faceofbear
Veteran
I'm going to be quite blunt with you, but I hope through my bluntness you see the truth. First of all, I want to say that generally when you want to believe, you already believe. You're just looking for some great feeling or movement to reassure you that you believe. However, this isn't what being saved is. Being saved isn't having no doubts, it isn't a feeling, it isn't a reassurance, it's believing. Forget EVERYTHING you've heard about believing. One persons experience in believe is GREATLY different than anothers and the trap I was falling into was comparing MY belief with someone else belief. For example, believers would say, "I had a traumatic conversion and wept for hours after realizing what the cross meant." The problem was that I was looking for a similar conversion and I thought to myself, "Unless I weep then and ONLY then is it true that I've believed the Gospel." That isn't so. Some people are greatful when they and excited when they win on gameshows, others aren't. But they both won. So stop looking for something other than believing. What is believeing? My name is Mike. Do you believe that? Did you have to "make yourself believe" that? No. You just accepted it. Can you doubt my name is Mike? Yes. Can you question and insist my name isn't Mike? Yes. But even if you insist my name isn't Mike and doubt my name is Mike that doesn't matter. What matters is whether you believe my name is Mike regardless of your doubts and regardless of your questions.
You're blaming other Christians for why YOU won't believe. What do you have to do to believe? Just believe. I have been where you are. I was an agnostic. I was a skeptic. I was like Immanuel Kant but worse. What do I do? I believe. EVERY DAY I doubt the Bible. EVERY DAY I have questions about the Bible. But guess what? Regardless of my intellectual issues in accepting the Bible, I choose to believe it in my heart. I have constant doubts, constant struggles, countless intellectual battles, but I still believe.
What do I believe? I believe the testimony of God concerning His Son. What is His testimony concerning His Son? "And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son." (1 John 5:11) I believe that the God of the Bible exists (regardless of my feelings and intellectual struggles and regardless of doubts) and that the God of the Bible sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for my Sins and that Jesus was buried and that He rose again on the third day as the scripture says. I believe that the God of the Bible (regardless of my feelings and intellectual struggles and regardless of my doubts) has given me eternal life because of His Son (Jesus) dying for me. That's it. That is why I'm saved. That is how you can be saved. Nothing more.
How can you believe? Just believe. You believed my name was Michael. Now believe God's testimony concerning His Son.
"We accept man's testimony, but God's testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son." (1 John 5:9-10)
You believe God's testimony regarding His Son no different than you've believed my name is Michael. So what do you do with your doubts? Your intellectual struggles? Your feelings? ALL of these are of the FLESH. The FLESH wages against the Spirit so you do not do what you ought. Therefore, you disregard them. You put them away. Even though you doubt, you believe. Even though you have intellectual objections, you believe. Even though your feelings accuse you, you believe. What do you do to be saved? You believe. What is the work of God? You believe. What do you believe? That God has given you Eternal life and that this life is in His Son. If you reject this for ANY reason, any DOUBT, any intellectual struggle, any reason of "I can't believe", you're calling God a liar. All you do is believe and you hold on to your faith in Christ against EVERY ODD. You believe that Jesus Christ died to save you from Hell because YOU sinned against Holy God. You DON'T MAKE yourself believe. You just believe. You don't trust your belief. You trust God and His testimony concerning His Son. Your belief won't save you but CHRIST will save you. You can BELIEVE a parachute will save you, but it won't save you unless you use it. Your belief MUST be in the testimony God gave. That HE gave YOU eternal life and the THIS LIFE FOR YOU is in HIS Son. You STOP trying, you STOP forcing yourself to read the Bible and you BELIEVE. Anything else is a work and won't get you to Heaven. No matter how hard you try to believe, no matter how much you pray, not matter how much your read, you won't be saved by doing this. You get saved by believing the testimony God has given.
That is IT. So STOP trying. and STOP making excuses and BELIEVE GOD. Are you going to doubt? Man I will be supprised if there ISN'T a day you doubt. But what do you do? You believe. When you cross a bridge, you can doubt it will hold you, but you cross it anyways because you believe it will hold ou regardless of your doubts. Faith works the same way. Just believe that you have eternal life because GOD gave it to you and that this life is in His Son. It's like an excercise plan. You can AGREE excercising is good, but you have to AGREE excercising is good for YOU. You can believe there is salvation and that God gives eternal life, but you have to believe God gave YOU eternal life. You have to believe it's a personal salvation includding you.
Just believe against any objection you have. Just believe. Even if you doubt it intellectually. Just accept God's testimony. Any objection you have any "and, if, or buts" are all lies. Disregard them and just cling to God's testimony. He gave YOU eternal life and this life is in His Son. Notice that God gave it to you. You didn't earn it by believing. He already gave it.. but you have to accept it. Just believe like you believe any other thing. Don't make yourself believe, just believe. Whatever objection you have. Just believe.
I hope this is getting through to you after this much repetition man... just BELIEVE. If you have any doubts because you're missing a "feeling" or an "emotional experience" disregard it and ask yourself, "Do I believe?" If it's yes, you're saved. If you have any questions PM me. But your solution is simple... just believe.
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Or the other annual question: "Have you been saved?" 
