Would we feel the same

A few mornings ago, as I got in my car, I saw my neighbor across the street and went over to pray with, and for, her. I knew that she had a heavy heart, as her husband of many years passed away two weeks ago. (I need to pass on a few details here for you to have a clearer understanding of this message.) She is a very godly woman, faithful in her church and quick to share the message of Jesus. If you talk to her a few minutes, the conversation will turn to God. He did not go to church with her. His life was not what she wanted it to be (that's as far as I will go). She told me several times, over the past few years, as she shared the news of one of her kids or grandkids getting saved; "I'm still praying for my husband to be saved."

I have had about 3 in-depth talks with her husband over the last few years. In each of those, he told me that he knew he had trusted Jesus for salvation. He said that there were some things in his youth that he just hadn't been able to work through, and these things made it so difficult to go to church with his wife that he stayed home and watched preaching on the television. He also said, "I can't talk to her about it, because I know she will expect me to go to church with her." I felt impressed to go and share that with the wife and other family members that were at her house 2 days after his death. God spoke comfort to them. It came out, as I shared the part about the "things in his youth," that his wife said, "yes, he told me that his grandfather was a "pastor" who derided his daughter and her very young son (my deceased neighbor) so much about their ragged clothes (very poor- during the depression) that he told them they were not welcome in his church and would not allow them to attend." We then talked about how devastating that would be to a young child, and how it could have repercussions throughout his life, so much so that he only told her about it once, but refused to ever discuss it.

Now, back to where I was at the beginning- I realized that my neighbor not only missed her husband of several decades, but she's not "convinced," deep down in her soul, that her husband is in Heaven. As I left and began driving to work that morning after praying with her, I thought; "would she feel differently if he had: 1. gone to church regularly with her, 2. spoken in "King James" English, 3. carried a "5 pound" Bible in his pocket. (I'm being facetious with 2 & 3) What I'm getting at is, we say we believe a person is saved and kept by grace. Is his wife believing that God answered her prayers of the years, and that salvation is by what Jesus did? or, is she doubting either, or both, of those things? I know salvation produces new life. I also know that our pre-salvation life, especially our youth, affects our salvation life and how we live it.

Thinking of the people in our lives, and the exterior (things we can see) of their lives, would we feel the same about their "salvation status" if their exteriors were different? I know that a person seeing just the exterior of my deceased neighbor's life would not necessarily believe he was saved, but; all those external things can be seen very differently in the light of the knowledge of the hurt and condemnation this man received very early in his life. I wonder, if we could see the complete life experiences of those around us, would we feel the same about them and their relationship to God? When we sing- "my hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus' blood and righteousness," do we really believe our salvation is based on His life, death, and resurrection, plus absolutely nothing? and, does that hold true for others, also?