Doubting being saved

2Cor13:4 For though He was crucified in weakness, yet He lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, but we shall live with Him by the power of God toward you.

5 Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified. 6 But I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified.

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miamited said:

Hi lik3,

Well, I'm going to go a different way. Why would someone who knows that they have been born again; knows that they have the Spirit of the living God living in them as the deposit God has given them of the sure promise of their salvation, have doubts?

Now, some have answered that having doubts is a natural process of salvation, but...

I can't find anything in the Scriptures where Peter wrote of ever having doubts. Yes, he denied the Lord and was immediately convicted of the wickedness of what he had done, but he doesn't seem to come back and say anywhere that he doubted his coming salvation. Paul doesn't ever write of having doubts regarding his coming salvation.

So, I ask again, why would someone who knows that they are born of the Spirit of the living God have doubts? Is that maybe what the Holy Spirit was given us for? To cause us to doubt our place before God? Is it really a lie that the Holy Spirit is given unto those who are the children of God that they might know that they have eternal life?

If you have not been born again, then that is what I would encourage that you seek.

God bless you.
In Christ, Ted

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JoshuaDaryl said:

That is why one reflects on it Ted, and sometimes we have to learn what we think are thoughts, are no more than whispers of lying spirits.

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Lik3 said:

I have been having doubts about being born again. It is nagging and very scary. I have prayed for years for Jesus to save me. I sometimes believe it since the anxiety wears off only to have those doubts again. Should I be worried? Is it common for a believer to have doubts about salvation? Where can I find in the word of God about this issue?

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Lik3 said:

I have been having doubts about being born again. It is nagging and very scary. I have prayed for years for Jesus to save me. I sometimes believe it since the anxiety wears off only to have those doubts again. Should I be worried? Is it common for a believer to have doubts about salvation? Where can I find in the word of God about this issue?

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Jean12345 said:

I think a lot of people go through some sort of time of doubt at one point in their walk of faith. I think those with OCD, such as myself, struggle with it more often. But even John the Baptist doubted! And the Lord responded with compassion and love. This article is from Desiring God. I can't link it because I don't have enough posts but here it is:

Are you struggling with doubts in the middle of painful circumstances? So did John the Baptist. As he sat in Herod Antipas’s prison waiting likely execution, he was afflicted with doubts about Jesus.

“Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”

This was a surprising question coming from John the Baptist.

It’s unclear exactly when John first consciously knew that Jesus was the Son of God, whose way he had come to prepare. The Apostle John quotes him as saying, “I myself did not know him” (John 1:31) around the time he baptized Jesus.

This is remarkable because John’s mother, Elizabeth, had known. She knew because John announced it to her in utero by leaping when she heard Mary’s voice. Was she not allowed to tell him? We don’t know. Regardless, John had known even before he knew.

What is clear is that when the revelation came it was an overwhelming experience for John. That day, when Jesus approached him at the Jordan near Bethany, John couldn’t contain the shout: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” With awe and trembling hands he had baptized his Lord. And then saw the Spirit descend and remain on him.

That day had also marked the beginning of the end of his ministry. From that point he had joyfully directed people away from himself to follow Jesus. And they had.

Now he sat in Antipas’ filthy prison. He had expected this. Prophets who rebuke sinful kings usually do not fare well. Unfortunately, he had not been an exception. Herodias wanted him dead. John could see no reason why she would be denied her wish.

What he hadn’t expected was to be tormented by such oppressive doubts and fears. Since the Jordan, John had not doubted that Jesus was the Christ. But stuck alone in this putrid cell he was assaulted by horrible, accusing thoughts.

What if he had been wrong? There had been many false prophets in Israel. What made him so sure that he wasn’t one? What if he had led thousands astray?

There had been false messiahs. What if Jesus was just another? So far Jesus’ ministry wasn’t exactly what John had always imagined the Messiah’s would look like. Could this imprisonment be God’s judgment?

