- Aug 8, 2018
- 237
- 358
- 31
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Catholic
- Marital Status
- Single
I don’t know if God will save me from myself, and I don’t know if I can trust myself to not unconsciously turn away or resist genuine faith and repentance.
The bible shows that some people fall away. This means some people are not saved from themselves and their own choice (conscious or not) to resist God’s will for them. I can pray for help but there are reasons God might not hear my prayer. I could be in a state of sin, causing God to hide his face from me. I could be not genuine in what I’m asking, not really willing to change, and not even consciously recognize this.
I believe that if I had faith, I wouldn’t be anxious about this. Those with strong faith, within the bible and otherwise, have confidence that God will save them and don’t appear to struggle with intense fears like this. So I should be hopeful, because I know this fear I have isn’t real.
But I’m still stuck in it because I can’t figure out how it works, how I can really be safe and not worry when it’s a fact that many people do go to hell, even some who are Christian. Stories from the bible like Ananias and Sapphira who dropped dead when it was revealed they had withheld money from the church make me feel like if I mess up, God might not save me. I feel like there is only a tiny difference between me and them, I could just as easily offend God.
I believe that God is good, no matter what. All his ways are just and he is trustworthy. He doesn’t want anyone to perish but wants everyone to repent. He loves me and wants me to be saved, and his son, Jesus Christ, died to make that possible. But how do I know if I truly love God and have genuine faith? How do I know I’m not resistant to God’s will and the Holy Spirit? How do I know I’m not self-deceived, or that I won’t be at some point, thinking I’m saved when I’m really not? I have hope that I can be saved, but I worry that I might not be. How can I overcome this fear?
The bible shows that some people fall away. This means some people are not saved from themselves and their own choice (conscious or not) to resist God’s will for them. I can pray for help but there are reasons God might not hear my prayer. I could be in a state of sin, causing God to hide his face from me. I could be not genuine in what I’m asking, not really willing to change, and not even consciously recognize this.
I believe that if I had faith, I wouldn’t be anxious about this. Those with strong faith, within the bible and otherwise, have confidence that God will save them and don’t appear to struggle with intense fears like this. So I should be hopeful, because I know this fear I have isn’t real.
But I’m still stuck in it because I can’t figure out how it works, how I can really be safe and not worry when it’s a fact that many people do go to hell, even some who are Christian. Stories from the bible like Ananias and Sapphira who dropped dead when it was revealed they had withheld money from the church make me feel like if I mess up, God might not save me. I feel like there is only a tiny difference between me and them, I could just as easily offend God.
I believe that God is good, no matter what. All his ways are just and he is trustworthy. He doesn’t want anyone to perish but wants everyone to repent. He loves me and wants me to be saved, and his son, Jesus Christ, died to make that possible. But how do I know if I truly love God and have genuine faith? How do I know I’m not resistant to God’s will and the Holy Spirit? How do I know I’m not self-deceived, or that I won’t be at some point, thinking I’m saved when I’m really not? I have hope that I can be saved, but I worry that I might not be. How can I overcome this fear?