How do you know when you are saved?

[full_of_faith]

Thank you, TexasGirl! That clears a lot up for me.

 

[CrazyforYeshua]

I have accepted Jesus as my savior in the past. I have fell off the wagon, so to speak, in my spirituality. I have ignored my spirituality for a long time now. I haven't prayed in a long time (and only when I had a problem) until this week when I joined CF and now I pray every day as often as possible that I will be saved.

I realize the importance of being saved and am working towards that.

Also, my husband and I were driving back from picking up dinner and as we were on the road off in a short distance, I thought I saw a crucifix on someone's lawn. When we got to the house, it was just a couple of bushes or trees. I asked God to give me a sign that I was headed in the right direction, etc. so I guess that is my sign from God. What do you think about that?

If you have received Yeshua in the past, you ARE saved, you were backslidden. If you have come back to Him, asked His forgivness, and are now living for Him, you don't need to "work towards that". You are already there. Just keep reading the Word, worship Him in your prayer time, go to a good Bible believing church, and He will teach you.

 

[calidog]

How do you know?

I thought years ago that I was saved and then after a while, it seemed that my faith went downhill. I know my name says "full of faith," and that is what I am striving for. I have read that it is possible to be saved and then not, depending on your how you feel about your beliefs, etc.

Is there any specific feeling that happens when you are saved?

I would love to be saved; however, since I have gotten older I have more and more questions about Christianity.

For instance, if you watch the History or Discovery Channel, they will talk about how dinosaurs were around 16 million years ago or something like that. If the Earth has only been around for about 6,000 years, how is that possible???

I have been trying to be more spiritual as I get older, but it just isn't "clicking." I would like to lead a Christian life and am trying to work towards that.

According to the bible man - and presumably the earth - has been in existence 6000 yrs. Nevertheless, don't let this be a pivitol issue for you at this point. Remain in Christ and He will remain in you. Speak to Him daily (pray), seek His word (read your bible). Just "remain in Him", that's how you yourself know you are saved because He is always on your mind.

 

[full_of_faith]

According to the bible man - and presumably the earth - has been in existence 6000 yrs. Nevertheless, don't let this be a pivitol issue for you at this point. Remain in Christ and He will remain in you. Speak to Him daily (pray), seek His word (read your bible). Just "remain in Him", that's how you yourself know you are saved because He is always on your mind.

Yep, He is always on my mind now. I can't get Him out of my head...which I guess isn't a bad thing! Of course, I still sin, but I am much more conscious of it now and of course, I try not to as much as possible.

So, since He is always on my mind, that must mean I am saved!

 

[AllTalkNoAction]

Having God on your mind does not mean you are saved.
Saul (later Paul) was also very mindful of God before he was saved by receiving what the rest of the disciples got & getting baptised.

 

[Breaking Babylon]

I'm sure Satan has God on the mind very often, also.

Knowing your salvation is secure is knowing that you followed the Biblical steps to achieve salvation.

 

[ebia]

I'm sure Satan has God on the mind very often, also.

Knowing your salvation is secure is knowing that you followed the Biblical steps to achieve salvation.

Talk about salvation by works.

 

[Breaking Babylon]

God-breathed steps of faith as declared by the Holy Bible? Those are things we have to abide by, Ebia.

What about "faith without works is dead faith"?

 

[LilLamb219]

So, since He is always on my mind, that must mean I am saved!

It's good that you have God on your mind, but do you trust in the atonement made at the cross for the forgiveness of your sins? If you were to die, do you trust that you will remain with God because Christ died on the cross in your place and all your sins are forgiven? That is salvation.

 

[full_of_faith]

It's good that you have God on your mind, but do you trust in the atonement made at the cross for the forgiveness of your sins? If you were to die, do you trust that you will remain with God because Christ died on the cross in your place and all your sins are forgiven? That is salvation.

Then, I'm not saved then. I am going to keep researching, reading and praying and take it from there......

 

[LilLamb219]

Then, I'm not saved then. I am going to keep researching, reading and praying and take it from there......

