Afraid I’m not saved

You are not alone. Other people in your situation are having the same kinds of thoughts and feelings.

May the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

I feel the same way. That’s why I posted a thread asking how you are saved. People were very helpful, but it’s hard not to worry. I can’t pretend to know what it’s like with OCD, but I have Maladaptive Daydreaming and I think about my own made up things 24/7 and find it hard to make time for God. I feel like it’s becoming an idol.
The only thing I know to do is pray and read the Bible. God doesn’t want to lose you, He will reveal the answers you are looking for. He will show you what is a sin and what isn’t. It might take a long time but if you pray and read the Bible diligently, I think you’ll find the answers you need and be more confident about being saved.
I will pray for you!

Scared but trusting God said:

I am so afraid right now. I’m scared that I’m not saved and never was. I’m scared that I’m deceiving myself and others. I don’t know what’s true or not anymore. I want to follow Jesus and I don’t want to sin. I’m scared that I do want to sin. Due to my OCD, my mind is convincing me that everything is a sin. I saw someone say that someone knowing they were backsliding is a sign of them being saved. But I don’t even know if I am backsliding. I am questioning everything. I m scared that I don’t think like someone that has been transformed by the Holy Spirit. I don’t know what to do.

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Beloved one, don’t be afraid.

Let us consider what we have heard:

“I sought the Lord, and He heard me,
And delivered me from all my fears.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭34:4 ‭NKJV

Beloved one, seek the Lord Jesus Christ, and let Him hear you and He shall deliver you from all your fears.

Yes, He can deliver you from fear whether you are saved.
Yes, He can deliver you from fear, that everything is sin.
Yes, He can deliver you from fear of backsliding.
Yes, He can deliver you from fear of questions.
Yes, He can deliver you from fear of not knowing what to do.

Just seek Him, let Him hear you and He will deliver you.

Beloved one, consider what our Lord have said:

SEEK, AND YOU WILL FIND;
-Matthew 7:7

.., and THE ONE WHO SEEKS FINDS,... -Matthew 7:8

Beloved one, be assured what our Lord have said. So seek the Lord, and you shall find Him.For you are the one who seek finds Him.

SANTOSO said:

Let us consider what we have heard:

“I sought the Lord, and He heard me,
And delivered me from all my fears.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭34:4 ‭NKJV

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That’s one of my favorite Bible verses!

Beloved one, are you considering how you may put away sin, that the Lord may hear you? Beloved one, meditate what apostle Paul have said in Romans 6:1-23 and keep this teaching that is entrusted to you with all your heart.

Romans 6:1
I shall not sin, that grace may abound.

Romans 6:2
I died to sin; I cannot live any longer in sin.

Romans 6:3
I who was baptized into Christ Jesus was baptized into His death

Romans 6:4

I was therefore buried with Christ through baptism into death in order that,
just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, I too may live a new life.

Romans 6:5

I have been united with Christ like this in His death,
I will certainly also be united with Christ in His resurrection.

Romans 6:6

For I know that my old self was crucified with Christ
so that the body of sin might be done away with,
that I should no longer be slaves to sin–

Romans 6:7

because I who has died has been freed from sin.

Romans 6:8

I died with Christ,
I believe that I will also live with Him.

Romans 6:9

For I know that since Christ was raised from the dead,
He cannot die again;
death no longer has mastery over Him.

Romans 6:10

The death Christ died,
He died to sin once for all;
but the life Christ lives, He lives to God.

Romans 6:11

In the same way, I count myself dead to sin
but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Romans 6:12

Therefore I do not let sin reign in my mortal body
so that I obey its evil desires.

Romans 6:13

I Do not offer the parts of my body to sin,
as instruments of wickedness,
but rather offer myself to God,
as those who have been brought from death to life;
and offer the parts of my body to Him as instruments of righteousness.

Romans 6:14
For sin shall not be my master, because I am not under law,
but under grace.

Romans 6:15

Then I shall not sin because I am not under the law, but I am under grace.

Romans 6:16

I offer myself to God to obey Him as slaves,
I am slave to God to obedience, which leads to righteousness.

Romans 6:17

But thanks be to God that,
I wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which I am entrusted.

