Question about Salvation

[Guest]

I can realize that, it's just that after seeing some of these testimonies and youtube videos, for example, I had been watching a preacher I sometimes listen to, called Paul Washer talk about how one day a man came into the church with 3 weeks to live and was scared to die, and when Washer explained the gospel the man said he "understood" but he did not "feel" it. After spending hour upon hour with the man eventually the guy read John 3:16 and exclaimed he was saved. That's what I am talking about. When I look back at any experience I may have had, I do not remember ecstatically saying I was saved, in fact, looking for a feeling was not even the first thought that even occured to me. But after seeing these testimonies and videos they have really caused a great deal of confusion where now I expected to get some kind of sign after I pray or even read my bible. Right now, I can say I am saved, but then how do I know? When I think on the cross I have comfort, it's just that I don't know where then, the comfort is coming from, or if it's the right feeling.

You Read The Bible?

But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine 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 the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. Romans 10:8-11

Well, There You Have It~!

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Psalms 119:11

~

Be Blessed Beloved Of The KING

The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:

The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:

The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them. Numbers 6:24-27

Love, Your Brother Joe

Praying~!

[allofgrace]

Acts 16:30-31 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” All in his household who believed were also saved. We must learn to trust the word above all other sources.

2 Cor 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. Nor by feelings or our own understanding even. It takes time to learn the word and to apply it.

Pro 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,And He shall direct your paths. He will always do as He says, But the bottom line will always be, your assurance is His faithfulness and your walk of faith.

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Lamentation 3:22-24 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. 24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” An important lesson to learn is that every good thought and desire that comes into your heart will come from the Lord through the witness of the Holy Spirit to your spirit. He guides we learn to follow.

Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

John 15:5b Without Me you can do nothing. The Lord gives the will to do and the power to do. Phil 2:13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. And that is why He always get the glory, what gets to heaven first comes down from heaven, 1 Cor 1:29-31 that no flesh should glory in His presence. 30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— 31 that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.” 1 Cor 10:31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Learn to praise Him for all things(1Thess5:18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.) Because all good things or thoughts come from Him and those we believe to be contrary or of the flesh are to be rejected. Nevertheless, all things that He allows, you will learn that you can handle in Christ and it will build you up in the Lord, Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose, and 1 Cor 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. Notice carefully the last part of this verse, that you may be able to bear it, not escape it always, but that you always will be able to bear it. So that when you are confronted and in the situation you know you can overcome it in Christ, but don't fall into the teaching that says you will never go through difficult situation. This is a lot to absorb but read it carefully and if it bears witness with the word, run with it. But remember, the just shall live by faith, Rom 1:17, Gal 3:11, Heb 10:38 and Habakkuk 2:4.

Edited December 8, 2012 by allofgrace

[joi]

I have lived in those shoes you are wearing. I probably do not have an answer that will satisfy you but I can relate

how I finally came to understand the resolution to my dilemma.

I was listening to some taped messages by my pastor (at that time) and he said something to the effect that if you

think your sins are to big for God to forgive that you are arrogant and you are in trouble. I instantly understood that

I was in trouble! Right then and there I decided to take Him at His Word. For the first

time in my spiritual experience I felt that I was free in Him. All the things man had tacked onto the Gospel seemed to

fall away and no longer bound me to them. I was free indeed!

To begin with I did not even trust my pastor. In time I prayed and told God I did not trust 'that man' so I was going

to trust Him for the pastor. From that time forward things got better, until I finally 'got it' and believed He had done what

His Word promised.

Some accept Him at His Word instantly, for others it takes time for us to work out our own salvation.

From my current position in Him I would say take Him at His Word and forget the extraneous things people are telling you.

You can not serve two masters, as you have found, based on this thread.

I pray that God bless you in your search for His Truth and your walk with Him.

[HawkBlue27]

I have lived in those shoes you are wearing. I probably do not have an answer that will satisfy you but I can relate

how I finally came to understand the resolution to my dilemma.

I was listening to some taped messages by my pastor, at that time, and he said something to the effect that if you

think your sins are to big for God to forgive that you are arrogant and you are in trouble. I instantly understood that

I was in trouble! Right then and there I decided to take Him at His Word and take Him at that Word. For the first

time in my spiritual experience I felt that I was free in Him. All the things man had tacked onto the Gospel seemed to

fall away and no longer bound me to them. I was free indeed.

To begin with I did not even trust my pastor. In time I prayed and told God I did not trust 'that man' so I was going

to trust Him for him. From that time forward things got better, until I finally 'got it' and believed He had done what

that Word promised.

Some accept Him at His Word instantly, for others it takes time for us to work out our own salvation.

From my current position in Him I would say take Him at His Word and forget the extraneous things people are telling you.

