How can I be sure I’m one of the elect?

bbbbbbb

Well-Known Member
Jun 9, 2015
27,812
13,119
72
✟362,418.00
Faith
Non-Denom
life in lies is never saved but rather we are saved from it. Neither do we have to stay in Zion to be saved The Truth is the width and the height and the depth of our salvation.

The good things is that with Jesus bad life turns to good life, while in the lies of satan bad life brings misery. i reckon that is how we know which side we are on. When no matter what bad life comes our way Jesus turns it to our benefit. Such is true Victory.

Living in His truth is what i want every one find. The place were we even celebrate our judgement day.

Oh Come, Glorious Judgement!

Judgement Day begins when you meet up with Jesus,
He will search out your heart completely,
dividing the sheep from the goat!

He will address your inner lovelessness with His love,
and chase the clinging coldness away,
from death setting your soul wholly free!

Truly Judgement Day, is a day of ecstatic joy,
freedom for all those hurting and killed,
Only His Loving Truth ruling your inner reality.

Bad religion shall no longer cause any bother,
As His loving joy now finds deeper root,
Lush growth replacing all the deadness!

Yet Judgement Day will be the end of your fear,
As no terror may travel on The Way,
All of you in union, praising the Lamb!

Your big I, gets new function in the rear,
Loving Jesus ruling as king in place!
You loving our Heavenly Father dearly.

In all your life's deeds The Son you'll meet,
Answerable for all that you have done,
In good and bad His truth visiting you!

Judgement Day is about being rightly placed,
good and loving upfront - to B(b)e -
all bad behind - passing away!

Are goats born goats and remain goats until they die?
 
Upvote 0

Jeshu

Bought by His Blood
Supporter
Mar 25, 2005
15,422
7,571
63
One of the Greatest Places on Earth.
✟600,188.00
Country
Australia
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Are goats born goats and remain goats until they die?

We have deceived sheep, doubting sheep, fearful sheep, unbelieving sheep, sleeping sheep, unfaithful sheep, sinful sheep, such selves in us are no goats. As a matter of fact true self is never a goat, only untrue shape the goats.

i have found in my life that the goats within were untrue me. That yes it was true me believing lies about God, myself and my neighbour, but that i (the sheep in me) had existence in an unclean spirit. Be it the spirit of dishonesty, greed, lust, envy, rage, hatred, selfishness, laziness, or be it the spirits of fear, hopelessness, despair, sadness, grief, loneliness, lovelessness, anguish which come around as a consequences of having life in the afore mentioned, life in those spirits is only there because i believe lies about God, myself and my neighbour, and can not stay but must die and new life where i the sheep receive a New Spirit and a new name and a new position and a new kingdom, in short a new life with Him and in Him, in my chosen selves.

The unclean spirits we fallen sheep have our life in are the goats. They can never become sheep. They are always untrue life and therefore doomed to eternal death. The hurting, enslaved, imprisoned, and sick us are always the sheep that need to be saved and find green pastures in Christ.

Goats never believe they are doomed, rather they doom the sheep in us. That is how they give themselves away. Goats always judge and hate the sheep. The judgement you use will be used upon you is very true about these evildoers. It was great seeing Jesus destroy them in my life - time and again - He wiped them out with the words of His mouth.

All praise to Him for dividing sheep from goat in my life. i will always be indebted to Him and praise Him forever.

That His word may keep coming true in all of us until The Word reaches His full fulfilment in all of us!

Revelation 19.

After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting:


“Hallelujah!
Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
for true and just are his judgments.
He has condemned the great prostitute
who corrupted the earth by her adulteries.
He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”



And again they shouted:

“Hallelujah!
The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever.”



The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried:

“Amen, Hallelujah!”


Then a voice came from the throne, saying:

“Praise our God,
all you his servants,
you who fear him,
both great and small!”



Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:

“Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
Fine linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear.”


(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)


Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”


At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.”



I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:

king of kings and lord of lords.


And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.”


Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.
 
