Getting Saved: Open or Dictated by the Holy Spirit?

[Reformed-cross]

Simply put then, FAITH is complete trust in Jesus for every breath we take, enabled by God, and strengthened by knowledge which grows as we hear, read, study and understand His word, and most importantly, as we enter ever deeper into a personal relationship with Him.

Fez:

That is some really good teaching. Great post.

I believe faith is given to us in measure as to quantity, but its power is not limited which is what I believe you expressed in the phrase

God offers you limitless FAITH

R.E.

[darski]

It may be a matter of semantics but I prefer the term "receive Christ" rather than "accept Christ".

I find that it more clearly reflects God's efforts against our natural animosity. IYKWIM We receive what God gives.

Accept has a more active connotation on the part of recalcitrant sinners than is likely.

[episkopos]

Here is a brief quote from Dag Heward-Mills’ Born Again:

Being born again is one of the distinctive features of the Christian faith. Christianity stands alone in this claim! The word “born” means “to be produced or created again”. To understand the Bible better, I often try to view the opposite of what is written. This can be very revealing. For example:

“…Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

The opposite of this is ““…Seek ye not first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall not be added unto you.”

It is as simple as that. If you do not seek first the kingdom of God, you cannot expect God to give you the things you need.

So, really, you can be saved at any time but preferably, it should be one of the first things you should do.

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation… For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” [Romans 10:9-10, 13-15]

I believe that you cannot separate salvation from the Holy Spirit. As in the scripture above, salvation is the Lord’s response to the man who calls on Him. However, to call on the Lord, you need to have prior knowledge of Him which is obtained by listening to preaching. A few verses down, we read: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” [Romans 10:17]. “But the comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things…” [John 14:26]. In essence, the knowledge that we gain about God so that we are able to believe in Him unto salvation is from the Holy Spirit. He teaches us all things and then we are able to gain faith.

Salvation is originally initiated by the Holy Spirit. The Bible, by which many have come to the saving knowledge of God, was written under inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We can thus conclude that the Holy Spirit initiated salvation long ago and so we must take the opportunity now. The Bible says this about God in 1 Timothy 2:4, “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth”. That has been God’s intention and desire for mankind.

Therefore, the initiation has been completed and the actual process of an individual being saved depends on his own will and timing. However, as we read at the beginning, it is better to seek God first.

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