It felt as if God had left him and the devil himself had taken his place. He tried to recall all the prophecies and signs that had seemed so clear to him before. But it was difficult to think straight. Comfort just wouldn’t stick to his soul. Doubts buzzed around his brain like the flies around his face.

The thought of being executed for the sake of righteousness and justice he could bear. But he could not bear the thought that he might have been wrong about Jesus. His one task was to prepare the way of the Lord. If he had gotten that wrong, his ministry, his life, was in vain.

But even with his doubts, there remained in John a deep, unshakable trust in Jesus. Jesus would tell him the truth. He just needed to hear from him again.

So he sent two of his closest disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”

The affection that radiated from Jesus was palpable. Jesus was familiar with John’s sorrows and grief and the satanic storms that break on the saints when they are weak and alone. He loved John.

So he invited John’s faithful friends to sit near him as he healed many and delivered many from demonic prisons.

Then he turned to them with kind tears glistening in his eyes and said, “Tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.” John would recognize Isaiah’s prophecy in those words. This promise would bring the peace John needed to sustain him for the few difficult days he had remaining.

Out of love for his friend, Jesus didn’t include Isaiah’s phrase “proclaim liberty to the captives.” John would understand.

When Jesus had sent John’s disciples away, he said something stunning about John: no one born of women had ever been greater. This, right after John questioned who Jesus was.


In this age, even the greatest, strongest saints experience deep darkness. None of us are spared sorrow or satanic oppression. Most of us suffer agonizing affliction at some point. Most of us will experience seasons when we feel as if we’ve been abandoned. Most of us will die hard deaths.

The Savior does not break the bruised reed. He hears our pleas for help and is patient with our doubts. He does not condemn us. He has paid completely for any sin that is exposed in our pain.

He does not always answer with the speed we desire, nor is his answer always the deliverance we hope for. But he will always send the help that is needed. His grace will always be sufficient for those who trust him. The hope we taste in the promises we trust will often be the sweetest thing we experience in this age. And his reward will be beyond our imagination.

In John’s darkness and pain Jesus sent a promise to sustain John’s faith. He will do the same for you.

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miamited said:

Hi JD,

Yes, but one of the greatest pieces of Scripture that comes to my mind when such things as doubts and even assurances that one may feel for themselves were Jesus' words to his disciples.

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

It seems clearly obvious to me that the people who are standing in front of the Lord at this moment were people who thought of and called themselves 'christians' while living upon the earth. They more than likely attended worship services most every week and many were likely looked upon as being great men of God by the measurements of men. After all, they say to the Lord, "did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?"

Now, I honestly can't think of anyone who has ever lived or is now living who claims of themselves to drive out demons and prophesying in the name of Jesus, that wouldn't, if asked, say that they were a christian. Muslims don't do these things in Jesus' name. Buddhists don't do these things in Jesus name. No one but 'christians' would be living among us doing such things in Jesus' name. So, it begs the obvious question: Why doesn't Jesus know these people?

I'd encourage that we each examine this Scripture and ourselves and seek the answer to that question. Why doesn't Jesus know these people who apparently did great things upon the earth in his name? Then once we find the answer follow up with the second question: Is my faith like theirs?

What is it that separates these people who apparently had a faith strong enough to do great miracles and prophesy in the name of the Lord, from those who will be saved?

God bless you.
In Christ, Ted

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JoshuaDaryl said:

Brother Ted you will find no one agrees with you more about the wolves in sheeps clothing in the church than I. But it has been my experience they are the ones who never doubt. Those people whom the Lord never new never fretted about meeting Gods standard, never cared about being unworthy. In my humble opinion the requirement of Salvation for one to have a broken contrite heart, the evidence is the realization that you do not deserve it. As a Pastor my dream would be a church full of those who occasionally have moments of doubt, these are the ones who are going to zealously devour the scripture, and cling to the word of the Lord, wanting to live in a way that gives meaning to their salvation with fear and respect of God.