Upvote 0

bbbbbbb

Well-Known Member
Jun 9, 2015
27,812
13,119
72
✟362,418.00
Faith
Non-Denom
We have deceived sheep, doubting sheep, fearful sheep, unbelieving sheep, sleeping sheep, unfaithful sheep, sinful sheep, such selves in us are no goats. As a matter of fact true self is never a goat, only untrue shape the goats.

i have found in my life that the goats within were untrue me. That yes it was true me believing lies about God, myself and my neighbour, but that i (the sheep in me) had existence in an unclean spirit. Be it the spirit of dishonesty, greed, lust, envy, rage, hatred, selfishness, laziness, or be it the spirits of fear, hopelessness, despair, sadness, grief, loneliness, lovelessness, anguish which come around as a consequences of having life in the afore mentioned, life in those spirits is only there because i believe lies about God, myself and my neighbour, and can not stay but must die and new life where i the sheep receive a New Spirit and a new name and a new position and a new kingdom, in short a new life with Him and in Him, in my chosen selves.

The unclean spirits we fallen sheep have our life in are the goats. They can never become sheep. They are always untrue life and therefore doomed to eternal death. The hurting, enslaved, imprisoned, and sick us are always the sheep that need to be saved and find green pastures in Christ.

Goats never believe they are doomed, rather they doom the sheep in us. That is how they give themselves away. Goats always judge and hate the sheep. The judgement you use will be used upon you is very true about these evildoers. It was great seeing Jesus destroy them in my life - time and again - He wiped them out with the words of His mouth.

All praise to Him for dividing sheep from goat in my life. i will always be indebted to Him and praise Him forever.

That His word may keep coming true in all of us until The Word reaches His full fulfilment in all of us!

Revelation 19.

After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting:


“Hallelujah!
Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
for true and just are his judgments.
He has condemned the great prostitute
who corrupted the earth by her adulteries.
He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”


And again they shouted:

“Hallelujah!
The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever.”


The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried:

“Amen, Hallelujah!”


Then a voice came from the throne, saying:

“Praise our God,
all you his servants,
you who fear him,
both great and small!”


Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:

“Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
Fine linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear.”

(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)


Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”


At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.”



I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:

king of kings and lord of lords.


And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.”


Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.

Interesting metaphorical spin, indeed. However, in Matthew 25 there are sheep and there are goats. The sheep are not classified at all as you have done nor are they invested at all with the spirit of goats. They are either sheep or they are goats. The issue is between two distinct species of animals. There is no such thing as a sheep-goat.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: The Liturgist
Upvote 0

Jeshu

Bought by His Blood
Supporter
Mar 25, 2005
15,422
7,571
63
One of the Greatest Places on Earth.
✟600,188.00
Country
Australia
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Interesting metaphorical spin, indeed. However, in Matthew 25 there are sheep and there are goats. The sheep are not classified at all as you have done nor are they invested at all with the spirit of goats. They are either sheep or they are goats. The issue is between two distinct species of animals. There is no such thing as a sheep-goat.


No?

There are sheep - those who belong to Jesus - and there are goats those who do not belong to Jesus.

Now i don't know if you ever done a wilful sin in your life but then you have a clear example of a goat in control of a sheep.

So when Jesus gives His example in Matthew 25 He is talking to the individual just as much as the collective.


Ponder on this word - on such realities taking place within you - in the light of Matthew 25, for then what i try to say will become clear much clearer.

Hebrews 4:12-13
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
 
  • Useful
Reactions: The Liturgist
Upvote 0

Randy777

Well-Known Member
Oct 18, 2017
1,174
312
Atlanta
✟91,969.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Single
Just a cautionary verse from scripture not to base your assurance on yourself.
Did I write this?
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children

I can add
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?

That's how we know we are born again. Confirmation from the Lord to us.
If I didn't have that witness I would seek it until the Lord gave it by feeling His power and Spirit within.

I have had that witness in answer to prayer.
 
Upvote 0

bbbbbbb

Well-Known Member
Jun 9, 2015
27,812
13,119
72
✟362,418.00
Faith
Non-Denom
No?

There are sheep - those who belong to Jesus - and there are goats those who do not belong to Jesus.

Now i don't know if you ever done a wilful sin in your life but then you have a clear example of a goat in control of a sheep.

So when Jesus gives His example in Matthew 25 He is talking to the individual just as much as the collective.