Keep in God's Word. He will show you

What parts of what I wrote do you not believe in...and why?

 

[full_of_faith]

Then, I'm not saved then. I am going to keep researching, reading and praying and take it from there......

I have a lot of questions.....such as the Bible... I know it has been revised many, many times and how do we know what the "real" version is or was? I'm not saying that it was made up, what what proof is there that it wasn't? How do we know that God created the Earth? What proof is there?

I believe God exists, but how do we know for sure?

Also, if you believe Jesus died for your sins, you are saved and you will go to Heaven once your life here on earth ends. What proof is there that there is a Heaven or Hell? Maybe there isn't anything and everyones' souls just disappear?

One more thing is that over the years I have been having a hard time believing that Jesus was born incarnate from Mary. I believe that mary gave birth to Jesus, but I am having a hard time with God choosing Mary to be his mother. Why Mary and not someone else? I realize God can do anything; however, she didn't conceive Jesus the "natural" way (for lack of a better way of putting it) and I guess I am having difficulty with that. I worked with someone who has a very strong belief in God and Jesus and they even had a hard time with Jesus being born incarnate from the virgin Mary.

Those are some of my questions. I have been struggling with all of this for a while now, which is one main reason why I guess I don't go to church. I have not told anyone else other than here about about beliefs/doubts. I'm rarely, if ever asked so I don't have to worry about giving an answer.

 

[TexasGirl06]

I have a lot of questions.....such as the Bible... I know it has been revised many, many times and how do we know what the "real" version is or was? I'm not saying that it was made up, what what proof is there that it wasn't? How do we know that God created the Earth? What proof is there?

I believe God exists, but how do we know for sure?

Also, if you believe Jesus died for your sins, you are saved and you will go to Heaven once your life here on earth ends. What proof is there that there is a Heaven or Hell? Maybe there isn't anything and everyones' souls just disappear?

One more thing is that over the years I have been having a hard time believing that Jesus was born incarnate from Mary. I believe that mary gave birth to Jesus, but I am having a hard time with God choosing Mary to be his mother. Why Mary and not someone else? I realize God can do anything; however, she didn't conceive Jesus the "natural" way (for lack of a better way of putting it) and I guess I am having difficulty with that. I worked with someone who has a very strong belief in God and Jesus and they even had a hard time with Jesus being born incarnate from the virgin Mary.

Those are some of my questions. I have been struggling with all of this for a while now, which is one main reason why I guess I don't go to church. I have not told anyone else other than here about about beliefs/doubts. I'm rarely, if ever asked so I don't have to worry about giving an answer.

Full-of-faith......

There are several different versions of the Bible...King James, New International Version, etc.....but they still say the same thing.

How totally bizarre is it that Mary was a virgin and conceived a child? Very bizarre.
But, God said it happened....through His words in the Bible...and I believe that God can do whatever he wants to do. Is it too hard for God? No way.

In addition to asking these questions on this Forum (and I am glad that you are)....also pray and tell God that you have doubts. He already knows that you do.
Ask Him to show you.
Ask Him to show you through reading some pages in the Bible.
When God's spirit moves, it is amazing !

 

[CrazyforYeshua]

Yeshua had to be conceived the way He was, if He had an earthly father, He would not be sinless. Our human minds can not get a grip on that,but the Holy Spirit bears witness that the Word of God is true.

 

[HandmaidenOfGod]

How do you know?

At the final dread judgement seat of Christ.

Not before then.

 

[Breaking Babylon]

-- Taken from the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry --

This is a common misconception. Some people think that the Bible was written in one language, translated to another language, then translated into yet another and so on until it was finally translated into the English. The complaint is that since it was rewritten so many times in different languages throughout history, it must have become corrupted . The "telephone" analogy is often used as an illustration. It goes like this. One person tells another person a sentence who then tells another person, who tells yet another, and so on and so on until the last person hears a sentence that has little or nothing to do with the original one. The only problem with this analogy is that it doesn't fit the Bible at all.

