After reigning for seventy years, Queen Elizabeth II succumbed to the same fate that every one of us shall face one day – death. At 96 years old, she was the longest reigning monarch of Great Britain. For the majority of her life, every time she made a public appearance she was applauded with chants of “God Save the Queen!” and was played the national anthem by the same name. As the reigning monarch, she was also the head of the Anglican church. Yet, do we know that Queen Elizabeth II was truly saved and going to heaven? Let’s consider what her own statements reveal about her faith.
Less than a year ago, during her Christmas address, she stated that Jesus’ teachings “have been the bedrock of my faith.” On the surface, this seems like a public confession of her faith in Jesus Christ. Looking back to 2011, she was even more explicit about what this faith meant for her personally, stating: “We sometimes need saving from ourselves – from our recklessness or our greed. God sent into the world a unique person – neither a philosopher nor a general (important though they are) – but a Saviour, with the power to forgive.” In this statement she recognized that saving faith required saving from one’s personal sin and that the “unique” person able to do this was Jesus Christ. Her public confession was that He was uniquely equipped with the power to forgive.
She also believed in a personal faith for which she would be judged. In 2000 she said, “the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life.” A public, generalized faith for the sake of the people was not enough for the Queen. She recognized that she would be held accountable before God for how she lived out that faith as a person. Her association and appreciation of the well-known preacher Billy Graham has allowed for an outsider to have some confirmation of her faith. According to Billy Graham’s son, Franklin, “she’s very devout in her faith and very strong in her faith. Her faith has been consistent not just with conversations with my father but throughout her life.”
While many of her statements and the witness of Billy Graham point to the fact that the Queen had a saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we simply do not know her heart. We can’t conceive of the difficulty it must be to reign as a public figure while holding a private faith. Much of her private life and inner beliefs will never be known. There are some things that we do know.
First, even if someone shouts “God save the Queen” at you all your life, it doesn’t make you saved. Being the Queen doesn’t give you a ticked to heaven. It doesn’t matter if an entire country of loyal subjects want you to go to heaven with all their heart, it will not get you there. It doesn’t matter if you are the figurehead of a world-wide church, you will not earn salvation in that manner either. The Bible is clear that salvation only comes through Jesus Christ who tells us “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)
Second, salvation comes to us by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8). This faith must be a personal faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We must recognize that our sins keep us from God but that through faith in Jesus Christ (who has paid for our sins on the cross) we can be granted the free gift of salvation. Romans 10:9 says that we “confess” our faith publicly and we “believe” our faith in our hearts. Have you found this salvation for yourself?
The evidence seems to indicate that Queen Elizabeth confessed her faith publicly where she could. It is very possible that she accepted the gospel message of Jesus Christ and had a personal faith in His sacrifice for her. While you aren’t in a position to judge what is in another person’s heart, you can know for sure that Christ is in yours. Don’t hope that some well-wisher will pray you into heaven somehow. Be sure of the saving faith in your own heart and then tell other people how God saved you, how He saves the queen, and how He will save “whosoever” will be believe on the name of the Lord ( John 3:16). If you have any questions about this, drop me an email – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
References:
https://haventoday.org/blog/10-surprising-things-queen-says-jesus/