salvation anxiety question

[Alive]

Bothers and sisters—remember the Lord of love, grace and mercy. And aim to extend to each other the same that you have received and do receive from Him.

Look to Him and find the way.

[Alive]

Praise the LOrd! He is within us and shines His bright light of love.

[dhchristian]

2 hours ago, Prodigal Son said:

The evil one attacks us in so many ways. Creating doubt in our minds is one of his biggest plays. We know that faith in Jesus will save us. We know that we will still be tempted by the evil one yet we still fall into skepticism.

Im about to begin my devotion to the sacred heart of Jesus. Look into it. It basically guarantees salvation among other things

"I promise you, in the excessive mercy of My Heart, that My all-powerful love will grant to all those  who communicate on the First Friday of nine consecutive months, the grace of final penitence;  they shall not die in my disgrace, nor without receiving their Sacraments, My Divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment."

-----Our Lord to St. Margaret Mary

Prodigal Son,

Some people here are offended by the catholic church and its teachings especially ones like this pointing to repeated prayers and rosaries and what not. Many have come out of the catholic church and its teachings such as this others see the church as being Apostate, Replacing Christ as the one mediator between God and Man by placing the Pope as the Vicar of Christ. 

I Personally believe there are many brothers and sisters in Christ in the Catholic church, But there are also many who are just following tradition and culture in being part of the church, as opposed to pursuing a genuine relationship with Christ Jesus. Unfortunately that relationship with Christ Jesus has come under attack by the Catholic church that says that you cannot pursue this relationship apart from church membership in the one catholic church, which is a load of "hogwash", Pardon my negative pun. Jesus is very clear that Anyone who seeks him shall find Him even in the absence of a building constructed by men or a denomination of a church of men.

In Christ alone! 

 

[F_Ivan]

1 hour ago, dhchristian said:

Ivan,

Praise God for your decision to follow Christ Jesus. You wrote above: " Jesus is God in the flesh sent to die for all of our sins and to save us." Right now as a young believer you acknowledge this with your mind but it has not sunk in yet as to the true meaning of this. When you do, you will find that assurance you are looking for. 

He Died for all your sins, past present and future, ALL of them. When You fully understand this you will stop beating yourself up with doubts, and instead begin to trust in his working in you and through you. You see when you are Born again the burden of sin is lifted off of you, which is that peace you felt, and cleanness. This is known as "instant sanctification" From that moment on when God looks down on you he sees not your sin, but he sees the righteousness of His Son in you. But we still have this body of ours, which is mortal, the "old man", and that Old man is being made new by the Work of the Holy Ghost in you. So for example, your desire for horror movies has changed, your behavior and demeanor has changed (I can tell just by your comments here), This is a lifelong process known as "progressive sanctification", Which is the Work of the Holy Ghost is doing in us. 

The trick is, as we are walking in faith, we tend to stray away from letting God fix us and heal us and try to do it ourselves, by our own power, and our own will in order to please him. This is known as religion.  The Problem with this approach is that we fall into "self righteousness" then and using works to maintain salvation, instead of trusting in the finished work of Christ on the cross. What I recommend that you do, is not get yourself all worked up in religion, and instead go look for relationship. You have the Word of God, which is the sword of the Spirit, and when you begin to read and let the Holy Ghost in you teach you, you will learn how to have a relationship with God as opposed to a religion towards God. Pray to Him to guide you and teach as you read. Ask Yourself, "what does this passage teach me about Jesus and my relationship with him?" Trust in His grace, and His ability to Mold you as a potter molds clay. Rest in His finished work on the cross, and he will begin to change that Old man into a new creation in Christ Jesus. He will make himself more known to you, and your relationship with him will thrive.

When you start trying to fix it yourself by your own strength, you may have some success, but you will never overcome those sinful desires, they will always remain with you, because the heart has not been sanctified in you. When You let God fix you, he will give you victory over those desires and impulses of the Old man, when you are ready to give him the glory of overcoming. So, For example, I was a heavy drinker, an alcoholic, but when he fixed me I had no desire for the drink, neither was I ever tempted to go out and have a drink, and others around me can drink without me being tempted to join in, the victory over that sin was so complete, and I did not do anything, He did, he took the desire away from me, and I just stopped drinking alcohol. For me, the impetus for it was that if I wanted to minister for Him, He was to be the only Spirit in me. I Understood his Will then and yielded myself to His will. The change came not by me but by Him and his grace at work in me, and I cannot take credit for the work because I did nothing I did not even try to stop drinking, He just removed that desire from my heart and the motive that made me drink. This is how we can avoid the snares of religion in our lives, focus on the relationship, Pray as if he is there next to you, HE IS, and let Him teach you always. Begin by reading the Gospel of John, and then Romans and acts. Understand his grace fully, and what that means, and how to trust in His grace alone, Not your own works, and you will be heading in the right direction. If you fall into works, return to the cross and refocus on His grace. Keep You eyes focused on Jesus and the sins and cares of this world will grow "strangely dim" as the old hymn puts it.

