Am I saved?

I'm becoming desperate on these issues, as I'm thinking God is tired of me praying for forgiveness for the same things over and over and over...

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Sorry I don't have the answer, but I am where you are too!

1Corinthians 3:1-3 On Divisions in the Church

1Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?

Not everyone who immediately gets saved instantly becomes sinless. Sometimes the process of becoming much less sinfull than before is a slow one.

Sin has a double ailment (the cause and the effect), and you need a double cure.

I also struggled with repetitious sin at one time. I studied hard the effects of addiction and addictive behaviours, the effects of sin on one's life and so forth, and eventually, I learned to hate the sins I was so troubled by. I now always remind myself that the wages of sin is death, and not just spiritually, but temporally as well. It can kill everything you love in this life.

Knowing all that, and empathizing with your post, I'd like to offer some links for you. The teaching they emphasise has helped me greatly and changed me for the better. I hope you find some benefit as well.

http://www.enterhisrest.org/

http://www.stopsinning.net/

Stuff by Andrew Murray:
http://www.worldinvisible.com/library/murray/5f00.0562/5f00.0562.c.htm
http://www.worldinvisible.com/library/murray/praylife/indexpray.htm

By John Wesley:
(This book is hard work but very good)-
http://worldinvisible.com/library/wesley/8317/8317c.htm
By Thomas A'Kempis
(Essential on the topic)
http://worldinvisible.com/library/akempis/imitation/contents.htm

DadTimesTwo said:

For instance, despite a desire to exhibit the fruits of the Holy Spirit, an inventory of them shows I demonstrate very few. I have a short fuse, for instance. Also, I easily give in to certain sins of the flesh despite my best attempts to give them up.

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personally i don't understand "inventories".
the fruits of the Holy Spirit cannot be included accurately in an human made inventory.

I understand we can't make ourselves holy -- that only Jesus can make us holy through his grace. So if we are fighting against sin, and falling again and again, in an attempt to stay holy, are we just not saved? Are we missing something critical?

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i think that when we place efforts on something but we don't see results, something must be going on. it can be that we are not honest to ourselves, it can be that we are tested in patience, it can be many different things. there's no ready made answer.

when i see that i don't go somewhere spiritually it's usually that i am not true to myself. for example, i may ask God to give me love for my fellow people, but when my neighbour talks to me in a bad manner i don't practice "good christian" manners on him. i have to take real part in the process of getting closer to God.

as an Orthodox elder of modern times used to say, "you have to give something in order to get something back".
what are you willing to give?


furthermore, sometimes we may have some deep psychological issues, that can cause trouble to our spiritual growth. so, sometimes we can use human science to help ourselves get better.
for example, if i am a drug user and pray to God to help me stop drugs, that's great. but becoming a drug user was not a simple thing. there were so many little or/and big issues involved that lead me there. i have to deal with them.

i hope you understand what i mean.

and God is not a person that get's tired of our prayers, or our falling. WE are tired of our falling and our non advancement. and this can be very usefull some times.

Annoula said:

furthermore, sometimes we may have some deep psychological issues, that can cause trouble to our spiritual growth. so, sometimes we can use human science to help ourselves get better.
for example, if i am a drug user and pray to God to help me stop drugs, that's great. but becoming a drug user was not a simple thing. there were so many little or/and big issues involved that lead me there. i have to deal with them.

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Good words.

Many blessings to you


As a former protestant, I can very much empathize with you. I pray you find the following writing beneficial.