The fact is that the Bible has not been rewritten. Take the New Testament, for example. The disciples of Jesus wrote the New Testament in Greek and though we do not have the original documents, we do have around 6,000 copies of the Greek manuscripts that were made very close to the time of the originals. These various manuscripts, or copies, agree with each other to almost 100 percent accuracy. Statistically, the New Testament is 99.5% textually pure. That means that there is only 1/2 of 1% of of all the copies that do not agree with each other perfectly. But, if you take that 1/2 of 1% and examine it, you find that the majority of the "problems" are nothing more than spelling errors and very minor word alterations. For example, instead of saying Jesus, a variation might be "Jesus Christ." So the actual amount of textual variation of any concern is extremely low. Therefore, we can say that we have a remarkably accurate compilation of the original documents.

So when that we translate the Bible, we do not translate from a translation of a translation of a translation. We translate from the original language into our language. It is a one step process and not a series of steps that can lead to corruption. It is one translation step from the original to the English or to whatever language a person needs to read it in. So we translate into Spanish from the same Greek and Hebrew manuscripts. Likewise we translate into the German from those same Greek and Hebrew manuscripts as well. This is how it is done for each and every language we translate the Bible into. We do not translate from the original languages to the English, to the Spanish, and then to the German. It is from the original languages to the English, or into the Spanish, or into the German. Therefore, the translations are very accurate and trustworthy in regards to what the Bible originally said.

-- End CARM excerpt.

As for being 'sure'...

How do you define 'sure'? Scientific reason? Visual confirmation? A non-changing feeling in your heart? Even the Apostles of Christ doubted Him at one time or another. It's human nature to doubt the unexplained.

"The just shall live by faith, not by sight." - "Only those who endure until the end shall receive a crown of life."

Doubting His being is something we will all face at one time or another. What matters is we fight the good fight, and hold on to the faith. This doesn't mean living in blind faith, however, it's in realizing that you have to make those doubts in your mind obedient to Christ, realizing that they're an enemy, and they cause separation between you and God. In John 8:44, we read that Satan is the father of lies. John 14:30, 12:31 says that he is the prince of this world. Such doubts, confusion and trying is commonplace while he yet has some influence in this world we live in.

But we're not without defense. We have the Word, which discerns his temptations vs. our own sinful thoughts. His characteristics: Lusts of the flesh[I Peter 2:11], Lusts of the eyes[Genesis 3:6], Vain glory of life[James 4:6-7]. II Corinthians 11:3 says he deceives, 11:13 says he spreads false doctrines. He tempted Adam and Eve to sin. He tempted Jesus Christ. Luke 22 says he misguided people. John 8:44 calls him a murderer, and father of lies. Mark says he seeks to destroy God's work, Thessalonians mentions he hinders, and there's even a mention in Acts 5 that he filled a heart to lie.

He has more influence than one might think. But we're not without aid.

We can be victorious over Satan, as Christ was. James 4:7 says we can win the battle, we simply have to give no place to the devil[Ephesians 4:27], put on our whole armour and fight[Ephesians 6:11-19]. Be vigilant, and resist strongly[I Peter 5:8-9] and a way of escape will be made[I Corinthians 10:13]. Amen.

Am I saying that these doubts are inspired by Satan? You read over the scriptures I provided, and you tell me.

Why is the virgin birth hard to conceive? If He rose from the dead, brought the dead to life, restored sight to the blind, cast out demons and healed in many, many ways - a virgin birth shouldn't be doubted. Why did God choose Mary? I'll ask Him one day, but for now, I know this. Isaiah 55:8-9. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."

Why Mary and not someone else? Why not Mary? If He chose someone else, would you still ask "Why Jane Doe?" Mary was a righteous woman - not sinless, but righteous. Jesus had to be born of the flesh, and live a human[albeit sinless] life. That includes having a natural mother, doesn't it? Of course.