Ponder on this word - on such realities taking place within you - in the light of Matthew 25, for then what i try to say will become clear much clearer.

Hebrews 4:12-13
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

I don't know where you live, but here in Iowa we have a lot of livestock and sheep are sheep and goats are goats. Neither bothers the other.
 
  • Like
Reactions: The Liturgist
Upvote 0

Jeshu

Bought by His Blood
Supporter
Mar 25, 2005
15,422
7,571
63
One of the Greatest Places on Earth.
✟600,188.00
Country
Australia
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Spiritually nature it is not so peaceful within the human heart usually. Just look at righteous Job, plenty of wild life roaming through his reality, The Lord reveals and also for what purpose He made them and gives them young.

Also Jesus when He was nailed to that cross was attacked by wild animals it says in Scripture. Dogs are described as enemies of God's people for example, and expressively excluded from God's Kingdom. It is best for us to take that in, all of that, i reckon. For i know i have been fighting wild animals within my spiritual reality for years and no one taught me how to tame them, until i bumped into Jesus. He brought me my inner Eden back in sight again. Awesome seeing Him go to work.

Goats to sacrifice goes a long way back in Israel's history. The scape goat would perish in the desert. Animal cruelty at its max one would think, but spiritually, which is what all God's ordinances are about, it is very accurate and speaks of the life we find within our spiritual reality and how we must get rid of the scape goat, or the sons of lawlessness within us. Those times we live apart of God's loving truth and roam around in our old nature.

Now i haven't even talked about The Lion of Judah, or that three of the four faces of the living creatures are of animals and only one is human.

So yes i find it interesting. Nature around us has much to teach us yet.

What that concerns it be good to delve into American Indians history. For their spirit world was full of animals, some with significant positions within the spirit world, it be so interesting to see how much truth those people found making up those stories. i only need to think of the rainbow wolf of Canada, or the great serpent snake of the aborigines in Australia. So much to learn from such stories. Did you know for example that the myth around the mountains in Australia is that disobedient people would be turned to stone? Such stories kept the rebellious in line and aided their survival as tribe. All Christians know that hearts which are disobedient to God turn to stone and need to be made into flesh again by God's Spirit.

So yes sheep, goats, lions, bears, dog, snakes, doves, owls, great fish, sea monsters, dragons and all kind of other life forms we can find within ourselves, if we have the interest looking at ourselves through spiritual eyes, and ask Jesus to teach us about our inner world of being.

It sure made Job prosper again after The Lord revealed His truth living within his heart. i think that is the great lesson of life, to be open to learn new things from God through the powerful working of the word in our lives. To let The Word take shape within us, to let it renew our hearts.

This Psalm prophecies the battle Jesus had to go through to secure our salvation and teaches us that Jesus faced intense spiritual opposition, i know His sufferings were even far worse then the physical reality He had to endure, for satan would have tried everything to get Him to give in and step out of the truth He had His agonising existence in. So all the army of satan would have been at His throat. So glad He overcome them all.

Psalm 22
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from my cries of anguish?
My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, but I find no rest.


Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the one Israel praises.
In you our ancestors put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
To you they cried out and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.


But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by everyone, despised by the people.
All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
“He trusts in the Lord,” they say,
“let the Lord rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him.”


Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast.
From birth I was cast on you;
from my mother’s womb you have been my God.


Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.


Many bulls surround me;
strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
Roaring lions that tear their prey
open their mouths wide against me.
I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted within me.
My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.


Dogs surround me,
a pack of villains encircles me;
they pierce my hands and my feet.
All my bones are on display;
people stare and gloat over me.
They divide my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.


But you, Lord, do not be far from me.
You are my strength; come quickly to help me.
Deliver me from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dogs.
Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
save me from the horns of the wild oxen.


I will declare your name to my people;
in the assembly I will praise you.
You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
For he has not despised or scorned
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.


From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows.
The poor will eat and be satisfied;
those who seek the Lord will praise him—
may your hearts live forever!


All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,
for dominion belongs to the Lord
and he rules over the nations.


All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
those who cannot keep themselves alive.
Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.
They will proclaim his righteousness,
declaring to a people yet unborn:
He has done it!




