"Richard, This has come up often... Please answer this one.... Someone who leads a decent life, loves the Lord but one day as we all do, he sinned, gets into his car, is killed.... Is he lost? Some do not know nor understand this statement."
I am not Richard--as you refer to him--but I will respond to the above question because it is asked here in the Bread of Life forum.
"...the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outer appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7.
The Bible very clearly tells us that man does not see as God sees: man looks on the outer appearance, but God looks on the heart. This is why no human being can accurately answer the question you asked BECAUSE ONLY GOD KNOWS THE THOUGHTS AND MOTIVES OF THE HUMAN HEART (MIND).
(1) "Someone who...loves the Lord...."
Jesus tells us in His Word: If you love Me, keep My Commandments (John 14:15). This is why I HAVE MAJOR PROBLEMS when an individual tries to tell or convince me how much he or she loves the Lord BUT WILL NOT DO WHAT GOD SAYS IN HIS WORD!!! There are many Biblical injunctions and warnings that go unheeded BECAUSE MANY DON'T KNOW THEY ARE THERE because they are waiting for the preacher or someone to tell them WHAT THEY COULD READ FOR THEMSELVES!! There are many, but permit me to illustrate what I have reference to with one such example from the Word of God:
"Now the works of the flesh are manifest which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in times past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Galatians 5:19-21.
How many have heard these Bible texts preached from the pulpit lately--or at any time, for that matter? Yet these texts (and others like them) have been in the Bible all the time. Paul is here writing NOT TO THOSE IN THE WORLD, but to those in the church at Galatia. He makes it very clear, in no uncertain terms, that those who do these things, written therein, SHALL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD!!! God says what He means, and He, most assuredly, means what He says!! The works of the flesh described above that would keep the Galatians out of the Kingdom ARE STILL THE SAME ONES that will keep those out today who do them. God has not changed (Mal. 3:6). HE IS THE SAME GOD, yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:.
(2)"...but one day...he sinned...[and] is killed.... Is he lost?"
As stated above, no human being knows the answer to that question. WHAT WE DO KNOW IS God is a God of Love (1 John 4:. He is interested IN SAVING MEN'S LIVES, not destroying them:
"And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. And they did not receive them, because his face was as though he would go to Jersusalem. And when his disciples saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives but to save them. And they went to another village." Luke 9:51-56.
The kind of sin this individual may have committed before he was killed in a car accident is not mentioned. There is, however, one sin of which there is no pardon. It is the sin against the Holy Ghost (Matt. 12:31). If this individual did not commit this sin, then "all manner of sin," the Bible says, "shall be forgiven unto men" (Matt. 12:31). As to whether he is saved or not, the answer is still WE DON'T KNOW because ONLY GOD knows the mind of this individual AND HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST before he died. This is the reason why it is of paramount importance to read our Bibles. And not just read Them, but also to be DOERS OF THE WORD, instead of "hearers" only (James 1:22):
"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing assunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Hebrews 4:12.
AND NO OTHER BOOK ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH can make that claim!!! Friends, let us therefore return to the Word of God, and become a practitioner of that Word WHILE THERE IS STILL TIME TO DO SO!
M.A.