What kind of saviour would Jesus be if He was born of fornication? What good would it have done if He was born of a mother who wasn't able and willing to follow God's direction, and know without a doubt that her Son is the Christ?

Pray for strength. Pray for wisdom and understanding. Read James 1:2-4. God will help you endure.

 

[ShiningSonBeam]

Amen

 

[Seekin'God]

I have trouble in believing the holy spirit and even satan. They are like something out of the Harry Potter book. I really think that once someone gets baptized or saved, that person just makes a committment to follow Jesus. There's no special feeling, no receiving of the holy spirit. You get wet and try to live better.

 

[eoe]

Heck - if you do not want to deal with translation you can come with me to my parish. We use the original Greek. If you do not speak Greek the priest does an on the spot translation for us. No rewrite - no problems of "too many cooks in the kitchen". Just a straightforward explanation of what the Bible says. He grew up in Greece and speaks English very fluently. No problems with misunderstanding there. If you want you can get one of the other parishoners(or several of them) to confirm that he translated it correctly - most of them speak Greek too.

I have trouble in believing the holy spirit and even satan. They are like something out of the Harry Potter book. I really think that once someone gets baptized or saved, that person just makes a committment to follow Jesus. There's no special feeling, no receiving of the holy spirit. You get wet and try to live better.

It seems to me that you are not really seeking God. You are seeking something that you define as God. When God does not fit into your "God shaped box" then you are rejecting him.

Put aside your preconceived notions about what you think God should be and accept what he is. You wanting him to conform to your description is not going to help. Why not conform yourself to what he wants you to be?
Any idea that you have of God is going to fall short of what he actually is - why force your opinion on him? Again - focus on conforming yourself to what it is that he wants you to be and accept him as he knows he is and not as you want him to be.

 

[eoe]

One more thing is that over the years I have been having a hard time believing that Jesus was born incarnate from Mary. I believe that mary gave birth to Jesus, but I am having a hard time with God choosing Mary to be his mother. Why Mary and not someone else?

The reason behind this begins with Joachim and Anna. They were a very righteous old couple that had not ever had children. They prayed fervently to God and decided if God would grant them a child that they would dedicate that child to the Lord. God granted them thier request and while she was still only a very young girl Mary was brought to the temple to live and serve there.
Mary lived in the temple until she was between 14-16 and she was betrothed to an Older man named Joseph who was of the same tribe (Family of David) as she. Joseph already had children and agreed to take care of Mary.
You have to understand at this point that marriage back then was very different than it is today. Men would marry old widows simply to keep them off the streets and give them homes.
So at this point Mary had lived *in the temple* since she was a very young girl. She was constantly surrounded by scripture, law, sacrifices and holy things. She lived her life as perfectly as any woman ever has both because she had been raised in that environment as well as because she loved God.
So. You have this young maiden that has lived a righteous life and loves God. Then comes the moment of truth. The Archangel Gabriel appears to her and says "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women."

Ok. So imagine that you are a young teenage girl and this gleaming angel comes up and says that you are full of grace and that the lord is with you and that among all women you are blessed. What do you think? "Um. Yeah. Im..just... going to... stand... over.....there......"(run away screaming...)

That is about what she thought.

(Luke 1:29) Who having heard, was troubled at his saying and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be.

I can imagine "troubled" is an understatement.... anyhoo...

(Luke 1:30) And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God.

(Luke 1:31) Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and shalt bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name Jesus.

(Luke 1:32) He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father: and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever.

(Luke 1:33) And of his kingdom there shall be no end.

So.. again.. you are this young teen girl and this angel has just told you this. What do you think?
Something like:
"You are a looney! I am not ever been with a man! How am I going to have a kid!"

(Luke 1:34) And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man?

Then the angel says....

(Luke 1:35) And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

(Luke 1:36) And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren.

(Luke 1:37) Because no word shall be impossible with God.

So. Here it is. This is the point at which Mary becomes the new Eve. Just like Eve she is given a choice. She can obey or she can go her own way. She can do what God wants or she can do what she wants.