 
Upvote 0

ViaCrucis

Confessional Lutheran
Oct 2, 2011
37,342
26,788
Pacific Northwest
✟728,246.00
Country
United States
Faith
Lutheran
Marital Status
In Relationship
Politics
US-Others
Hi everyone,


I’d like to ask the community for support please.I for the past months have discovered the theology of the chosen elect in the Bible,and I’m very concerned about wether I am one of the elect.For some if not most of you who know me and have supported me,does OCD and scrupulosity demonstrate that I am not an elect?, I have many unwanted doubts about faith and I’m always afraid that with the condition I’m in,that I may not be one of the elect. Can someone please help me?

For Lutherans we have a short and bold expression, "Baptizatus sum". Latin meaning "I am baptized".

How can I know I belong to Jesus Christ? Baptizatus sum, I am baptized.
How can I know that God chose me in Jesus Christ? Baptizatus sum, I am baptized.

This is one of the most fundamental differences between the Lutheran and Reformed views of Election. In the Reformed view God's predestination of His elect is a secret known only to Himself. But Lutherans understand that God's predestination of His elect is manifestly public: It's revealed through His Word and Sacraments. We are baptized, we are God's elect.

God does not operate through esoteric, invisible, interior secrets; but rather through the external, visible, revealed Means of Grace.

Are you baptized? Then you belong to Jesus Christ.
Are you baptized? Then you are a Christian.
Are you baptized? Then you are God's elect, chosen in Christ from before the foundation of the world.

This is also why Lutherans talk a lot about remembering our baptism. That is, to look to the external, objective, visible things of God which have been accomplished and given to us by God in our baptism, by which we have been born again (John 3:5), clothed with Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:27), united to Christ's death and resurrection (Romans 6:3-4, Colossians 2:12-13), with all of our sins forgiven (Acts of the Apostles 2:38) by which we have received and drank of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13), this baptism which "now saves" us, not as a mere ritual bath cleaning dirt off of our skin, but by the pledge of a new conscience from God by the power of Christ and His resurrection (1 Peter 3:21).

It is not water that does this, but God's word which is connected to the water (Ephesians 5:26), so that the one who is baptized has not merely gotten wet, but has been born again of God as a new creation (Titus 3:5).

Therefore, whenever you are distraught, whenever you are uncertain, whenever you find yourself wavering and tripping, don't look to yourself, but to Jesus Christ and His crucified body that hung from the cross, and that what happened there on Mt. Calvary is yours by the grace of God, and you can be confident in this because you are baptized.

Baptizatus sum.

-CryptoLutheran
 
Upvote 0
This site stays free and accessible to all because of donations from people like you.
Consider making a one-time or monthly donation. We appreciate your support!
- Dan Doughty and Team Christian Forums

Blaise N

Well-Known Member
Jul 4, 2021
784
622
Midwest US
✟115,236.00
Country
United States
Faith
Protestant
Marital Status
Single
Politics
US-Republican
For Lutherans we have a short and bold expression, "Baptizatus sum". Latin meaning "I am baptized".

How can I know I belong to Jesus Christ? Baptizatus sum, I am baptized.
How can I know that God chose me in Jesus Christ? Baptizatus sum, I am baptized.

This is one of the most fundamental differences between the Lutheran and Reformed views of Election. In the Reformed view God's predestination of His elect is a secret known only to Himself. But Lutherans understand that God's predestination of His elect is manifestly public: It's revealed through His Word and Sacraments. We are baptized, we are God's elect.

God does not operate through esoteric, invisible, interior secrets; but rather through the external, visible, revealed Means of Grace.

Are you baptized? Then you belong to Jesus Christ.
Are you baptized? Then you are a Christian.
Are you baptized? Then you are God's elect, chosen in Christ from before the foundation of the world.

This is also why Lutherans talk a lot about remembering our baptism. That is, to look to the external, objective, visible things of God which have been accomplished and given to us by God in our baptism, by which we have been born again (John 3:5), clothed with Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:27), united to Christ's death and resurrection (Romans 6:3-4, Colossians 2:12-13), with all of our sins forgiven (Acts of the Apostles 2:38) by which we have received and drank of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13), this baptism which "now saves" us, not as a mere ritual bath cleaning dirt off of our skin, but by the pledge of a new conscience from God by the power of Christ and His resurrection (1 Peter 3:21).

