A couple questions

[Sbreido]

When you accept God into your heart, what does it feel like? I recall doing it twice, because the first time, I was homesick at a sleepover at my local Christian camp, and the second time, I did it because I was sort of tempted by one of the counselors at the same camp because they didn't think I meant it the first time since I was really young and didn't exactly understand Jesus' sacrifice.

But I remember that the first time I did it, I couldn't breathe for one second and then the next moment I stopped crying and was really happy.

The second time, I merely felt like I wanted to cry. Not exactly out of joy or sorrow, but I just wanted to cry.

Are any of these two (or both) what you're supposed to feel when you accept Christ into your heart?

Also, is it true that once you accept Christ, no matter what you do, you can't go to hell (another thing I was taught at the Christian camp)?

 

[St_Worm2]

Hi Sbreido, right before I became a Christian, I truly thought that I was such a sinner that the Lord would never want anything to do with me. PTL, I was wrong ..

What I "felt" when I became a Christian was a combination of happiness, extreme joy, and peace, like the weight of the world lifted off my shoulders. I was alone at home and it was too late to call anyone, so I remember looking immediately for a Bible and began to read it. The odd thing was, for the first time in my life, it really made sense to me.

The next morning, I called one of the people who was most instrumental in leading me to Christ and was in a Bible Study three days later and church the following Sunday. I did so because I remember having a tremendous desire to be around other Christians, to see if anyone else's experience had been similar to mine (just like you're doing now). What happened to me was so profound and wonderful that I found myself questioning others who had been Christians much longer than I had been to make sure they knew what I now knew. In fact, I think I told anyone who would listen to me back then what had happened because it was the BEST thing that had (or has) ever happened to me ..

I also quickly began to realize how displeased God must have been with my former way of life and immediately looked for ways to please Him in anything and everything I was doing. I had been "saved" from MUCH and was/am eternally grateful ..

It sounds like you're trying to figure out whether you are truly a Christian or not, yes? Probably the greatest evidence is what has happened to you since you had these emotional moments at Christian camp. Has your life changed in a way that you think would be pleasing to the Lord? Do you feel ashamed when you sin and seek to be forgiven and turn away (or repent) from doing that same sin again? Do you have the desire to know more about God and how to please Him? Do you want to be around His people? (there are more things to consider, but these are good questions to ask yourself if you want to know if you've become a Christian).

Finally, on the Once Saved Always Saved question, yes, I believe that's true (in a certain sense anyway). The rub is, there's no magical formula or incantation that you can speak that makes you into a Christian. And while emotions are almost always a part of the conversion experience, becoming a Christian is more than just a feeling. To persevere to Glory as a Christian, you have to TRULY be one first, and that's a matter of a changed heart.

Praying for you!!

Yours and His,
David

 

[LWB]

If a person is out of shape and they decide get fit, they might feel a temporary high at having come to a resolution, but the benefits don't become apparent for awhile. I think it is the same with following Christ.

If you expect some kind of spiritual ecstasy or emotional epiphany to be the immediate result, you might be disappointed and begin to doubt your status. It is a sustained act of will, not the decision of a moment.

The parable of the sower illustrates that a person can accept God but have no depth and fall away. The worries of life can choke their faith. If a person accepts God but they aren't fruitful, they might be cut off like a withered branch and thrown away.

Accepting God is more like a journey than some magical formula that saves one from damnation. We're leaving Egypt behind and heading for the promised land. To get there we have to start walking.

If a person gives up and returns to Egypt, or they collapse on the ground unable to go any further, they will never see the promised land. If a person keeps on going forward, even if they're crawling on their hands and knees - they'll get there.

But it isn't like the journey is all our own effort. God not only helps us along the way, but without him it would be impossible.

 

[AlexBP]

I agree with LWB that acceptance of Jesus is a process rather than a moment. It took me a number of months to go from declaring myself a Christian to actually understanding the fact that Jesus Christ had died in order to take away my sins. During those times I experienced a lot of intense emotions. Sometimes I felt grateful beyond all measure, sometimes I was just overwhelmed, sometimes I felt waves of joy passing over me.

 

[elman]

When you accept God into your heart, what does it feel like? I recall doing it twice, because the first time, I was homesick at a sleepover at my local Christian camp, and the second time, I did it because I was sort of tempted by one of the counselors at the same camp because they didn't think I meant it the first time since I was really young and didn't exactly understand Jesus' sacrifice.

But I remember that the first time I did it, I couldn't breathe for one second and then the next moment I stopped crying and was really happy.

The second time, I merely felt like I wanted to cry. Not exactly out of joy or sorrow, but I just wanted to cry.

Are any of these two (or both) what you're supposed to feel when you accept Christ into your heart?