Romans 6:18

I have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

Romans 6:19

so now I offer ( parts of my body) in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.

Romans 6:20

When I am slaves to righteousness ,
I am free from the control of sin.

Romans 6:22

But now that I have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God,
the benefit ( fruit of righteousness ) I reap leads to holiness,
and the result is eternal life.

Romans 6:23

the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Amen

Beloved one, pray to the Lord, that He may hear you.

Dear Lord Jesus,
I am asking You
for the greatest gift I could ever have:
the gift of a broken and contrite heart,
the grace of tears.

Send me the Spirit of truth
and help me to see
the depths of my sins
in Your all-revealing light.

Convict me by Your Word.
Let it be the standard
for my thoughts and words,
for what I do and refrain from doing,
for my work and Christian service.

Keep me from
applying my own cheap standards.

Help me to commit to
the standard of the Sermon on the Mount.

I want to see myself as You see me
and to judge myself as You would judge me one day if I had not repented of my sin.

Through Your Holy Spirit
help me to discern
Your loving admonition in everything
that happens to me,
especially in Your discipline.

And give me the grace
to respond willingly.

Hear my prayers
and grant me a broken and contrite heart —- not satisfied with self, nor sure of my own rightness.

Give me
tears for my sins
and joy for Your forgiveness.

Thank You, Lord,
for I know You will hear my prayer.
Nothing brings You more joy than
seeing a sinner repent.

Thank You that our tears of repentance
are precious to You.
I am not going to focus
on my hard and unrepentant heart
but look to You, Lord Jesus.

You came to destroy
all self righteousness
and hardness of heart.

By redemption
You won for me a new heart
that is soft and humble.

Help me to persevere
in prayer and faith
until my stony heart is melted
and I am able to weep over
what I have done to You and to others.

Give me the grace of tears
for my sinful attitudes:
my lack of mercy, my harshness
and unkindness, my gossiping,
my envy and jealousy,
my untruthfulness,
my over attachment to
people and possessions.

Turn my life around completely.

Thank You, Lord.
You create new things out of nothing.
And so I ask You to create in me
the repentance I lack.

Let the grace of repentance
well up in newness of life
and love for You,
transforming me from the inside out.

I long to honor You
with a life reflecting
the joy of forgiveness,
as a sinner saved by grace.

Make me ready
for the Marriage Feast of the Lamb of God.
Amen

Beloved one, are you still considering how you may be delivered by the Lord?

This is what we have heard:
“The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭27:1‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Beloved one, we shall not fear because the Lord is our light and our salvation. And we no longer afraid because the Lord is the strength of our lives.

So if we are still afraid because we still rely on our strength not on the strength of the Lord.

So if we still fear because our light our Lord, that is, His teachings, we have not kept so our hearts and minds neither perceive or understand the salvation of the Lord.

If our hearts and minds neither perceive or understand the salvation of the Lord, we are unassured that we are saved.

So to be assured that we are saved, that is, our hearts and minds should perceive and understand the Lord’s teachings that He has entrusted to us. Meditate Romans 6:1-23, and perceive and understand His teachings that He has entrusted to us.

Beloved one, be assured what our Lord Jesus Christ have taught through apostle Paul.
And let us believe that the Lord’s strength enable us to stand in His grace, and be saved.

To God the Father be glory and thanksgiving through Christ. Amen.

Scared but trusting God said:

I am so afraid right now. I’m scared that I’m not saved and never was.

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Hello Scared but trusting God, chances are very good that you are born again, justified and saved by God if you are trusting Him with your life as your user name seems to indicate (as I've never known an unbeliever who does so).

That said, there are a number of things that can help you determine whether or not you are saved (which is something that every believer is commanded to do, BTW .. e.g. 2 Corinthians 13:5), so let me begin by giving you a couple of questions to consider.

Praying for you!

God bless you!!

--David
p.s. - here is another, important sign to consider (to help you know whether you are in Christ or not), in this case from pastor and theologian A.W. Pink.

Scared but trusting God said:

I’m scared that I’m not saved and never was

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Only Christians are afraid of this, nonchristians don't care whether they are saved or not.

Please talk to your therapist or doctor about your medication, you need help as it sounds like your intrusive thoughts are out of control.