You can not serve two masters, as you have found, based on this thread.

I pray that God bless you in your search for His Truth and your walk with Him.

That's pretty much what I had determined to do. This quote I found by Spurgeon pretty much sums up my problem.

"The world hangs on nothing; but faith cannot hang upon itself, it must hang on Christ. Sometimes, when my faith is vigorous, I catch myself doing this. There is joy flowing into my heart, and after awhile I begin to find that my joy suddenly departs. I ask the causes, and I find that the joy came because I was thinking of Christ; but when I begin to think about my joy, then my joy fled. You must not think of your faith but of Christ. Faith comes from meditation upon Christ. Turn, then, your eye, not upon faith but upon Jesus. It is not your hold of Christ that saves you; it is his hold of you."

[joi]

Faith come by hearing and hearing from the WOrd of God.

Recently I was reading in the glossary in my new Bible and I was fully aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit.

I wondered at why, when I was not reading the Word but the Glossary! I still do not know the why of it, but I soon

lost that presence in the wondering. Sometimes I could just kick myself. ; )

We are our own worst enemy when it come to our relationship with God. There is little need for Satan to get on

our case because we are already doing that work on ourself.

I have yet to keep my focus on Him and off everything else, and believe me there is a lot of everything else going

on round me and my life, including family needs and the spiritual condition of our country and the world at large.

I am not capable of changing one single thing, so I am still learning to trust everything into His care, and that includes

on what I focus.

[HawkBlue27]

Faith come by hearing and hearing from the WOrd of God.

Recently I was reading in the glossary in my new Bible and I was fully aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit.

I wondered at why, when I was not reading the Word but the Glossary! I still do not know the why of it, but I soon

lost that presence in the wondering. Sometimes I could just kick myself. ; )

We are our own worst enemy when it come to our relationship with God. There is little need for Satan to get on

our case because we are already doing that work on ourself.

I have yet to keep my focus on Him and off everything else, and believe me there is a lot of everything else going

on round me and my life, including family needs and the spiritual condition of our country and the world at large.

I am not capable of changing one single thing, so I am still learning to trust everything into His care, and that includes

on what I focus.

Funny you should use that terminology, I read in Hebrews 11 today

Hebrews 11:13-16

¹³ These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

¹⁴ For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.

¹⁵ And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.

¹⁶ But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

These verses were a bit of a help to me today. In believing the promise of God for salvation. It says this type of terminology in places where I read in Galatians and Romans. I affirmed what I had thought though, when I would recite certain scriptures and think about them, and about Christ taking my sin to the cross, I did feel at comfort.

Edited December 8, 2012 by HawkBlue27

[OldShep]

First of all, Welcome to Worthy, my name is Dennis.

Well I will not tell you that you are saved, for only You and the Lord Jesus, knows that for sure.

I read these words in my Bible: Have you done~~~

Rom_10:9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Rom_10:10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

1Ti_6:12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

1Jn_1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Mar_16:16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Act_4:12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

Eph 2:3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.

Eph 2:4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,

Eph 2:5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

Eph 2:6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

Eph 2:7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

Eph 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

Eph 2:9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

Eph 2:10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

The stories of man are many, the Holy Spirit enters an person as a counselor, a guide, to help us choose the things we will do or not do in life. To some it may have great effect on, on others it will be heard as a small voice within telling us, reminding us of Gods Word. Different people are effected different ways...The Key, is Trusting, in God's Word...Jesus died for us all, repeat, Jesus Died for All of Man Kind, not some, not one class, not one Nation, but ALL... Feelings are fine, however, choosing to believe, in Jesus, believe He really did what the Bible tells us is better then feelings. Step out in Faith, and really Trust God, in all the things that He promised....

Study His word, get to know Him, find God in all the things around you, reflect on all the things He has made, and you will find comfort and peace in your heart, the feelings you quest for are within you, allow them to comfort without losing Faith and Trust in Jesus.

Heb_12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

ICL~~~Dennis.....

[gdemoss]

Are there feelings/emotions associated with the new birth and subsequent new life that is lived afterword? I believe that there is but the degree of change and the impact of that change is going to be dependent upon the individual. I am one of the least of His. I came from the depths of depravity and wallowing in the lowest morality, the opposite of love. For me, the change was a complete makeover of my person inside out that included the removal of much negative emotional baggage stored up over ages. The filling of the Spirit is still a major factor in my emotional state everyday. The fruit of the Spirit in and of itself contains much about emotion, including long suffering, which speaks about the ability to have extended periods of suffering without retaliation. Paul spoke of it and said we joy in tribulation. I have experienced this.