It is not water that does this, but God's word which is connected to the water (Ephesians 5:26), so that the one who is baptized has not merely gotten wet, but has been born again of God as a new creation (Titus 3:5).

Therefore, whenever you are distraught, whenever you are uncertain, whenever you find yourself wavering and tripping, don't look to yourself, but to Jesus Christ and His crucified body that hung from the cross, and that what happened there on Mt. Calvary is yours by the grace of God, and you can be confident in this because you are baptized.

Baptizatus sum.

-CryptoLutheran
Thank you crypto,I’m so thankful you responded when you did,because today I’m doubting my salvation,I’m so scared I’m not saved,I can’t feel any godly remorse for sin,I’m scared and anxious I haven’t repented right,I haven’t been baptized,could you please help?
 
Upvote 0

bbbbbbb

Well-Known Member
Jun 9, 2015
27,812
13,119
72
✟362,418.00
Faith
Non-Denom
For Lutherans we have a short and bold expression, "Baptizatus sum". Latin meaning "I am baptized".

How can I know I belong to Jesus Christ? Baptizatus sum, I am baptized.
How can I know that God chose me in Jesus Christ? Baptizatus sum, I am baptized.

This is one of the most fundamental differences between the Lutheran and Reformed views of Election. In the Reformed view God's predestination of His elect is a secret known only to Himself. But Lutherans understand that God's predestination of His elect is manifestly public: It's revealed through His Word and Sacraments. We are baptized, we are God's elect.

God does not operate through esoteric, invisible, interior secrets; but rather through the external, visible, revealed Means of Grace.

Are you baptized? Then you belong to Jesus Christ.
Are you baptized? Then you are a Christian.
Are you baptized? Then you are God's elect, chosen in Christ from before the foundation of the world.

This is also why Lutherans talk a lot about remembering our baptism. That is, to look to the external, objective, visible things of God which have been accomplished and given to us by God in our baptism, by which we have been born again (John 3:5), clothed with Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:27), united to Christ's death and resurrection (Romans 6:3-4, Colossians 2:12-13), with all of our sins forgiven (Acts of the Apostles 2:38) by which we have received and drank of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13), this baptism which "now saves" us, not as a mere ritual bath cleaning dirt off of our skin, but by the pledge of a new conscience from God by the power of Christ and His resurrection (1 Peter 3:21).

It is not water that does this, but God's word which is connected to the water (Ephesians 5:26), so that the one who is baptized has not merely gotten wet, but has been born again of God as a new creation (Titus 3:5).

Therefore, whenever you are distraught, whenever you are uncertain, whenever you find yourself wavering and tripping, don't look to yourself, but to Jesus Christ and His crucified body that hung from the cross, and that what happened there on Mt. Calvary is yours by the grace of God, and you can be confident in this because you are baptized.

Baptizatus sum.

-CryptoLutheran

The niggling problem, of course, is all those billions of people living today who are not baptized and who will never be baptized, much less even hear the name of Jesus Christ. If baptism saves a person, then all those billions of folks have been most assuredly condemned to an eternity in the lake of fire which burns forever and ever.
 
Upvote 0

ViaCrucis

Confessional Lutheran
Oct 2, 2011
37,342
26,788
Pacific Northwest
✟728,246.00
Country
United States
Faith
Lutheran
Marital Status
In Relationship
Politics
US-Others
Thank you crypto,I’m so thankful you responded when you did,because today I’m doubting my salvation,I’m so scared I’m not saved,I can’t feel any godly remorse for sin,I’m scared and anxious I haven’t repented right,I haven’t been baptized,could you please help?

First, look at Romans 5:6-11. Read it carefully, see what Paul is saying here about God and who and how God is toward you, a sinner.

This is God's word for you, God's love for you in Jesus Christ.

Don't read what I've said about baptism and think that because you haven't yet received Baptism that you are condemned, abandoned, faithless, or cut off from God.

Baptism is not an obstacle God puts in our way that we must overcome in order to be saved. Baptism is God's work, a gift, a means which God has given through which He acts.

