Despairing of Ever Being Saved

Alain Valdivia

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I’m really struggling and discouraged that I’ll ever be saved in the end. I mean, I don’t know how more people aren’t in despair as to their salvation. How can they not be? That gate they must enter is so narrow, so minute, so hidden and so difficult to enter. Entering that most narrow gate is too arduous, too difficult, too agonizing, too excruciating, and too unlikely to enter. Jesus said, “"Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” (Luke‬ ‭13:24). What! It’s impossible! How am I, a mere man, going to enter that gate when better men than me have strove with all their might to enter and yet perish at last. How am I not to despair? And yet that’s not all. That conditions to enter is even more difficult. One must cut off their arms and pluck out their eyes. One must climb a mountain so high you can’t even see the tip and it’s so steep one mishap will make you fall. You have to forsake your sinful desires and worldly pleasures. And everything is against you. The devil is a roaring lion seeking to deceive souls to sin, presume or despair. The world is also against you while they try to entice you to partake of their lust, and if you are entangled in it then you’re done. And worse of all, your own flesh is against you. Your worst enemy is yourself. Your own desires, pursuits, lusts, and self is against you. What! How can we not be despondent when we see all of these things against us? And yet, God gets mad at us when we despair? How can we not? Why does He command things that are contrary to our very nature? Why does He add pain to pain and heap sorrow upon sorrow by condemning us because of original sin imputed to us by Adam which causes us to be weak in our obedience? Why does He command things in the gospel that’s more difficult than the law? The law only forbade adultery, but the gospel forbids lust; the law forbade murder, but the gospel forbids hate. Why does God seem to be that Pharaoh in Exodus that commands the Israelites to build bricks without straw? I don’t think I’ll ever be saved and this devastating.
 
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“Paisios”

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I’m really struggling and discouraged that I’ll ever be saved in the end. I mean, I don’t know how more people aren’t in despair as to their salvation. How can they not be? That gate they must enter is so narrow, so minute, so hidden and so difficult to enter. Entering that most narrow gate is too arduous, too difficult, too agonizing, too excruciating, and too unlikely to enter. Jesus said, “"Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” (Luke‬ ‭13:24). What! It’s impossible! How am I, a mere man, going to enter that gate when better men than me have strove with all their might to enter and yet perish at last. How am I not to despair? And yet that’s not all. That conditions to enter is even more difficult. One must cut off their arms and pluck out their eyes. One must climb a mountain so high you can’t even see the tip and it’s so steep one mishap will make you fall. You have to forsake your sinful desires and worldly pleasures. And everything is against you. The devil is a roaring lion seeking to deceive souls to sin, presume or despair. The world is also against you while they try to entice you to partake of their lust, and if you are entangled in it then you’re done. And worse of all, your own flesh is against you. Your worst enemy is yourself. Your own desires, pursuits, lusts, and self is against you. What! How can we not be despondent when we see all of these things against us? And yet, God gets mad at us when we despair? How can we not? Why does He command things that are contrary to our very nature? Why does He add pain to pain and heap sorrow upon sorrow by condemning us because of original sin imputed to us by Adam which causes us to be weak in our obedience? Why does He command things in the gospel that’s more difficult than the law? The law only forbade adultery, but the gospel forbids lust; the law forbade murder, but the gospel forbids hate. Why does God seem to be that Pharaoh in Exodus that commands the Israelites to build bricks without straw? I don’t think I’ll ever be saved and this hurts me.
But He is also the God Who says “Fear not!” and Who humbled Himself to become man and die on the Cross and rise again for us.

May God have mercy on us!
 
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I’m really struggling and discouraged that I’ll ever be saved in the end. I mean, I don’t know how more people aren’t in despair as to their salvation. How can they not be? That gate they must enter is so narrow, so minute, so hidden and so difficult to enter. Entering that most narrow gate is too arduous, too difficult, too agonizing, too excruciating, and too unlikely to enter. Jesus said, “"Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” (Luke‬ ‭13:24). What! It’s impossible! How am I, a mere man, going to enter that gate when better men than me have strove with all their might to enter and yet perish at last. How am I not to despair? And yet that’s not all. That conditions to enter is even more difficult. One must cut off their arms and pluck out their eyes. One must climb a mountain so high you can’t even see the tip and it’s so steep one mishap will make you fall. You have to forsake your sinful desires and worldly pleasures. And everything is against you. The devil is a roaring lion seeking to deceive souls to sin, presume or despair. The world is also against you while they try to entice you to partake of their lust, and if you are entangled in it then you’re done. And worse of all, your own flesh is against you. Your worst enemy is yourself. Your own desires, pursuits, lusts, and self is against you. What! How can we not be despondent when we see all of these things against us? And yet, God gets mad at us when we despair? How can we not? Why does He command things that are contrary to our very nature? Why does He add pain to pain and heap sorrow upon sorrow by condemning us because of original sin imputed to us by Adam which causes us to be weak in our obedience? Why does He command things in the gospel that’s more difficult than the law? The law only forbade adultery, but the gospel forbids lust; the law forbade murder, but the gospel forbids hate. Why does God seem to be that Pharaoh in Exodus that commands the Israelites to build bricks without straw? I don’t think I’ll ever be saved and this hurts me.