I think the biggest factor missing in most gospel presentations is that we are the ministers of God ministering the Spirit of God unto others. People receive the 'gospel' about the death, burial and resurrection of Christ without much fanfare about the actual Spirit of the Living God coming to dwell in you and give you power to do much of which was not possible for you before. I pray for a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit every single morning. I pray for the quickening of my mortal flesh, that I might mortify my members upon the earth. What I experience most times is the sensation that I have just had a few glasses of wine. I have a new energy about me and I walk out of my home with a smile on my face, a song in my heart, ready to face the challenges of living in a fallen world once again. I am fairly happy all day everyday outside of some brief periods where I have to work through some things and process the pain that comes from daily life in a fallen world. I will never forget that he is called the Comforter for a reason. And we need the most comfort as it pertains to our emotional state of being. We were not given a spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and a sound mind.

All of that said, I would like to mention that devils seek to fill our hearts full of garbage and much of it will be emotionally charged such as jealousy, envy, emulation, greed and lust. All that which they will push to make us feel guilty if a thought comes to mind concerning these things. This is where the Spirit of God and the full armor of God must be employed. Remember it is not I but sin that does these things and it is my responsibility to have dominion over sin via the Holy Spirit. I know that I am 'offered' to feel unsaved everyday and I used to fall into the temptation to entertain such vile thoughts until I learned more about the filling of the Holy Spirit, the problem of indwelling sin and the access that devils have to our minds through our hearts if we give them place. All we need do is continuously call upon the name of the Lord and trust that he can do what he says he can do.

[HawkBlue27]

Are there feelings/emotions associated with the new birth and subsequent new life that is lived afterword? I believe that there is but the degree of change and the impact of that change is going to be dependent upon the individual. I am one of the least of His. I came from the depths of depravity and wallowing in the lowest morality, the opposite of love. For me, the change was a complete makeover of my person inside out that included the removal of much negative emotional baggage stored up over ages. The filling of the Spirit is still a major factor in my emotional state everyday. The fruit of the Spirit in and of itself contains much about emotion, including long suffering, which speaks about the ability to have extended periods of suffering without retaliation. Paul spoke of it and said we joy in tribulation. I have experienced this.

I think the biggest factor missing in most gospel presentations is that we are the ministers of God ministering the Spirit of God unto others. People receive the 'gospel' about the death, burial and resurrection of Christ without much fanfare about the actual Spirit of the Living God coming to dwell in you and give you power to do much of which was not possible for you before. I pray for a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit every single morning. I pray for the quickening of my mortal flesh, that I might mortify my members upon the earth. What I experience most times is the sensation that I have just had a few glasses of wine. I have a new energy about me and I walk out of my home with a smile on my face, a song in my heart, ready to face the challenges of living in a fallen world once again. I am fairly happy all day everyday outside of some brief periods where I have to work through some things and process the pain that comes from daily life in a fallen world. I will never forget that he is called the Comforter for a reason. And we need the most comfort as it pertains to our emotional state of being. We were not given a spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and a sound mind.

All of that said, I would like to mention that devils seek to fill our hearts full of garbage and much of it will be emotionally charged such as jealousy, envy, emulation, greed and lust. All that which they will push to make us feel guilty if a thought comes to mind concerning these things. This is where the Spirit of God and the full armor of God must be employed. Remember it is not I but sin that does these things and it is my responsibility to have dominion over sin via the Holy Spirit. I know that I am 'offered' to feel unsaved everyday and I used to fall into the temptation to entertain such vile thoughts until I learned more about the filling of the Holy Spirit, the problem of indwelling sin and the access that devils have to our minds through our hearts if we give them place. All we need do is continuously call upon the name of the Lord and trust that he can do what he says he can do.

Well like I said, I can feel peace when I think about the blood atonement of Christ, or here a sermon about it. I get the sense that my sin was put on Christ and I don't need to worry about that. Like this one preached by an old time preacher:

I have made it a goal of mine to be re-reading Romans or Galatians to get a fuller understanding of the gospel and assurance of my salvation. Last night I told Jesus I was placing all my hopes on his blood, and asked him to deliver me from the confusion I have been in. I trust he will.

[enoob57]

I have made it a goal of mine to be re-reading Romans or Galatians to get a fuller understanding of the gospel and assurance of my salvation. Last night I told Jesus I was placing all my hopes on his blood, and asked him to deliver me from the confusion I have been in. I trust he will.

the more you apply His Word in your living ... assurance is the bi-product of this activity! Like a for instance

your favorite TV show or

2 Ti 2:15-16

15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who

does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

NKJV

To deny yourself in a pleasure and apply your heart to an obedience leads in another obedience

Mt 16:24-27

24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself,

and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but

whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the

whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He

will reward each according to his works.

NKJV

The body will never like this as it has its own agenda of serving itself- thus let the war begin!

Love, Steven