceptions do people have about salvation? The first misconception is that every person will go to heaven regardless of how they have lived. According to this view, God does not close the gates of heaven to any human being. Everyone is believed to be in heaven.

However, the question is: is it a question of people's wishful thinking and imagination or the truth? If it is assumed that Jesus knew more about life beyond the border than anyone else, he did not support this view. On the contrary, he repeatedly taught that some people do not experience salvation. They will go to hell:

- (Matt 7:13,14) Enter you in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads to life, and few there be that find it.

- (Matt 8:11,12) And I say to you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.

12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

- (Matt 25:45,46) Then shall he answer them, saying, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.

46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

If God does not accept all people into heaven, what kind of people will be left outside the gates of heaven? The direct answer to this is: unrepentant wrongdoers will go to hell, as it is written. Such cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Many may oppose this idea, but how could God accept into heaven criminals like Hitler or murderers and rapists who do not repent of their actions? Such a God would be evil - just like a corrupt earthly judge - who would not react to the injustice these wrongdoers have done to others. He would approve of their actions if he would let them into heaven as they were, that is, unrepentant. That will not be the case as stated in the following verses:

- (Luke 13:3) I tell you, No: but, except you repent, you shall all likewise perish.

- (1 Cor 6:9,10) Know you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortionists, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

- (Rev 21:6-8) And he said to me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to him that is thirsty of the fountain of the water of life freely.

7 He that overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

If it is the case that unrepentance keeps man outside the gates of heaven, it is of course clear that man must repent of his sins in order to enter into a proper relationship with God. This happens in such a way that a person confesses to God all the sins that weigh heavily on his mind. However, confession of sins in itself does not save anyone, but the gospel of Jesus' atonement is needed. However, confessing sins in prayer, when a person turns to God, is part of a person coming into a right relationship with God:

- (Prov 28:13) He that covers his sins shall not prosper: but whoever confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy.

- (1 John 1:9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

"Only the good get to heaven". Are you good enough ? Another thought was that only "good" and morally high people get to heaven. Many people think that if someone lives a moral life and is not as bad as others, at least he will get to heaven and its gates will not be closed to him. They assume that God receives such people and welcomes them.

However, this notion is also wrong. The question is, do we measure by man's standard or by God's standard? Even if you are a little bit better than other people, does that help you? Does superiority over others help us? This is certainly not the case. In fact, each of us has transgressed against God and therefore if we rely on something within ourselves, he must condemn us to hell.

You can think about this in light of the Ten Commandments: Have you ever considered other things more important than God? When was the last time you lied? When was the last time you uttered God's name in vain? Have you ever stolen? When was the last time you bore false witness about your neighbor? When was the last time you lusted after someone, e.g. by watching porn (Matt 5:28 28 But I say to you, That whoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart)?

So if you are guilty of lying, you are a liar. If you have ever stolen, you are a thief. If you have uttered God's name in vain, you have committed mockery of God. Or if you have lusted after someone, you have already committed adultery in your heart. In other words, you might not be good enough in yourself to get to heaven after all. Why should God let you into his kingdom if you are guilty of these things? As stated above, the unrighteous, such as liars, thieves, fornicators, and other wrongdoers, will not inherit the kingdom of God, and such we all are in fact in ourselves. If you do not admit this, i.e. that you are on your own on the way to hell, you have not yet understood your condition correctly. About our state as we are, is discussed in the following verses, among others. They show that no one is perfect and sinless:

- (Joh 7:19) ... and yet none of you keeps the law ...

- (Romans 3:23) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

- (1 John 1:8) If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

Where is the border of goodness? God himself prepared salvation for people. If it is still assumed that someone must be good enough, where does the limit go in the amount of goodness? The answer to this is that nothing else is sufficient for God but perfect sinlessness. He does not set the bar any lower but demands complete sinlessness.

To this, someone can immediately say "Who then can get to heaven if God demands perfection?" However, the answer and solution can be found in what God himself has done for us through Jesus Christ. God does not want anyone to be separated from him and go to hell, and that is exactly why Jesus, the son of God, came into the world. Jesus became a morally perfect man, he lived a sinless life and finally died for us bearing our sins on the cross. The motive was and is God's love for people so that they would not go to hell. This is what the following verses refer to:

- (John 3:16-17) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

- (1 John 4:9-10) In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

- (Luke 19:10) For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

When Jesus has lived a perfect life and then died for us so that we could enter into God's communion, it is clear that we can receive eternal life in only one way, that is, as a gift, through grace. The question is no longer about our own goodness and our actions, but about the goodness of Jesus before God. We can trust, that is, believe in Him in the matter of salvation and not look to anything in ourselves. As long as you look to your own actions or shortcomings, you will never feel assured of salvation and God's approval. Only when you put your hope in Jesus alone and in His goodness before God can you find peace in this matter. It won't work any other way. Among other things, the following verses talk about how Jesus is the only way to salvation and communion with God, and how salvation is by grace. Trust these verses and not anything in yourself:

Salvation through Jesus:

- (John 5:40) And you will not come to me, that you might have life.