There is a site, '25 tips for successfully treating your ocd'
Plerase read it and share it with your parents, close friends, minister, youth leadr etc etc etc.

Point 4 reads=
4. Always try hard to agree with all obsessive thoughts — never analyze, question, or argue with them. The questions they raise are not real questions, and there are no real answers to them. Try not to get too detailed when agreeing — simply say the thoughts are true and real.


You need to memorise this and practise it.
A thought occurs to you, " You are not a Christian! " you think or say, 'That is right,' and move on to do something else.

You may need medication to slow your thoughts down so you can regain control, so please talk with your doctor and talk about this site and its advice.


I'll give you one verse to think about
Matt 12:20 bruised reed he will not break,
and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out,
till he has brought justice through to victory.

Jesus knows your weaknesses and will not destroy you or condem you because of a mental illness, rather he helps and sustains you for he is The Good Shepherd.

Scared but trusting God said:

I am so afraid right now. I’m scared that I’m not saved and never was. I’m scared that I’m deceiving myself and others. I don’t know what’s true or not anymore. I want to follow Jesus and I don’t want to sin. I’m scared that I do want to sin. Due to my OCD, my mind is convincing me that everything is a sin. I saw someone say that someone knowing they were backsliding is a sign of them being saved. But I don’t even know if I am backsliding. I am questioning everything. I m scared that I don’t think like someone that has been transformed by the Holy Spirit. I don’t know what to do.

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This entire endeavor, from Creation to Eternity, is God's work —not ours. The fact that we agonize and work doesn't mean that WE are the ones upon whom our final end depends. God has chosen certain of us for one thing, and certain of us for another thing, not just for glory vs perdition, though that be our end, but for the path to that end. This is not about us, but about him, and it is infinitely beautiful.

We are unable to see the whole picture, but this temporal 'reality' will come to an end, and we will see that we have been looking at this all from our point of view, not his.

2 Corinthians 5:4 "4 So while we are in this tent, we groan under our burdens, because we do not wish to be unclothed but clothed, so that our mortality may be swallowed up by life."

Scared but trusting God said:

I am so afraid right now. I’m scared that I’m not saved and never was. I’m scared that I’m deceiving myself and others. I don’t know what’s true or not anymore. I want to follow Jesus and I don’t want to sin. I’m scared that I do want to sin. Due to my OCD, my mind is convincing me that everything is a sin. I saw someone say that someone knowing they were backsliding is a sign of them being saved. But I don’t even know if I am backsliding. I am questioning everything. I m scared that I don’t think like someone that has been transformed by the Holy Spirit. I don’t know what to do.

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Thank you for sharing and being honest about your concerns.
I struggle with depression and anxiety so I know your concerns about God and following Jesus. Remember God looks at our heart and knows we want to follow Him. The verse I really like is the Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Matthew 26:41 - Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
God knows we are human. If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and savior then you are saved and your salvation can never go away.
Romans 11:29
For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

God loves us no matter what and he knows we try our best. If you think you sinned then repent and God forgives over and over again. I will be praying for you and know you are not alone in your struggles or journey. Pray and keep reading scripture helps. Hugs and God Bless

I hope you are doing better in your journey and knowing you are saved. Hugs

Vesper_Jaye✝️ said:

I feel the same way. That’s why I posted a thread asking how you are saved. People were very helpful, but it’s hard not to worry. I can’t pretend to know what it’s like with OCD, but I have Maladaptive Daydreaming and I think about my own made up things 24/7 and find it hard to make time for God. I feel like it’s becoming an idol.
The only thing I know to do is pray and read the Bible. God doesn’t want to lose you, He will reveal the answers you are looking for. He will show you what is a sin and what isn’t. It might take a long time but if you pray and read the Bible diligently, I think you’ll find the answers you need and be more confident about being saved.
I will pray for you!

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I'm curious, what is maladaptive daydreaming?

Mari17 said:

I'm curious, what is maladaptive daydreaming?