Philippians 2:12
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Be the People God Wants You to Be

12 My dear friends, you always obeyed what you were taught. Just as you obeyed when I was with you, it is even more important for you to obey now that I am not there. So you must continue to live in a way that gives meaning to your salvation. Do this with fear and respect for God.

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miamited said:

Hi JD,

So, you know who the wolves in sheep's clothing are. You mention it being your experience that they are the ones who never doubt. Have you been to the other side and seen those were the one's who were cast out or is it rather just how you've learned to answer such questions as this? I'm just asking, and I don't mean to be difficult, but I myself don't know if anyone other than myself is born again. I don't know their inmost thoughts and desires. I believe that I can tell some by their fruit if I am around them enough to see their fruit, but how do you know? How do you know that someone that you have spoken with or interacted with that doesn't seem to have doubt about their salvation won't be saved? I'm just curious.

Jesus tells us that when we pray in faith that we should not doubt for then we are just like some reed swaying in the wind. Paul speaks of the indwelling Holy Spirit as our guarantee. If a store gives me a guarantee on a product I know that if that product fails it will be replaced and God's guarantees are much stronger than any store guarantee. John says that we can have assurance that we are children of God. So, why? If I shouldn't doubt what I've asked of God and if I have the guarantee of the Holy Spirit and the assurance that I am a child of God, why should I have doubts?

Is that really what those who have all these things that the Scriptures speak of as guarantees and assurances should be doing? Yes, the passage you quoted said that we should do these things with fear and respect for God. I don't find that just because I understand the power and glory of God and realize that I should be fearful and respectful towards Him as then being the cause of doubt. I just understand that as being that I should, once I come to understand the real truth of who God is, be fearful and respectful towards Him. Which is just what this Scripture says. As a matter of fact, I find that when I understand all that God has told me and choose to believe all that I know about God, that my faith is actually more sure. When I do come before God in fear and trembling, my faith is more firm.

Anyway, I'm just curious because I'm inclined to believe that doubts are more inclined to be a sign of not having the things the Scriptures tell us. I would doubt if I didn't think I had that guarantee that Paul spoke of; I would doubt if I wasn't a child of God; and I would certainly doubt if I had asked God in prayer to be merciful to me on the day of His judgement and hadn't asked with real doubtless faith. That would cause me doubts.

Please, I am not boasting here. I am not trying to be argumentative. However, the Scriptures give us the answer to this problem. If any of you lacks wisdom that person should go to God and ask for wisdom, not men, and God will give to that person generously.

This is the same issue, but with different parameters, that brings about the problem with the creation event. The time and how this realm was created. God has clearly told us how and when He created this realm, but science holds out a different explanation. We don't want to look foolish, just as Hugh Ross and many like him say. So we begin to debate and discuss what the words really mean which gives us an out so that we can adopt the wisdom of man and set it in place of the wisdom of God.

We live in a created realm and it was created for man. Open your bibles to the last two chapters of the Revelation and you will find the reason for which God created this realm. He didn't create the universe all around us to just sit around for millions or billions of years. He merely spoke and the earth appeared all by itself in the vast emptiness of space and He continued to create upon the earth all that was needed for man to exist. All by merely speaking it to happen. Then He spoke and the vast emptiness of the space all around us was cluttered with a multitude of stars for which He knows each one's name. After He completed all that was necessary for the earth to endure so that man could endure, He created man. He did all this so that one day He would harvest from the earth of all that He created a body of people who would then be His people and He would be their God. Those who have lived without doubt and full faith and assurance in God, will then live eternally with Him upon the earth.

For me, God has made His plan fully known to me through His Scriptures. I understand all these things and I also fully understand that man cannot explain not a single one of God's miracles. Why would I expect, that based on some evidence that they claim to have culled from the physical things that God created, an explanation for how He did it?