Lord have mercy

Lord have mercy

Lord have mercy







A fundamental teaching of the Holy Fathers is that the Church is a "Hospital" which cures the wounded man. In many passages of Holy Scripture such language is used. One such passage is that of the parable of the Good Samaritan: "But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion . So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, and gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you" (Luke 10:33-35).
In this parable, the Samaritan represents Christ who cured the wounded man and led him to the Inn, that is to the "Hospital" which is the Church. It is evident here that Christ is presented as the Healer, the physician who cures man's maladies; and the Church as the true Hospital. It is very characteristic that Saint John Chrysostom, analysing this parable, presents these truths emphasised above.
Man's life "in Paradise" was reduced to a life governed by the devil and his wiles. "And fell among thieves," that is in the hands of the devil and of all the hostile powers. The wounds man suffered are the various sins, as the prophet David says: "my wounds grow foul and fester because of my foolishness" (Psalm 37). For "every sin causes a bruise and a wound." The Samaritan is Christ Himself who descended to earth from Heaven in order to cure the wounded man. He used oil and wine to "treat" the wounds; in other words, by "mingling His blood with the Holy Spirit, he brought man to life." According to another interpretation, oil corresponds to the comforting word and wine to the harsh word. Mingled together they have the power to unify the scattered mind. "He set him in His own beast," that is He assumed human flesh on "the shoulders" of His divinity and ascended incarnate to His Father in Heaven.
Then the Good Samaritan, i.e. Christ, took man to the grand, wondrous and spacious inn - to the Church. And He handed man over to the innkeeper, who is the Apostle Paul, and through the Apostle Paul to all bishops and priests, saying: "Take care of the Gentile people, whom I have handed over to you in the Church. They suffer illness wounded by sin, so cure them, using as remedies the words of the Prophets and the teaching of the Gospel; make them healthy through the admonitions and comforting word of the Old and New Testaments." Thus, according to Saint Chrysostom, Paul is he who maintains the Churches of God, "curing all people by his spiritual admonitions and offering to each one of them what they really need."
In the interpretation of this parable by Saint John Chrysostom, it is clearly shown that the Church is a Hospital which cures people wounded by sin; and the bishops and priests are the therapists of the people of God.

By Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos

I'd say don't trust your feelings. Feelings can change at the drop of a hat for any reason. If you've done what the Bible says to be saved, you're saved. Struggling with sin doesn't mean you aren't saved. If you weren't saved you probably wouldn't struggle with it near as much because you wouldn't be as cocerned about it. Don't give up. You aren't alone in this stuggle.

just because you have recurring sin doesn't mean God isnt listening to you. we of course should strive to be perfect but truth is we'll never attain that perfect pefection till we (hopefully) reach heaven. God understands your failures but loves you unconditionally

DadTimesTwo said:

So if I'm struggling with sin, does that mean I've not been saved? Does it mean the Holy Spirit is not dwelling within me?

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If you weren't struggling with sin, you would have good reason to be alarmed, since you wouldn't even be attempting to resist temptation. For, a man that struggles with sin, is one who hates to sin, but lacks the strength to subdue it in its totality.

Does this mean you are not saved? No, it means you are being sanctified, that the Lord is moving upon your heart to make it holy.

Does it mean you don't have the Holy Spirit? Well, if you didn't have the Holy Spirit, you wouldn't even care enough about this to ask the question, "Am I saved?"

So then, what does this mean? Are you saved?

In a sense you are. You see salvation is threefold. Those who repent are saved from the guilt of sin. And if they truly have a desire to walk with God, then they enter into the realm of being saved from the power of sin. And if they endure to the end, they will be saved from the nature of sin. Hence, justification, sanctification, and then glorification.

So I like to put it this way: I am saved. And now I am being saved so that I might be saved.

Therefore, as sinful as you think you might be, judging by the information that I've gleaned from your post, I believe that if Jesus were to give you an answer to your question He would say, "You are not far from the kingdom!"

And by the way, if you want victory over sin, remember to pray while you are being tempted. Praying after you commit a sin will help to remove the stain of guilt; that is, if you are sincere. But the only thing that is really going to help you subjugate your sins is prayer that takes place during temptation.

God will give you victory if you let Him. And it appears to me that you do want to overcome your sins. So, look to Jesus at all times, especially when you are being tempted to sin, and then you will walk on water, so to speak. But look back, just as Peter did, and you will sink. However, even if you sink, Jesus will not abandon you. For, as soon as you call out to Him, He will rescue you from imminent death, just like He did with Peter.

"He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Phil. 1:6