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I’m not exactly sure how to describe it. It’s kind of like an obsession with daydreaming. I make up multiple worlds and multiple realities for each of those worlds, and the worlds have characters that I obsess over and want to talk to instead of talking to my friends or family. I find it hard to do schoolwork because I can’t stop thinking about my imagination. I once became so attracted to a male character that I made up that he became like my imaginary boyfriend and I thought about him at least 70% of the time. I have thoughts that I don’t want to live, but I don’t want to go to Heaven because I wouldn’t be able to daydream the way I do there. My sister also has it and has the same symptoms. She talks to her characters out loud and she makes sounds like a dog barking. I think that’s another common symptom. I’m not exactly sure what causes it, but many people who have it also have suicidal thoughts or adhd.

Vesper_Jaye✝️ said:

I’m not exactly sure how to describe it. It’s kind of like an obsession with daydreaming. I make up multiple worlds and multiple realities for each of those worlds, and the worlds have characters that I obsess over and want to talk to instead of talking to my friends or family. I find it hard to do schoolwork because I can’t stop thinking about my imagination. I once became so attracted to a male character that I made up that he became like my imaginary boyfriend and I thought about him at least 70% of the time. I have thoughts that I don’t want to live, but I don’t want to go to Heaven because I wouldn’t be able to daydream the way I do there. My sister also has it and has the same symptoms. She talks to her characters out loud and she makes sounds like a dog barking. I think that’s another common symptom. I’m not exactly sure what causes it, but many people who have it also have suicidal thoughts or adhd.

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Oh, I see! Thank you for the explanation. So, you obsess in this way, but not other ways? What are the strategies for dealing with maladaptive daydreaming?

Mari17 said:

Oh, I see! Thank you for the explanation. So, you obsess in this way, but not other ways? What are the strategies for dealing with maladaptive daydreaming?

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I used to obsess in a lot of other ways, but I stopped having a bunch of other obsessions as I became more obsessed with daydreaming. I think there are medications for it and there are therapists and counselors that will help, but I’ve never been to a therapist so I don’t know what strategies they would give. The strategies I figured out for myself is 1. Listen to no music or music that doesn’t stimulate my imagination. I daydream with or without music but music does stimulate imagination and make it easier to daydream. And 2. Replace imaginary thoughts that I like with ones I don’t, especially if the thoughts are sinful or I’m thinking them when I should be focusing on other things. For instance, when I was obsessing over my imaginary bf, I just replaced him with someone I didn’t want to be with, and I didn’t think about him as much. I’m still trying to figure out other ways, but those are the ways I found to deal with it so far

Scared but trusting God said:

I am so afraid right now. I’m scared that I’m not saved and never was. I’m scared that I’m deceiving myself and others. I don’t know what’s true or not anymore. I want to follow Jesus and I don’t want to sin. I’m scared that I do want to sin. Due to my OCD, my mind is convincing me that everything is a sin. I saw someone say that someone knowing they were backsliding is a sign of them being saved. But I don’t even know if I am backsliding. I am questioning everything. I m scared that I don’t think like someone that has been transformed by the Holy Spirit. I don’t know what to do.

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The bible says while we seek for Jesus he will be found by us. He does not give up on us easily.

2Ch 15:2 And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.

The way forgiveness works is God has provided a way for us to be forgiven for any sin we commit in this life. Our whole lifetime of failures is forgiven. So we can come to God at any point in life, no matter how near or far we have become.

Heb 9:27-28 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many;

Don't look internally to try to find Jesus, look to His word which offers you forgiveness. As you see yourself as forgiven, as you know you are in God's hand, your fruit will follow.

Vesper_Jaye✝️ said:

I used to obsess in a lot of other ways, but I stopped having a bunch of other obsessions as I became more obsessed with daydreaming. I think there are medications for it and there are therapists and counselors that will help, but I’ve never been to a therapist so I don’t know what strategies they would give. The strategies I figured out for myself is 1. Listen to no music or music that doesn’t stimulate my imagination. I daydream with or without music but music does stimulate imagination and make it easier to daydream. And 2. Replace imaginary thoughts that I like with ones I don’t, especially if the thoughts are sinful or I’m thinking them when I should be focusing on other things. For instance, when I was obsessing over my imaginary bf, I just replaced him with someone I didn’t want to be with, and I didn’t think about him as much. I’m still trying to figure out other ways, but those are the ways I found to deal with it so far

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That makes sense! I'm glad you've been able to find some things that work for you. Is there much information/support on the Internet for this kind of thing?