- (John 10:9) I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

- (John 14:6) Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me.

- (Acts 4:11-12) This is the stone which was set at nothing of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.

12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Salvation as a gift:

- (Eph 2:8,9) For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

- (Rom 3:24) Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus

- (Luke 14:17) And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.

- (Rev 21:5-8) And he that sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said to me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

6 And he said to me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to him that is thirsty of the fountain of the water of life freely.

7 He that overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

- (Rev 22:17) And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hears say, Come. And let him that is thirsty come. And whoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

"When I first do my best, God will accept me because of Jesus' work of atonement". Continuing to discuss how a person can rest on a false foundation regarding salvation, one group is people who take God's commandments seriously but have never lost hope in themselves. They do not submit to God's righteousness, but try to combine their own actions with salvation (Rom 10:3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God.). For example, Mormons and many Catholics are like that. They teach that we are saved by grace after we first do our everything and best. They think that when a person does his best, God will finally give him his grace "because of the atoning work of Jesus".

However, this is not the right way of salvation, but salvation is received as a gift and it remains a gift until the end. Works can indeed follow salvation, but nothing can be added to the atoning work of Jesus. Salvation is either one hundred percent by grace and through Jesus, or a person has no salvation at all. You cannot combine works and grace. If you do this, you will not experience true salvation and assurance of salvation. You are under a curse because of your deficient works: For all who base themselves on the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written: "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continues not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them" (Gal 3:10).

You, who trust partly in your works and partly in the atoning work of Jesus, must understand that in relation to salvationyou are like a drowning man who cannot save himself . You can only accept help when it is offered to you. This help is precisely Jesus Christ. If you receive him today, you will receive salvation immediately. On the other hand, if you try, as if in the state of a drowning person, to influence salvation with your own actions, you will lose your soul. Do good works, but first let Jesus save you by accepting him as your perfect savior. Then you will become a child of God:

- (John 1:12) 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

The merits of the saints. Some people have been able to come to the conclusion that their own actions and goodness are not enough before God. They are right about that. However, they do not put all their hope in Jesus Christ alone and his work of atonement on the cross, but they take the help of the so-called the saints, especially Mary, the earthly mother of Jesus. This is done by e.g. Catholics.

However, this has the same problem as with man's own actions. The so-called saints are just as flawed people as anyone else, so it is useless to put your hope in them. They can't help anyone, but Jesus can. Because only Jesus has lived a sinless life and finally died for us. Therefore, look to Jesus Christ, and do not put your hope in imperfect people, dead or living. Only by trusting or believing in Jesus Christ can you get salvation and assurance of salvation. You can't get it any other way:

- (John 1:29) The next day John sees Jesus coming to him, and said, Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.

- (Acts 16:30,31) And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved, and your house.

- (Gal 3:1) O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been evidently set forth, crucified among you?

Grace-oriented, but experienced a false conversion. As stated earlier, a proper understanding of one's condition is important. It is important because there are thousands of people and priests in the churches who think they are in a good relationship with God, but are still not saved. Maybe they have experienced a false conversion, answered the altar call and even confess Jesus as Lord, but everything has remained superficial. Some may even perform miracles in the name of Jesus, as Judas did, but still are not saved. Jesus himself mentioned such people in his speech (Matt 7:21-23): "Not every one that said to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out devils? and in your name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess to them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity..”

The following is a related vision from John Bevere. It tells about countless people who expect to go to heaven, but who are not changed inside. The vision is consistent with the parable of the ten virgins (Matt 25:1-13), where the foolish virgins confessed Jesus as Lord, but Jesus did not know them:

I received a breathtaking spiritual vision in prayer. It changed my life and my service work. I saw a large group of people, countless of people, a group so large I had never seen such before. These people were gathered outside the gates of Heaven, waiting to be let in and hear the Master say, ”Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:” (Matt 25:34). Instead, they heard Him say, ”Depart from me, you cursed.” I saw their horrible shock, anguish and horror. They actually believed they would go to Heaven because they confessed the faith and Jesus as their Lord. However, they had not understood the true meaning of sin. Even though they wanted to get to Heaven, they lacked a burning desire to be obedient to our Father’s will. (1)

So how do you recognize people who have experienced a false conversion? This may include e.g. the following points:

• When a person comes to a living faith, it always involves seeing oneself in the light of God's holiness and law. This happens throughout the life of faith. Man discovers that he himself is completely unworthy and lacking before God. Paul wrote about this in the letter to the Romans: "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Rom 7:24).

