Saved or Lost?

[thistle93]

There are a few people in the Bible whom I have wondered if they were saved or lost in the end.

So would you say 1) King Saul, 2) King Solomon and 3) Simon the Magician in Acts ultimately were saved, lost or we just do not know for sure?

Please let me know if you have any Biblical backing/reason for saying one way or the other. Thanks!

For His Glory-
Matthew

 

[Solparvus]

I don't know about King Solomon, though King Saul manifested no repentance at the end of his life (aggravated by his self-murder), and Simon the Magician only asked Peter if the consequences of his sin would be taken away, and not the sin. Both show signs of rebellious hearts.

 

[Jerusalem Blade]

King Saul: Lost

Solomon: Saved

Simon the magician: Lost

Saul and Solomon:

2 Samuel 7:12 ¶ And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:
15 But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.
16 And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.
17 According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.

1 Samuel 16:14 ¶ But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.

1 Samuel 28:15 ¶ And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do.
16 Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the LORD is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy?

Psalm 89:20 I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him:
21 With whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him.
22 The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him.
23 And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him.
24 But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
25 I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers.
26 He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.
27 Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.
28 My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.
29 His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.
30 If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments;
31 If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments;
32 Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.
33 Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.
34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
35 Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.
36 His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me.
37 It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.


Simon:

In the encounter between Peter and Simon in Acts 8, we have Peter saying “thy money perish with thee” (v. 20), and “thou has neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God” (v.21), and he is told to “Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee” (v. 22). And Peter’s final words were, “For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity” (v. 23).

Now did Simon pray to God as he was told? No. He asked Peter to pray in his stead (v. 24). My thought is he did not have faith – any faith – to pray. There is no more written of him. Though in church traditions he is spoken of as continuing in evil and in magic, if one can give any credence to these reports.