Science can't explain how God could flood the entire earth. Science can't explain how God made the sun to stand still in the sky. Science can't explain how a woman who had never had relations with a man came to be pregnant. Science can't explain how a man three days dead in his tomb got up and walked out and continued living. All science can tell you is that these things are impossible and so we are left with a choice. Do I believe science and chalk up the events portrayed clearly in the Scriptures as the rantings of ignorant men who just didn't have the wisdom that we have today; or that these are some cutesy little stories that God has spoken to just make a point to us rather the events really happening in real time. Or... do I just trust that God has told me the truth and men, in their inability to explain the works of God, don't have a clue what they are talking about.

You see, my faith is in God. I know Him. I've read the book. He tells the water to rain down out of the sky for 40 days and the springs of the deep to open and floods the entire earth in that day. He tells the sea to just stand aside and suddenly there is a pathway traversing through the waters with a literal wall of water just standing up on its own on both the right hand and the left. He just commands that Lazarus take back his life and he does and he gets up and walks out of that tomb. He merely commands that Mary be pregnant with child and she is.

That, my friend, is the true power and glory of God! And because He can do that and so much more, we had better be fearful and respectful of Him. We should, as I do, understand that the very next breath we take is for His glory and by His power. Stop right now and take your next breath and understand in your heart that that oxygen and the working of your lungs that they can take in the oxygen and use it to replenish and refresh your blood that keeps you going, is all because God commanded it to be so. God made the heavens and the earth that you might have life.

He didn't make it all to sit around for millions and billions of years so that He could sit at His big picture window and say to the angels, "Oh, look at that one! I outdid myself there, didn't I? Oooo-oooo, look at that one over there! Oh, what should I do with all this stuff I made? I know, I've gotten bored of watching it all so I'll make someone to enjoy it with me." No! I firmly and faithfully believe that God began by commanding that the earth exist and then everything else that is in this universe for the sole purpose of making man so that one day He could live among those who were faithful and believed Him and say, "Now the dwelling of men is with God and He will be their God and they will be His people." Everything between God's very first command of, "Let there be..." to the day that He proclaims that command, is merely the working out of His great plan.

May God be praised! He will be faithful and just to those, who like Abraham, have believed God. Why was Abraham declared righteous? Because he believed God!

God bless you.
In Christ, Ted

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miamited said:

Hi JD,

So, you know who the wolves in sheep's clothing are. You mention it being your experience that they are the ones who never doubt. Have you been to the other side and seen those were the one's who were cast out or is it rather just how you've learned to answer such questions as this? I'm just asking, and I don't mean to be difficult, but I myself don't know if anyone other than myself is born again. I don't know their inmost thoughts and desires. I believe that I can tell some by their fruit if I am around them enough to see their fruit, but how do you know? How do you know that someone that you have spoken with or interacted with that doesn't seem to have doubt about their salvation won't be saved? I'm just curious.

Jesus tells us that when we pray in faith that we should not doubt for then we are just like some reed swaying in the wind. Paul speaks of the indwelling Holy Spirit as our guarantee. If a store gives me a guarantee on a product I know that if that product fails it will be replaced and God's guarantees are much stronger than any store guarantee. John says that we can have assurance that we are children of God. So, why? If I shouldn't doubt what I've asked of God and if I have the guarantee of the Holy Spirit and the assurance that I am a child of God, why should I have doubts?

Is that really what those who have all these things that the Scriptures speak of as guarantees and assurances should be doing? Yes, the passage you quoted said that we should do these things with fear and respect for God. I don't find that just because I understand the power and glory of God and realize that I should be fearful and respectful towards Him as then being the cause of doubt. I just understand that as being that I should, once I come to understand the real truth of who God is, be fearful and respectful towards Him. Which is just what this Scripture says. As a matter of fact, I find that when I understand all that God has told me and choose to believe all that I know about God, that my faith is actually more sure. When I do come before God in fear and trembling, my faith is more firm.