Yes it is true God asks difficult things from us once we have faith in Jesus, that is because with His Spirit within us we can do those things other people cannot. The love which dwells in our hearts spurs us on to walk in His ways with gladness and joy.

When God becomes a demanding God then we forget that God is love and loves us to be free from the demand of the flesh, the world and the tricks of satan and walk about in His freedom

Jesus told us that the truth would set us free! That is what we want to experience with Christ in our lives that we can taste His freedom and do those things others cannot.

Letting our hearts flood with love for our saviour is the trick that gets us moving.

Be of good courage and ask Jesus to fill you with love for Him and neighbour so you can walk the tight rope without falling off.

Peace.
 
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Dave G.

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Because you see all this horror but missed the part that says " but with God all things are possible". It's not by our effort but by He who is in us that we make it. Jesus gave us two commands that fill all the law, to love God with all your heart mind and soul and your neighbor as yourself. 613 laws are all wrapped up in those two commands. You're striving when you should be trusting that upon believing on Him, He also will get you there. He is the propitiation for our sin. Confess to Him and move on.. There is no other name but the name of Jesus, the Father sees the Son in us. He is our provision and that's what He's telling you.
 
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That's why we are told to work out our faith with fear and trembling. And to live out the remainder of our sojourning here with fear.

How am I, a mere man, going to enter that gate when better men than me have strove with all their might to enter and yet perish at last.

Who are you referring to specifically? We also don't know who is saved and who isn't.
 
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Aussie Pete

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I’m really struggling and discouraged that I’ll ever be saved in the end. I mean, I don’t know how more people aren’t in despair as to their salvation. How can they not be? That gate they must enter is so narrow, so minute, so hidden and so difficult to enter. Entering that most narrow gate is too arduous, too difficult, too agonizing, too excruciating, and too unlikely to enter. Jesus said, “"Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” (Luke‬ ‭13:24). What! It’s impossible! How am I, a mere man, going to enter that gate when better men than me have strove with all their might to enter and yet perish at last. How am I not to despair? And yet that’s not all. That conditions to enter is even more difficult. One must cut off their arms and pluck out their eyes. One must climb a mountain so high you can’t even see the tip and it’s so steep one mishap will make you fall. You have to forsake your sinful desires and worldly pleasures. And everything is against you. The devil is a roaring lion seeking to deceive souls to sin, presume or despair. The world is also against you while they try to entice you to partake of their lust, and if you are entangled in it then you’re done. And worse of all, your own flesh is against you. Your worst enemy is yourself. Your own desires, pursuits, lusts, and self is against you. What! How can we not be despondent when we see all of these things against us? And yet, God gets mad at us when we despair? How can we not? Why does He command things that are contrary to our very nature? Why does He add pain to pain and heap sorrow upon sorrow by condemning us because of original sin imputed to us by Adam which causes us to be weak in our obedience? Why does He command things in the gospel that’s more difficult than the law? The law only forbade adultery, but the gospel forbids lust; the law forbade murder, but the gospel forbids hate. Why does God seem to be that Pharaoh in Exodus that commands the Israelites to build bricks without straw? I don’t think I’ll ever be saved and this hurts me.
You have fallen into to the tragic trap of seeking to be righteous before you can be saved. The opposite is true. You misunderstand the words of Christ. He was fundamentally saying that you cannot save yourself.

God's way of salvation sounds brutal. You know that you are your own worst enemy. That's a really great start. God agrees. So He kills you. Not physically, that will come to all of us eventually. The part of us that died in the Garden of Eden is the spirit man. The natural life in the soul progressively became darker and darker until humanity was totally alienated from God. Romans 1 recounts the sorry history.

We do not sin and so become sinners. We are sinners so we sin. God knows that we cannot change ourselves. He knows that the sin nature is beyond repair. So He replaces it. He kills the old nature through the death of Christ on the cross. He raises us up to new life in Christ. As Christ rose from the dead, so do we. All our sin, failure, defeat, mistakes, weaknesses, hurts and such are laid on Him before He dies. Her takes all we are, are not, all we have done and will ever do wrong, to the grave. And He leaves us there.

God is not unfair or unjust. He knows us inside out. The honest sinner has great hope because, like you, they despair of themselves. Don't stay there! Embrace this wonderful salvation that God bought for you at the cost of the death of His Son. Enter into the resurrection life that Lord Jesus won for you and learn to live in victory. It's all been achieved for you already. You just need to know how to live in it.
 