I have no idea what your church situation is, but if you have a pastor, make an appointment to talk with them about receiving Baptism.

God isn't holding a gun to your head.
God is holding His arms open to embrace you, like the father of the prodigal son.

That's who God is.

We're sinful, fallible human beings. Our feelings are fickle. We don't always feel the remorse we should feel for our sin, we repent anyway. Even if you don't know if you "repented correctly", that doesn't matter--confess, repent, pray God hears you, God knows you, God understands you, and God is faithful even in our faithlessness.

God's word is sure and certain, "If we confess our sins, then He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)

God's word holds true. Even though we fail, God's word never fails (Isaiah 55:11).

Look to Christ, look to God's word, hear the Gospel.

In the meantime, between now and when you are baptized, still cling to and trust in God's promises, the word He speaks to you in the water of Baptism is still the same word He says to you now through the preaching of the Gospel--it is the word that gives us faith (Romans 10:17).

When Christ was hanging on the cross He says to the thief, "Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise". What did the thief do to earn this? Nothing. But Jesus, because this is who Jesus is, loves him, has compassion on him, and says to him, "You will be with Me". Jesus' word never fails, His word endures, the thief is saved not because the thief's actions or words earned him mercy, but because Jesus is Mercy.

Hear this word which is for you.
Christ died for you.
God loves you.

Cling to Jesus.
Look to Jesus.
Put your hope in Jesus.

He is your Anchor.
He is your Safe Harbor.
He is your Refuge.

-CryptoLutheran
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0

ViaCrucis

Confessional Lutheran
Oct 2, 2011
37,342
26,788
Pacific Northwest
✟728,246.00
Country
United States
Faith
Lutheran
Marital Status
In Relationship
Politics
US-Others
The niggling problem, of course, is all those billions of people living today who are not baptized and who will never be baptized, much less even hear the name of Jesus Christ. If baptism saves a person, then all those billions of folks have been most assuredly condemned to an eternity in the lake of fire which burns forever and ever.

I'm not sure how you reached that conclusion.

The trouble here is that you seem to read "we are saved in baptism" to mean "someone who isn't baptized can't be saved", and that's simply not true. Nor has it ever been what the Christianity has taught or believed.

We ordinarily receive our bodily sustenance by eating food--placing food into our mouths, chewing it, swallowing it, and then digesting it.

Some people, however, by extraordinary circumstance, require feeding tubes or some other means--because their circumstances don't permit them to eat food in the ordinary manner.

The extraordinary doesn't negate the ordinary; neither does the ordinary mean there can't be the extraordinary.

Fire ordinarily burns.
And yet Daniel's three friends when thrown into the fiery furnace didn't even have a single hair on their head singed.

So which is it? Does fire burn, or doesn't it? Well the answer is that of course fire burns, that's what fire does, that's how fire works, that's just what fire is. And yet, by God's extraordinary power, this fire did not burn Daniel's three friends.

The ordinary does not mean the extraordinary is impossible; just as by the same token the extraordinary does not negate the ordinary.

That fire burns does not mean that God cannot choose to cause fire not to burn.
And that God can choose to have fire not burn, does not mean that fire does not burn.

Also, it's not just Sacrament, it's Word and Sacrament. The one who hears the Gospel and believes hears and believes, and this is God's power and work through His word to bring faith to us.

So a person hears the Gospel, but cannot be baptized, are they condemned? No, the word of God is powerful, living, and active, and it accomplishes what He sets it out to accomplish.

Does that mean Baptism doesn't save? No, of course not, Baptism saves, because God's word is right there in the Sacrament with the water (Ephesians 5:26).

It isn't the water, but the word, that accomplishes this.

So what of those who have never heard the Gospel? We trust in God's great and good mercy. The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world is no feeble weak Savior, but rather mighty to save.

St. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 4:10 that God is the Savior of all men, especially of those that believe.

Trust in God's word and promises, look to your baptism, and trust that God has everything under control. The Lamb of God is seated on the throne. Let us now rejoice and sing our hallelujah in the midst of the world, preaching the Gospel, and loving our neighbor.

-CryptoLutheran
 
  • Agree
Reactions: Blaise N
Upvote 0