Anyway, I'm just curious because I'm inclined to believe that doubts are more inclined to be a sign of not having the things the Scriptures tell us. I would doubt if I didn't think I had that guarantee that Paul spoke of; I would doubt if I wasn't a child of God; and I would certainly doubt if I had asked God in prayer to be merciful to me on the day of His judgement and hadn't asked with real doubtless faith. That would cause me doubts.

Please, I am not boasting here. I am not trying to be argumentative. However, the Scriptures give us the answer to this problem. If any of you lacks wisdom that person should go to God and ask for wisdom, not men, and God will give to that person generously.

This is the same issue, but with different parameters, that brings about the problem with the creation event. The time and how this realm was created. God has clearly told us how and when He created this realm, but science holds out a different explanation. We don't want to look foolish, just as Hugh Ross and many like him say. So we begin to debate and discuss what the words really mean which gives us an out so that we can adopt the wisdom of man and set it in place of the wisdom of God.

We live in a created realm and it was created for man. Open your bibles to the last two chapters of the Revelation and you will find the reason for which God created this realm. He didn't create the universe all around us to just sit around for millions or billions of years. He merely spoke and the earth appeared all by itself in the vast emptiness of space and He continued to create upon the earth all that was needed for man to exist. All by merely speaking it to happen. Then He spoke and the vast emptiness of the space all around us was cluttered with a multitude of stars for which He knows each one's name. After He completed all that was necessary for the earth to endure so that man could endure, He created man. He did all this so that one day He would harvest from the earth of all that He created a body of people who would then be His people and He would be their God. Those who have lived without doubt and full faith and assurance in God, will then live eternally with Him upon the earth.

For me, God has made His plan fully known to me through His Scriptures. I understand all these things and I also fully understand that man cannot explain not a single one of God's miracles. Why would I expect, that based on some evidence that they claim to have culled from the physical things that God created, an explanation for how He did it?

Science can't explain how God could flood the entire earth. Science can't explain how God made the sun to stand still in the sky. Science can't explain how a woman who had never had relations with a man came to be pregnant. Science can't explain how a man three days dead in his tomb got up and walked out and continued living. All science can tell you is that these things are impossible and so we are left with a choice. Do I believe science and chalk up the events portrayed clearly in the Scriptures as the rantings of ignorant men who just didn't have the wisdom that we have today; or that these are some cutesy little stories that God has spoken to just make a point to us rather the events really happening in real time. Or... do I just trust that God has told me the truth and men, in their inability to explain the works of God, don't have a clue what they are talking about.

You see, my faith is in God. I know Him. I've read the book. He tells the water to rain down out of the sky for 40 days and the springs of the deep to open and floods the entire earth in that day. He tells the sea to just stand aside and suddenly there is a pathway traversing through the waters with a literal wall of water just standing up on its own on both the right hand and the left. He just commands that Lazarus take back his life and he does and he gets up and walks out of that tomb. He merely commands that Mary be pregnant with child and she is.

That, my friend, is the true power and glory of God! And because He can do that and so much more, we had better be fearful and respectful of Him. We should, as I do, understand that the very next breath we take is for His glory and by His power. Stop right now and take your next breath and understand in your heart that that oxygen and the working of your lungs that they can take in the oxygen and use it to replenish and refresh your blood that keeps you going, is all because God commanded it to be so. God made the heavens and the earth that you might have life.

He didn't make it all to sit around for millions and billions of years so that He could sit at His big picture window and say to the angels, "Oh, look at that one! I outdid myself there, didn't I? Oooo-oooo, look at that one over there! Oh, what should I do with all this stuff I made? I know, I've gotten bored of watching it all so I'll make someone to enjoy it with me." No! I firmly and faithfully believe that God began by commanding that the earth exist and then everything else that is in this universe for the sole purpose of making man so that one day He could live among those who were faithful and believed Him and say, "Now the dwelling of men is with God and He will be their God and they will be His people." Everything between God's very first command of, "Let there be..." to the day that He proclaims that command, is merely the working out of His great plan.