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redleghunter

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I’m really struggling and discouraged that I’ll ever be saved in the end. I mean, I don’t know how more people aren’t in despair as to their salvation. How can they not be? That gate they must enter is so narrow, so minute, so hidden and so difficult to enter. Entering that most narrow gate is too arduous, too difficult, too agonizing, too excruciating, and too unlikely to enter. Jesus said, “"Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” (Luke‬ ‭13:24). What! It’s impossible! How am I, a mere man, going to enter that gate when better men than me have strove with all their might to enter and yet perish at last. How am I not to despair? And yet that’s not all. That conditions to enter is even more difficult. One must cut off their arms and pluck out their eyes. One must climb a mountain so high you can’t even see the tip and it’s so steep one mishap will make you fall. You have to forsake your sinful desires and worldly pleasures. And everything is against you. The devil is a roaring lion seeking to deceive souls to sin, presume or despair. The world is also against you while they try to entice you to partake of their lust, and if you are entangled in it then you’re done. And worse of all, your own flesh is against you. Your worst enemy is yourself. Your own desires, pursuits, lusts, and self is against you. What! How can we not be despondent when we see all of these things against us? And yet, God gets mad at us when we despair? How can we not? Why does He command things that are contrary to our very nature? Why does He add pain to pain and heap sorrow upon sorrow by condemning us because of original sin imputed to us by Adam which causes us to be weak in our obedience? Why does He command things in the gospel that’s more difficult than the law? The law only forbade adultery, but the gospel forbids lust; the law forbade murder, but the gospel forbids hate. Why does God seem to be that Pharaoh in Exodus that commands the Israelites to build bricks without straw? I don’t think I’ll ever be saved and this hurts me.
A good read of St Paul’s epistle to the Romans might just be in order.
 
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Alain Valdivia

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Guys I know that. I’ve read St. Paul and his struggle with sin in Romans 7. I know that Jesus died for our sins. I know that God is willing to help us. But what’s the point? The likelihood of me being saved is 1/10. How so? Because of the above reasons I mentioned. Men like St. Alphonsus or Francis de Sales or Bellarmine all who lived such godly lives that would put us to shame, and yet, they trembled with fear when it regarded their state with God. I’m no better than they and I don’t possess the grace they do.
 
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Yes, it is impossible with man, but not with God...

Matthew 19:26 (KJV) But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

Mark 10:27 (KJV) And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.

Luke 18:27 (KJV) And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.
 
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Guys I know that. I’ve read St. Paul and his struggle with sin in Romans 7. I know that Jesus died for our sins. I know that God is willing to help us. But what’s the point? The likelihood of me being saved is 1/10. How so? Because of the above reasons I mentioned. Men like St. Alphonsus or Francis de Sales or Bellarmine all who lived such godly lives that would put us to shame, and yet, they trembled with fear when it regarded their state with God. I’m no better than they and I don’t possess the grace they do.
Through the Blood of Jesus Christ, you are also no worse than they.
 
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Not me

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I’m really struggling and discouraged that I’ll ever be saved in the end. I mean, I don’t know how more people aren’t in despair as to their salvation. How can they not be? That gate they must enter is so narrow, so minute, so hidden and so difficult to enter. Entering that most narrow gate is too arduous, too difficult, too agonizing, too excruciating, and too unlikely to enter. Jesus said, “"Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” (Luke‬ ‭13:24). What! It’s impossible! How am I, a mere man, going to enter that gate when better men than me have strove with all their might to enter and yet perish at last. How am I not to despair? And yet that’s not all. That conditions to enter is even more difficult. One must cut off their arms and pluck out their eyes. One must climb a mountain so high you can’t even see the tip and it’s so steep one mishap will make you fall. You have to forsake your sinful desires and worldly pleasures. And everything is against you. The devil is a roaring lion seeking to deceive souls to sin, presume or despair. The world is also against you while they try to entice you to partake of their lust, and if you are entangled in it then you’re done. And worse of all, your own flesh is against you. Your worst enemy is yourself. Your own desires, pursuits, lusts, and self is against you. What! How can we not be despondent when we see all of these things against us? And yet, God gets mad at us when we despair? How can we not? Why does He command things that are contrary to our very nature? Why does He add pain to pain and heap sorrow upon sorrow by condemning us because of original sin imputed to us by Adam which causes us to be weak in our obedience? Why does He command things in the gospel that’s more difficult than the law? The law only forbade adultery, but the gospel forbids lust; the law forbade murder, but the gospel forbids hate. Why does God seem to be that Pharaoh in Exodus that commands the Israelites to build bricks without straw? I don’t think I’ll ever be saved and this devastating.

Hi, the narrow gate is the gate of faith... Striving to believe and trust God in your life...You, in your own self-effort will never be able to be good enough to fulfill all the laws requirements.... This is something God is teaching you by all your seeing the futility of the laws demands on you.....Turn your heart to God in faith and trust His love for you and you will find rest for your soul as He promised you...For resting in His love is the best place ever to be...

In the Beloved, Not me
 
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Dave G.

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When you finally realize that you indeed can't do it but He can and in fact has, you will then find victory. The good fight is the fight of faith. In the flesh we will always be sinners, by the spirit we are victorious, which is why one day we lose the dead body to put on the the new glorified body. Sanctification is a life long process but your assurance was won at the cross for those who believe. He started a good work in you and promised the Father He would not lose even one. So victory is staying in the faith, Abraham was called righteous because of what ? He believed.
 
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