God Bless.   

Thanks, I really hope I receive assurance of my salvation, I have witnessed something miraculous in my life that proves to me God has put special attention to my life, and some other peculiar things (Had a righteous boldness/anger come out of me one time when I was battling with self condemning thoughts out of nowhere that made the thoughts flee, and have been intensely gripped with emotion when reading certain verses, Mark 14:62, John 8:58, Luke 23:42). I know we can't earn salvation but I have been going out into my own strength to maintain it/not lose it. But surely there is a place for my best effort? Like putting my best effort in to seeking God in my life and in prayer?

[F_Ivan]

I like listening to worship music and getting myself wound up in the emotions I feel from it. Is that wrong?

Edited January 16, 2020 by F_Ivan

[F_Ivan]

You are right @dhchristian I need to fully believe in his full finished work of the cross, past present and future.

[dhchristian]

1 hour ago, Prodigal Son said:

Are you serious, is that why. Im trying to help someone, that was my only motive, to help another.

What is this motive? Attacking someone because of their prejudices, because they disagree. Lord Father please. 47,000 Christian denominations FORTY SEVEN THOUSAND. I cried when I learnt that recently, and why, cos of these little details that are mostly irrelevant, cos people want to take offence at any little difference. How about learning to agree to disagree, to accept others, to be led by love and not hate. Seriously, i don't understand any of it, it's all theological rubbish that is driven by Satan to divide us all, DON'T FALL FOR HIS SCHEMES.

U claim that I pointed to repeated prayers and rosaries, no i didn't. Then u mention things like a mediator, Pope and church teachings that have absolutely nothing to do with anything I said or this thread. Seriously ur hate towards Catholicism is unhealthy if your attacking random people out of context this way. Is that what Jesus wants? Division?

Seriously im gobsmacked. How has it got to this. Lord Jesus please bring your mercy, peace and grace back because we all desperately need it.

prodigal son,

There may be 47000 denominations, but only one true Body of Christ, and that is all those who have a relationship with Jesus, Nothing more. No Buildings, no denominations, no Pope or Bishop or Pastor, Just Christ Jesus as the head. He is our all in all. Catholocism is just another denomination, and itself has many denominations therein. If this insults you, I am sorry, this is what I believe, and what the Holy Ghost has taught me to believe through the Word of God. I Do not hate Catholics in the least, and like I said earlier, there are many Brothers and Sisters in Christ in the Catholic church, But just like those many protestant denominations there are many "Christians in name only" in all of them.  

For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; (1 Timothy 2:5)

And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. (Col. 1:18)

Jesus is the LORD (1 Cor. 12:3)

[dhchristian]

2 hours ago, F_Ivan said:

Thanks, I really hope I receive assurance of my salvation, I have witnessed something miraculous in my life that proves to me God has put special attention to my life, and some other peculiar things (Had a righteous boldness/anger come out of me one time when I was battling with self condemning thoughts out of nowhere that made the thoughts flee, and have been intensely gripped with emotion when reading certain verses, Mark 14:62, John 8:58, Luke 23:42). I know we can't earn salvation but I have been going out into my own strength to maintain it/not lose it. But surely there is a place for my best effort? Like putting my best effort in to seeking God in my life and in prayer?

Ivan,

"Seek His face" Is a saying in Hebrew that means to seek His presence in your life. This is the "effort" you need to put in. There are going to be times your faith will be tested, and you will be in a valley, And You will think He is not there, That is when you need to seek his face. You can find Him In the Word of God, in the prayer closet, In Hymns and songs of praise and worship, And of course in your churches as you are hearing Bible based teaching and preaching. Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore. Remember his marvellous works that he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth; (Psalm 105:4-5)

As far as Christian music is concerned, everyone has their own personal favorites. I personally like the Old Hymns I sang in church as child growing up, But there were times when the modern music Spoke to me and His presence was in those songs as well. As someone who loved literature, I find some of those Old hymns to have some profound truths expressed in them that some of these modern praise and worship songs are lacking, But by the same token I have always been a "lyrics" listener, rather than a musically talented, so that is what I lean towards. Some of the more modern music is not as deep lyrically as the Older Hymns IMO.

God Bless. 

[JTC]

On 1/15/2020 at 7:41 PM, F_Ivan said:

I like listening to worship music and getting myself wound up in the emotions I feel from it. Is that wrong?

No Ivan, there's nothing wrong with this.

[F_Ivan]

Im really having these strong anxieties that are trying to drown my faith. About losing my salvation and/or losing the faith and falling away. Someone said all anxiety is a form of unbelief and im wondering if this is a form of unbelief in God's love to keep me and protect me or if its just a fear?