Seeking the Lord

[Albin]

What could be the reasons why a seeking sinner may not be saved?

What does it mean to come to the Lord?

I am currently seeking the Lord, and even though God has shown me much of my depravity and sins, I struggle very much to "truly" Repent and "truly" believe. Pls. Pray to GOD for my Salvation and that I may truly be born again in CHRIST.

Edited November 29, 2018 by Albin
More clarity and personal condition mentioned.

[enoob57]

On ‎11‎/‎28‎/‎2018 at 7:28 AM, Albin said:

What could be the reasons why a seeking sinner may not be saved?

What does it mean to come to the Lord?

Lack of belief.

The first step is to realize The Bible, Genesis through Revelation, is God's Word to man... it is in those Words that we seek The Who of God! Once you begin to grasp what God has said about the Who, what, when, where, why and how of all things necessary to know Him...as this knowledge of His Word takes hold and faith installs in the heart and you are able to believe that God 'IS' and the immediate response to this is repentance for all of what one's self is comprised of (sin)…. from this emptiness of worth (of self) you will cry out to the God, that now you know exists, to save you from all that you are; To be something new and acceptable to God for His use to draw others to Himself....

Edited December 2, 2018 by enoob57

[BK1110]

To realize you are a sinner, worthy of eternal punishment, but that God so loved you that He had Jesus pay that price, take that punishment, on the cross, so that you don't have to pay it. This realization should build a deep sense of brokenness and gratitude in one's heart that leaves them no option but to admit their sins, beg forgiveness for them, and commit to changing their ways and following God to the utmost of their ability for the rest of their lives.

[Adstar]

18 hours ago, Albin said:

What could be the reasons why a seeking sinner may not be saved?

 

A seeking sinner if they are genuine in their seeking will be lead by the Holy Spirit to understand the will of God... They will then have the option to either accept the will of God or reject the will of God.. If they accept the will of God and trust in the Atonement Jesus secured for their salvation they will be saved.. If they reject the will of God and do not trust in the Atonement of the LORD Jesus Christ they will not be saved..

The Bible says there are two reason why people reject the Way of salvation..

1) They conclude that the Gospel is foolishness..

2) They conclude that the Gospel is evil..

There are a lot of people who are seeking God.. But they are really seeking a god they can agree with.. So in the end the god they are drawn to is a refction of the god they want to exist, the God of their own imaginations..

The actual God of the Holy Bible will often be a challenge to accept in one way or the other for every seeker because some of the teachings of the God of the Holy Bible will be a challenge to the person.. They will feel some discomfort about some aspects, finding Him hard to understand in some areas or finding some of His revealed will hard to accept..   This is why each seeker needs the ability to have Faith / Trust in some aspects of the Way of salvation..  Some people blessed with wisdom and understanding need Faith in a few areas of belief while some who have received less of a blessing need more Faith.. But there is no one who knows God completely because human capability to understand all things are limited due to our human limitations because we are not perfect..

Quote

What does it mean to come to the Lord?

 

Coming to the LORD means a person believes Jesus and trusts 100% that the Atonement that Jesus secured by His sacrificial death on the cross saves them from the penalty that was due upon them because of their sins..  To come to the LORD is to be in a state of being saved from the Eternal punishment and to be assured of Gods Gift of Eternal life in a perfected body with God in His perfect eternal existence..

 

[Marilyn C]

On ‎11‎/‎28‎/‎2018 at 11:58 PM, Albin said:

What could be the reasons why a seeking sinner may not be saved?

What does it mean to come to the Lord?

I am currently seeking the Lord, and even though God has shown me much of my depravity and sins, I struggle very much to "truly" Repent and "truly" believe. Pls. Pray to GOD for my Salvation and that I may truly be born again in CHRIST.

Hi Albin,

Yes it can be very difficult to believe that my sins, so dreadful can be forgiven. However God says it is by the blood of Jesus that we can come to Him. Nothing of ourselves, (just as well) but by the blood of Jesus. So stand on that truth and come to God knowing He has forgiven you.

Marilyn.

[SisterActs2]

Hi Albin

Just to add to the other comments:

"When I survey the wondrous cross/ on which the Prince of Glory died / my richest gain I count but loss / and pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast / Save in the death of Christ, my God / All the vain things that charm me most /I sacrifice them to His blood.

See, from His head, His hands, His feet / Sorrow and love flow mingled down / Did e'er such love and sorrow meet / Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine / That were an offering far too small / Love so amazing, so divine / Demands my soul, my life my all."

From the Redemption Songs.

 

[Blood Bought 1953]

On 11/29/2018 at 1:09 AM, BK1110 said:

To realize you are a sinner, worthy of eternal punishment, but that God so loved you that He had Jesus pay that price, take that punishment, on the cross, so that you don't have to pay it. This realization should build a deep sense of brokenness and gratitude in one's heart that leaves them no option but to admit their sins, beg forgiveness for them, and commit to changing their ways and following God to the utmost of their ability for the rest of their lives.