On the other hand, the one who has experienced a false conversion has never had his whole being in the light of God's holiness and his law. He does not feel his own wretchedness, but can compare himself to others and be satisfied with that.

• Fruit is one of the most important criteria according to Jesus' words: "Why by their fruits you shall know them" (Matt 7:20). If a person is proud, self-aggrandizing, hard, merciless, greedy, superficial or has other negative traits, he is probably not saved. However, it is worth emphasizing here that every believer can fall into sin and fail. We are not perfect yet, but we have to walk quite imperfectly. Only after death are we completely free from our sinful nature.

• A person who has experienced a false conversion may take grace seriously, but he has no desire to do God's will. He may defend his sins and there is no fear of God in his life. Therefore, he takes a light approach to sin: "God is merciful, so why should one be so careful about life". He also does not thirst or need righteousness in his life, even though Jesus taught (Matt 5:6): "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled."

However, the fact that a person longs for more righteousness, holiness and purity in his life is one of the clearest signs of salvation, and if a person does not have such a desire, he is certainly not saved. The third chapter of Revelation tells of just such lukewarm people at whose door of their hearts Jesus had to wait. Are you the same kind of person who doesn't need God's touch in your life?

- (Rev 3:14-20) And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things said the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

15 I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot: I would you were cold or hot.

16 So then because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth.

17 Because you say, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and know not that you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

18 I counsel you to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that you may be rich; and white raiment, that you may be clothed, and that the shame of your nakedness do not appear; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.

19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

• A false convert usually does not read much of the Bible and does not take its commands seriously. In modern times, it appears e.g. in how the false converts reject the sexual teaching brought forth by Jesus and the apostles. They reject the clear teaching that sex belongs only to the marriage of a man and a wife, not to other straight or gay relationships. In addition, they may question other commandments of God, such as the commandment "You shall not kill" (e.g. acceptance of abortion). In each age, there are different currents where false converts adapt more to the opinions of the world than to the clear teaching of Jesus and the apostles.

• He lacks concern for the salvation of others and does not pray for them. The reason for this is simply that he himself is not saved. However, concern for the salvation of others and prayers for their salvation were part of, for example, Paul's life. This is how it should be in the life of every person who has received salvation:

- (Rom 9:1-3) I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,

2 That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.

3 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh:

- (Rom 10:1) Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.

Once saved - always saved? If a person turns to God and Jesus and experiences true salvation, does that mean that he is forever saved? Will he get to heaven because he has turned to God once and allowed himself to be saved? This may have been taught at times.

However, if we look at the Bible, there are several verses against this view. The Christian walk is not just that a person turns to God once, and that's all. Instead, it's about lifelong following of Jesus and making choices. Of course, salvation is always in Jesus and a person can be under grace all the time, but if he gives up on Jesus and following him, he drifts away from salvation. A person's name can be blotted out of the book of life (Rev 3:5).

However, it must be stressed that no single sin in itself separates a person from God. Yes, we can fall and do wrong. This can and will happen. However, it is good for everyone to be careful that he does not harden himself and trust in his righteousness (Eze 33:13 When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he has committed, he shall die for it.). This danger is always there if God seem to be far away and sin begins to attract man again. That's why Jesus urged us to watch over our condition, so as not to harden ourselves: "And what I say to you I say to all, Watch" (Mark 13:37).

Among other things, the following verses show that a person can renounce faith and lose salvation. They are good verses to remind you that a decision once made decision of turning to God does not necessarily take you to heaven:

- (Hebr 10:38,39) Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

39 But we are not of them who draw back to perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

- (Rev 3:5) He that overcomes, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

- (Luke 8:13,14) They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.

14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.

- (Luke 12:45,46) But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delays his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken;

46 The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looks not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.

- (John 15:4-6) Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, except you abide in me.

5 I am the vine, you are the branches: He that stays in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing.

6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

- (Rom 11:20-22) Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Be not high minded, but fear:

21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not you.

22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in his goodness: otherwise you also shall be cut off.