Also, is it true that once you accept Christ, no matter what you do, you can't go to hell (another thing I was taught at the Christian camp)?

I think you accept Christ by obeying His command to love and have compassion on others. Matt 25:31 and following shows it is not about saying majic words etc. It is also not about theological understanding of the sacrifice of Jesus. We all make many mistakes in our theology. James 3:2. It is about compassion for others and becoming as God is, a loving being. You can always chose to go back to being an unloving being and if you do the promise of life eternal is not yours. REad Ezekiel 18. Those who turn from wickedness to rightousness will live and not die, but those who do not turn from wickedness to righteousness will die and not live.

 

[Walter Kovacs]

When you accept God into your heart, what does it feel like? I recall doing it twice, because the first time, I was homesick at a sleepover at my local Christian camp, and the second time, I did it because I was sort of tempted by one of the counselors at the same camp because they didn't think I meant it the first time since I was really young and didn't exactly understand Jesus' sacrifice.

But I remember that the first time I did it, I couldn't breathe for one second and then the next moment I stopped crying and was really happy.

The second time, I merely felt like I wanted to cry. Not exactly out of joy or sorrow, but I just wanted to cry.

Are any of these two (or both) what you're supposed to feel when you accept Christ into your heart?

Also, is it true that once you accept Christ, no matter what you do, you can't go to hell (another thing I was taught at the Christian camp)?

This is based on the assumption that to be a follower of Christ you have to "accept Him into your heart," and that salvation is a single event that happens.

 

[bling]

I was able to combine my acceptance of God's Love with baptism. At conversion with baptism we have the opportunity to combine what is happening Spiritually with a physical act to support the reality: we are putting off our old life and transitioning into a new life, we bury the old sinful man (going under water), our sins are washed away (we feel the water running off our bodies), We release our control of ourselves to God (we place our body into the hands of a believer), we rise with Christ (rise from a watery grave) and we leave the water into the hands of our new brothers and sisters to start a new life. Why would any Christian not want that aid to their experience?

 

[zaksmummy]

Also, is it true that once you accept Christ, no matter what you do, you can't go to hell (another thing I was taught at the Christian camp)?

Depends on which theological point of view you take.

One thing I would say is that there are many times in the bible where we are encouraged to be holy, because God is holy, in other words, when we become christians we want to live a life that is pleasing to God and obeys him rather than doing what we want to do.

Its hard, often, but the good thing is that God is merciful and every time we fail we can ask his forgiveness, which he will give, and get on - think of the saying "if at first you dont succeed, try, try, try again".

 

[SBC]

I would say the LEARNING ABOUT Christ is a process.
The DECISION to ask Him into your heart, is with sureness.
The ENTERING of the Lord into ones heart, is INSTANT.

The taught method about anything is to FIRST LEARN ABOUT IT, before YOU COMMIT.

Agreeing to a CONTRACT, IS a commitment...and is done with the thoughts of the MIND.

Agreeing to SUBJECT your self to the Lord, IS a commitment....and is done with the thoughts of the HEART.

God desires us to KNOW ABOUT Him, be diligent in learning about Him, then decide with the sureness of our HEART, if our elected be God.

IOW ~ it's not about a flippant test or momentary idea to see if you can momentarily get something you want.

It is about one making the biggest decision of their life.

2 Pet 2
[10] Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

God Bless,
SBC

 

[aiki]

Are any of these two (or both) what you're supposed to feel when you accept Christ into your heart?

There is no particular feeling the Bible says you should experience at the moment you are saved. What reveals that you are saved is a change in heart, mind and behaviour. A truly saved person loves Christ and other believers (Ro. 5:5; 1 Jn. 3:14); they find sin abhorrent and desire to obey God's commands (Eph. 5:8-12); they hunger for God's word (Jer. 15:16; Ps. 19:7-10; 1Pe. 2:2); they understand Scripture (Jn. 16:13); they have the inner witness of God's Spirit that confirms their adoption into God's family (Ro. 8:14-16); they will bear the fruit of the Spirit (Ga. 5:22, 23) in their life. These are the things Scripture indicates are signs of being truly born-again, not tears or fleeting feelings of happiness.

Also, is it true that once you accept Christ, no matter what you do, you can't go to hell (another thing I was taught at the Christian camp)?

Well, you see, you didn't save you; God saved you. He is the One who works in every true believer such that they are willing to receive from Him the gift of salvation He offers to them in Jesus Christ. Salvation is God's work. And what God has done in saving us, no one can undo. When we think our acceptance of God's gift is the crucial part of our salvation, we can get to thinking that we have the power to dissolve His saving work. But we can't. Our desire to be saved is God's work; our choice to be saved is God's work; our walking with God is God's work. From beginning to end our relationship with God is His doing and we can no more reverse our spiritual birth than we can reverse our physical birth.

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