 

I agree with much of what you had said ......However the part about “ changing their ways”  has nothing to do with Salvation. It’s more like,” Trust God and your ways will be changed” HE does the only changing that counts. He changes from the inside out—-  TRANSFORMATION  only HE can perform.Be obedient as you can be and discard sins that you would otherwise by chastised for.These things are wise, they are NOT requirements for Salvation.Simply believe the Gospel of 1cor15:1-4 and you are saved—- a member of the Body of Christ.You don’t HAVE to change—- you WILL change . He will finish the work HE started.

 

[BK1110]

3 hours ago, Blood Bought 1953 said:

I agree with much of what you had said ......However the part about “ changing their ways”  has nothing to do with Salvation. It’s more like,” Trust God and your ways will be changed” HE does the only changing that counts. He changes from the inside out—-  TRANSFORMATION  only HE can perform.Be obedient as you can be and discard sins that you would otherwise by chastised for.These things are wise, they are NOT requirements for Salvation.Simply believe the Gospel of 1cor15:1-4 and you are saved—- a member of the Body of Christ.You don’t HAVE to change—- you WILL change . He will finish the work HE started.

I always get pushback on this, no matter how carefully I word it. To be very clear, it's certainly not the changing of ways (I.E. works or anything done on our part) that brings salvation. But the feeling of brokenness that is necessary for true repentance is one that will, without a doubt, lead to works, I.E. the desire and effort to change. I bring it up because there is an epidemic of pastors and Christians who do not explain salvation well enough. For years I did not understand because Christians so easily say "just believe and repent!" It's so easy to then just say "well, okay, I believe God is real, and that all this is true, so I apologize for the wrong things I've done, now I'm saved!" without having experienced a true realization of one's state of hopeless sinfulness and a real change of heart. You're not just taking out an afterlife insurance policy so that you won't go to hell once you die after a life of sin.

As you said "trust God and your ways will be changed," that's the point; real trust in God and repentance leads to the change...because the trust is something real and deep, not just "head knowledge" so to speak. I wonder how many thousands or million believe and know the truth in their heads, recite some little prayer as pastor tells them to, and then believe themselves saved when they haven't actually had any desire for transformation in their heart, and are still lost. After all, even the demons "believe."

I hope that makes my beliefs clearer. Definitely not saying that works of any kind are needed for salvation.

[Blood Bought 1953]

 

Nice to see that we are both are on the exact same wavelength.I think this is what “ work out your Salvation with fear and trembling” is talking about.It does not say to live your life this way.One just can’t be saved until it hits them that they are LOST—- headed for Hell and they have it coming.Sometimes one can just sense that something is missing in some that believe they are Christians.I believe this is it.Changing your mind is what repentance truly means—- not “ getting your act together, gritting your teeth and making up your mind to walk the straight and narrow.That is “ works” in the extreme.It is changing your mind about who you are—- not somebody who is “ good enough” but somebody who is a pure wretch in the eyes of God, a sick man who needs medicine.....the elixir that is The Blood Of Christ and that ONLY.My night of terror turned out to be the most valuable night of my life.I often wonder how many here have experienced what we have lived through .My guess? Not many.

[Willa]

On 11/28/2018 at 5:28 AM, Albin said:

What could be the reasons why a seeking sinner may not be saved?

What does it mean to come to the Lord?

I am currently seeking the Lord, and even though God has shown me much of my depravity and sins, I struggle very much to "truly" Repent and "truly" believe. Pls. Pray to GOD for my Salvation and that I may truly be born again in CHRIST.

A lot seems to depend on what we do with God's word.  

Luk 8:5  ESV  "A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it.

Luk 8:6  And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture.

Luk 8:11  Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.

Luk 8:12  The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.

Luk 8:13  And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.

I have a friend who has trampled underfoot the things she does understand in God's word.   She hates anything written by Paul.  She does not believe that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, and that no-one comes to the Father but by Him.  So the things she does understand she has rejected.  Now even that is being taken away from her by satan.  

Our beliefs must be rooted in God's word to be able to withstand trials.  If it is based on a feel good emotion it won't last long at all.  Our emotions are fickle and may be influenced by hormones, weather, physical condition or pain, etc.  When we have hidden God's word in our hearts we cling to it in hard times, fight the lies of satan with it, try it and make it our own.  God's word is truth.  

1Pe 1:6  In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 1Pe 1:7  so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

If you are truly hungry to know God you will find Him and His attributes revealed in the Bible.  To reject the God of the Bible is to reject His salvation.  

You only need faith as small as a microscopic grain of mustard seed.  We need a tiny bit of faith in a great God who loves us and sent His Son to die for our sins.  The sin we must repent from is that of rejecting Jesus.  He then changes us so we no longer enjoy our lesser sins that displease God.  We just confess them and trust that He will forgive and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.