- (Gal 6:7,8) Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap.

8 For he that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

- (1 Tim 1:18,19) This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on you, that you by them might war a good warfare;

19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:

- (1 Tim 6:20,21) O Timothy, keep that which is committed to your trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:

21 Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with you. Amen.

- (Hebr 3:12-14) Take heed, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end;

- (1 John 2:19) They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

- (2 Peter 2:20-22) For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.

21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.

22 But it is happened to them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

What must a person do if he has fallen into sin or even abandoned God? There is a simple solution to this: he must turn to God again and confess his sin and rebellion. God does forgive a person who repents of his sins, and the blood of Jesus cleanses him of all the wrong he has done and is guilty of. It's that simple. So act like the prodigal son in Jesus' parable! He went to his father and confessed his sin to him. His father immediately pardoned him:

- (Luke 15:18-20) I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before you,

19 And am no more worthy to be called your son: make me as one of your hired servants.

20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.

- (1 John 1:9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

The prayer of salvation. Lord, Jesus, I turn to You. I confess that I have sinned against You and have not lived according to Your will. However, I want to turn from my sins and follow You with all my heart. I also believe that my sins have been forgiven by Your atonement and I have received eternal life through You. I thank You for the salvation that You have given me. Amen.

Finally , in order to gain better clarity on the topic discussed, we look at the vision of the late preacher, Frank Mangs, at the age of 91. It shows how a person can consider himself a Christian and saved, but still be outside the gates of salvation and heaven. The reason for the condition of these people is surely that they have never repented of their sins and wanted to change inside. They have not allowed God to work in their lives.

In his vision, Mangs also tells about those people who have been in living faith, but have gradually and unnoticed drifted aside from the path of faith:

I would have liked to see these people walk all the way home, but this was not allowed. I was forced to look at the beginning of the road and the narrow gate. I saw a large number of people standing there, right in front of the gate. What was strange was that many of them seemed happy. They were happy because they thought they were on the road even though they had never turned to true conversion by moving through the narrow gate.

(...) We have guaranteed people their eternity because they have been baptised once. We have guaranteed that seeking souls have born of the Spirit even though they were only born by the influence of man. We have told them that they are children of God simply because they are “nice”. We have become pious quacks, and we have assured spiritual seekers that they have born of God even though they have just recently awakened. Sometimes, we have disrupted the spiritual process of birth this way.

As a result of this, there are plenty of people who think that they are headed for Heaven even though they are not. Jesus said that this would be the case in the evening of this era.

At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them.

No oil! No Spirit! No functional spiritual life. Name and recognition. And they thought this would be enough.

I saw even more: I saw people who had entered through the gate, experienced the miracle of rebirth and started to walk the road but who had changed the road into something else than was meant. They had stopped and made the road a resting place instead of a travel route. They had not stopped because of old age. Their growth and development had simply stopped. They had stopped and started to live in their memories. Some of them had simply stopped and fallen asleep. They had all forgotten Paul’s command: “Even though we have already made progress on our journey, let us keep walking along the same road!” (...) Paul was ruled by sacred poverty but these people are ruled by Laodicean satisfaction: “We have enough.”

I saw something else, too. I saw people who had drawn away from the supernatural light shining on the road. They had retreated into the twilight on either side of the road. Into the twilight, where the vision of both sin and bliss was shrouded in darkness. Everything was murky and grey and unreal. And that grey unreality made possible something that was not possible in the middle of the road: playing with sin, speech and actions.

And I saw that the darkness on either side of the road had become the object of their attention. What had happened to them was the same that happened to Israel when the people started to listen to the calling of Egypt's food. The listening grew into lust. A hunger that trapped their thoughts and feelings. It overcame their dreams and visions. And so they were walking on the side of the road even though they seemed to be on it.

Then, something horrible happened. Silently, like shadows, they slipped away from the road: there was no ditch or fence around it. They slipped away from the road onto which they had entered with tears and prayers. Away from the light, into the darkness. Away from life, into death. Away from living hope and into hopelessness. Into hopelessness that they did not feel. Because they were dead. They had lost their ability to understand and react. They had lost their ability to experience a crisis of spirit.

After seeing all this, I quietly sank to my knees and burst into tears. I wished I was even half a century younger than I was. And that I would have the opportunity, better than I had done, to put all my efforts into giving God's Holy Spirit the freedom to use me even more than had happened. (2)

REFERENCES:

1. John Bevere: Turvapaikka (Under Cover), p. 47,48

2. Frank Mangsin taivastestamentti, p. 143-145