Thank you all for responding to my various posts. I want salvation in a moment which lasts for eternity. i believe the Bible indicates this is possible. But this eludes me.
The wrong reason for wanting assurance is so that one can go on with their life as they always have, to continue to go their own way, and yet be saved. i realize i can have this motive. But I also know that it does not work that way. One must surrender to Christ and to the Holy Spirit's control of one's life.
A valid reason for wanting assurance is so that one does not have to worry that a mess up tosses one out of the kingdom of heaven. An OCD person worries that they are not saved every time they discover that they are a sinner.
I have many times done what i thought was sincerely giving my life to Christ. In fact, one of them occurred in the middle of typing the last sentence. But doubt as to my sincerity and as to my really being saved always comes back quickly. One responder has said that I am making my sincerity the key to my salvation, but the key is not me, but the Savior. Another responder said something to the effect that what God desires of us is given to us through the person of the Holy Spirit. Since reading that earlier this morning, I have tried concentrating on that. I first figure that I must first be willing to want what God wants for me. So, for a while this morning, I tried making myself to want what God wants for me, then to realize that what He wants of me He will give me through the person of the Spirit. I concentrated on this for a while.
In trying to give my life to Christ, in trying to trust Christ, it seems I can only keep it up for like two seconds at a time. In one episode of the Simpson's cartoon, a maid or nanny is brought in and she is trying to get the kids to clean up their room. The kids are having a problem being willing to do this. The nanny then sings a song like Mary Poppins. She sings, "just do a half-[butt] job." The kids get all their toys quickly stashed away in drawers, closets and chests. Then they all leave the room and slam the door behind them. As soon as the door slams closed, all the stuff pops back out of its containers and the room is just as messy as before. I think this pictures what happens with me when i try to give my life to Jesus and start the Christian walk. Two seconds later, the door slams in my heart and everything reverts to the way it was before I supposedly surrendered.
I believe in salvation in a moment. In the parable of the tax collector and the pharisee, Jesus says the tax collector "went down to his house justified." What did this man do that he got justified? He cried out to God, "God be merciful to me a sinner!" A friend of mine told me that the moment he gave his life to Christ, he just said, "Take me!" These moments of salvation did not last very long. But the change in the person was fundamental. An incredible change can occur in a moment.
I have long sought that moment of salvation. The Phillippian jailer rejoiced that he and his family had believed in God. The Ethiopian eunuch went on his way rejoicing after he came up out of the water, while Philip disappeared and was found at Azotus. I sometimes think I should give up on seeking salvation-in-a-moment. I should accept that it is a process, as a Christian friend of mine asserts. The problem with a process is that you might not make it all the way through the process.
My Dr. Jeremiah Study Bible says in its notes about the repentant thief on the cross, 'he did not have time to join a church, get baptized, or do good works. He only had time to believe on Jesus. And he was saved.' Of my many conversions, some of them are based on this note about the thief on the cross.
The moment of salvation could be quite a subject of study, in and of itself.
The wrong reason for wanting assurance is so that one can go on with their life as they always have, to continue to go their own way, and yet be saved. i realize i can have this motive. But I also know that it does not work that way. One must surrender to Christ and to the Holy Spirit's control of one's life.
A valid reason for wanting assurance is so that one does not have to worry that a mess up tosses one out of the kingdom of heaven. An OCD person worries that they are not saved every time they discover that they are a sinner.
I have many times done what i thought was sincerely giving my life to Christ. In fact, one of them occurred in the middle of typing the last sentence. But doubt as to my sincerity and as to my really being saved always comes back quickly. One responder has said that I am making my sincerity the key to my salvation, but the key is not me, but the Savior. Another responder said something to the effect that what God desires of us is given to us through the person of the Holy Spirit. Since reading that earlier this morning, I have tried concentrating on that. I first figure that I must first be willing to want what God wants for me. So, for a while this morning, I tried making myself to want what God wants for me, then to realize that what He wants of me He will give me through the person of the Spirit. I concentrated on this for a while.
In trying to give my life to Christ, in trying to trust Christ, it seems I can only keep it up for like two seconds at a time. In one episode of the Simpson's cartoon, a maid or nanny is brought in and she is trying to get the kids to clean up their room. The kids are having a problem being willing to do this. The nanny then sings a song like Mary Poppins. She sings, "just do a half-[butt] job." The kids get all their toys quickly stashed away in drawers, closets and chests. Then they all leave the room and slam the door behind them. As soon as the door slams closed, all the stuff pops back out of its containers and the room is just as messy as before. I think this pictures what happens with me when i try to give my life to Jesus and start the Christian walk. Two seconds later, the door slams in my heart and everything reverts to the way it was before I supposedly surrendered.
I believe in salvation in a moment. In the parable of the tax collector and the pharisee, Jesus says the tax collector "went down to his house justified." What did this man do that he got justified? He cried out to God, "God be merciful to me a sinner!" A friend of mine told me that the moment he gave his life to Christ, he just said, "Take me!" These moments of salvation did not last very long. But the change in the person was fundamental. An incredible change can occur in a moment.
I have long sought that moment of salvation. The Phillippian jailer rejoiced that he and his family had believed in God. The Ethiopian eunuch went on his way rejoicing after he came up out of the water, while Philip disappeared and was found at Azotus. I sometimes think I should give up on seeking salvation-in-a-moment. I should accept that it is a process, as a Christian friend of mine asserts. The problem with a process is that you might not make it all the way through the process.
My Dr. Jeremiah Study Bible says in its notes about the repentant thief on the cross, 'he did not have time to join a church, get baptized, or do good works. He only had time to believe on Jesus. And he was saved.' Of my many conversions, some of them are based on this note about the thief on the cross.
The moment of salvation could be quite a subject of study, in and of itself.
