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Originally Posted by Evangelical
InChristAlone, if you don't know you are saved, then you are not saved. If you think Muslims are saved, then you are not saved. A truly saved person knows they are saved. A truly saved person knows that Muslims cannot be saved. If you don't know that you are saved, then no correct understanding of the Trinity doctrine can save you.
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Evangelical, I don't think that Muslims are saved because there is no salvation without Our Lord Jesus Christ. (Salvation demands faith in Jesus Christ. It is only through Christ we are able to achieve a union with God and to be brought into Christ's eternal Kingdom). And I don't know if I am already saved or not because I am still on this Earth and, as the apostle says, we work out our salvation. "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling". (Philippians 2:12) In other words, we are being saved, not already saved.
I am not a holy man but a great sinner. How can I trust my feelings, emotions or self-confidence? Will I really be united with Christ after my death? Will I be worthy to enter the Kingdom of Heaven? Right now, I am not even worthy to stand before the face of the Lord. Therefore, I still need Him as my Savior. I believe in the Lord, and I do want to be saved but I don't have the guarantee.
One day, we will know the outcome for sure. Meanwhile, we can only hope for our salvation.
I wonder who gave you the guarantee of your personal salvation. How do you know the Lord's judgement on you? Didn't the Lord warn us, "On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’'
You can delude yourself about your salvation but only God knows if you are really saved or not.
Orthodox monastics are very sober people. So, they give us a wise advice and a warning against delusion: "Do not trust yourself until you go to last home." You cannot say better that that.
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The early Church did not believe that baptism guarantees one salvation: “…After we have thus washed him who has been convinced and has assented to our teaching, bring him to the place where those who are called brethren are assembled, in order that we may offer hearty prayers in common for ourselves and for the baptized [illuminated] person, and for all others in every place, that we may be counted worthy, now that we have learned the truth, by our works also to be found good citizens and keepers of the commandments, so that we may be saved with an everlasting salvation.” (St. Justin the Martyr, First Apology, Chapter 65). Again, it is worth noting that the everlasting salvation is linked to one’s works.
Even Apostle Paul himself did not feel that his salvation was guaranteed: “…Now is our salvation nearer than when we believed” (Romans 13:11) – “nearer” but not a “done deal”. “So fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway” (1 Corinthians 9:26-27). We notice immediately that for the Apostle the possibility of his salvation was tied to his ascetic feats. “…If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended…” (Philippians 3:11-13).
http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/46463.htm
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Salvation is "faith working through love." It is an ongoing, lifelong process. Salvation is past tense in that, through the death and Resurrection of Christ, we have been saved. It is present tense, for we must also be being saved by our active participation through faith in our union with Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Salvation is also future tense, for we must yet be saved at His glorious Second Coming.
As for Muslims, of course, if they repent and accept the Lord, they can be saved in this life. (But only God knows that for sure). We don't know what is going on after death. Will Muslims be able to accept the Lord? Will the Lord save them? I don't know. "For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy." (Rom. 9:15-16) Thus, I leave it for the Lord to judge. "For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside." (1 Corinthians 5:12-13) God "will have mercy on whom He will have mercy" (Rom 9:18).
St. Cyprian of Carthage says that "outside the Church (which is the Body of Christ) there is no salvation." Strictly speaking, it means that you Evangelical are not saved, no matter what you "know" about your salvation. Will you be saved? I don't know. It is between you and God. (How can I judge you and talk about your salvation, when I don't even know my lot?) Anyway, I wish you to be saved. I wish my wife and all my friends and relatives, who don't belong to the Church, to be saved as well. But the only thing I can do is to pray for my and their salvation.
In Orthodoxy, salvation is a mystery. You and I can talk about it a lot but it is only for God to judge who is saved and who is not. All your "proofs" and "assurances" of your salvation may cost nothing before the Lord. We will have our final "proofs" only after we die.
God "desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (I Tim. 2:4). I would like to believe that God is leading all of us towards salvation. At least I am sure He knows what He is doing.
Here is a popular quote that belongs to Theophan the Recluse: "You ask, will the heterodox be saved... Why do you worry about them? They have a Saviour Who desires the salvation of every human being. He will take care of them. You and I should not be burdened with such a concern. Study yourself and your own sins... I will tell you one thing, however: should you, being Orthodox and possessing the Truth in its fullness, betray Orthodoxy, and enter a different faith, you will lose your soul forever."
Another author says:
"Individuals within Orthodoxy might give you all sorts of different answers, but the most uniform response you will get about who God will save outside of the Church is that we simply do not know. Christ as God, and King and Judge can save whoever He wants to save, and condemn whoever He wants to condemn. Even being in the Church is no guarantee of salvation."
Please check out these two links:
Will the Heterodox Be Saved?
http://orthodoxinfo.com/inquirers/me...heterodox.aspx
The Orthodox Teaching on Salvation
http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/46463.htm
God bless.