May God be praised! He will be faithful and just to those, who like Abraham, have believed God. Why was Abraham declared righteous? Because he believed God!

God bless you.
In Christ, Ted

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JoshuaDaryl said:

I dont argue with a word your saying, but we are talking to a new christian here, a babe in Christ, me I have been a child of the king 20 years, you, sounds like maybe longer. I do not doubt today, as I did 20 years ago, think about a child taking their first steps, learning to ride a 2 wheel bike, climbing to the top of the big slide, learning to swim. All these things test that child's faith in their parent, yes they really do trust mom and dad, but its still scary, that is why it is the job of the pastors, the elders, deacons, and older christians to be there and reassure them, counsel them. Listen to them, guide them on how to search their soul, and ask them questions, so you can gauge their true understanding, at what level are they, babe, a little older maybe.

I have been working in the ministry for 5 years now, been saved , well this November will be 21 years, I have gotten to be a pretty good fruit inspector, while I would never dare come out and say so and so is a lost person, wolf in sheeps clothing, no I dare not. But there are those I have known in churches that I kept my eye on. I am not talking about your petty human flesh sin. I am talking about loud, proud, boasters, bullies, arrogant, entitled, on and on, right down the line, and we all can turn to the scriptures describing these same people, and they have been in the church since the beginning. These are the wolves my friend, I would never name names to no one other than God, and as a Pastor, I would have to fast and pray, for God to make the decision known to me whether it warranted my interference, or let it go for him to deal with. Which just boils down to whether or not they are endangering the church, or any of its members spiritually.

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miamited said:

Hi JD,

Wow, the Op, according to his profile, has about the same years of claimed faith in God as I do. I'm guessing your idea of one being a 'babe in Christ' isn't based on length of time but rather depth of faith. It that's the case, then I'd agree. Now, should I tell him the truth or try to assure him that his concern is no big deal and not to worry about it?

I agree with Bluelion. For those who suffer doubts there has been a disconnect between their spirit and God's Spirit. So, as I understand my being an encourager to a brother or sister, I don't want to risk giving a false assurance that might lead him in the wrong way. The answer is found in God and according to the the Scriptures comes from the conviction and indwelling of God's Spirit.

Now, he has a choice to make. He has to choose who he believes is giving him the right answer to his problem. Here's the way I'd make that choice.

Go to God in prayer and pour out my concern and ask God for assurance. This is what Gideon did.

Get myself back to the Scriptures.

You see, I too have had times where I'd begin to entertain thoughts of doubt because of sin in my life and I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I imagine this is the same thing that is driving his doubts. When we sin, just like Eve and Adam, we disconnect ourselves from the life source of God. That is when we begin to question our heart and our motives and our coming salvation. Sin does separate us from God and it has been my experience that it will feel almost immediate to the one who is born again.

It's like pulling a plant out of the ground. The roots are searching and looking for the food and water that was keeping them alive, but the plant still looks healthy. But, as the plant goes longer and longer separated from the ground and the root feeding system, it begins to whither and die. Now, you can take that plant and fairly quickly put it back in the ground and water it real good and probably save the plant and it will return to its earlier physical health. But the longer the plant stays separated from the ground where the roots are fed, the greater the chances that it will not recover.

Our relationship with God is the same. When we begin to feel doubts, then we've been separated from the life source and the quicker we reestablish that bond with God through deeper prayer and faithfulness, the more easily we will be restored. This is how the Holy Spirit convicts of sin, which is what Jesus said he would do in the life of the believer.

God bless you.
In Christ, Ted

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Lik3 said:

I have been having doubts about being born again. It is nagging and very scary. I have prayed for years for Jesus to save me. I sometimes believe it since the anxiety wears off only to have those doubts again. Should I be worried? Is it common for a believer to have doubts about salvation? Where can I find in the word of God about this issue?

Click to expand...