(Luke 1:38) And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done to me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

She chose to accept God's plan even though it was a really scary one and she did not totally understnad what was going on. She was freaked out by having an angel stand in front of her and tell her that she was about to be pregnant but she still chose to accept what God had chosen for her.

I realize God can do anything

Yup - that's what Gabriel told Mary.

however, she didn't conceive Jesus the "natural" way (for lack of a better way of putting it) and I guess I am having difficulty with that.

No she did not conceive him in the normal way. It was a really strange and unique way. Why? To fulfill prophecy.

(Isaiah 7:14) Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son and his name shall be called Emmanuel.

Why did she marry an old man? To fulfill prophecy.

(Ezekiel 44:2) And the Lord said to me: This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall pass through it: because the Lord the God of Israel hath entered in by it, and it shall be shut

So... fast forward.
Imagine that you are Mary... you lived all this time in a temple and now have met an angel and had all manner of strange things happen to you. You have been in direct contact with the Most Holy Spirit of God and since that time you have been in direct physical contact with God the Logos thoughout your pregnancy. Daily you care for the infant that is the incarnate God. You hold him and love him and in turn you are given strength. Every day of your life you have been surrounded by holy things and to top it all off you are now in such close contact with the creator of the universe that no human ever has even come close to the communion you now share.
At this point do you want to go steal some grain? How about cheat someone on a deal? Wanna go have a roll in the hay?
Or do you want to sit with your child and God and commune with him? Imagine holding the infant God. The preexistant Logos of the Father and the one by whom everything was created. Imagine feeding him and then running off and doing some evil? No.

There is a concept that has all but been forgotten in modern Christainity but the Ancient way still carries it. Theosis - the growing in likeness toward God. It is this growing in likeness to God that IS SALVATION. It is a process. We are conformed to him. Is the action of God innefectual? NO! As he works on us we are purified like gold in a furnace. As we go about our day we have choices. As we choose to serve God and not ourselves we grow. His grace works on us.
This is exactly what happened with Mary. She made a choice to serve God and not herself. At that point she was acted upon in a way that no other human has been worked upon. Being not only in communion but in direct physical contact with he who is our True God had an effect on her.

I worked with someone who has a very strong belief in God and Jesus and they even had a hard time with Jesus being born incarnate from the virgin Mary.

When people attempt to impose what they think things should be like it causes problems. We are broken - noone moreso than I. How is it that we think we are so smart that we can dictate how things should be? We spend all day thinking about what WE want and how WE think things should be. We think about what WE want to eat and drink. What clothes WE like.
Then we want to tell God where he went wrong?

Those are some of my questions. I have been struggling with all of this for a while now, which is one main reason why I guess I don't go to church.

Let me understand this. If you were sick and you knew that you were sick - would that make you not want to see a doctor?

You have just said that you have questions but you are saying that because you have questions you do not want to go to the place where they can be answered?

Hospitals are for sick people.
Churches are for sinners.

I have not told anyone else other than here about about beliefs/doubts.

That is an excellent way to remain in the exact state that is bothering you now. If you want to stay undecided - continue doing what you are doing - it is working. If you want different results then you have to change something.

I'm rarely, if ever asked so I don't have to worry about giving an answer.

You will have to answer eventually but it will not be to someone temporal.

You are about to prove with your actions what is really important to you.

If it is important enough for you to know God and what it is that he wants from you then you will get up and you will risk them embarrassment of admitting that you are not omnicient. You will go and ask someone that is qualified to answer your questions and you will alter your will to live in the way that God wants you to. You will experience metanoia - Meta - change, nous - mind - repentance.
You will put away the lusts of the flesh and you will begin a lifelong struggle against the world. You will reject the values that society wants you to accept. You will become hated by the world and you will become as one that was dead to the world. You will no longer be tied to the passions and the demons will begin to slowly lose their grip. As the passions die in you and you to them you will become transparent to them and eventally the demons will no longer even see you but a corpse. Yet it is at this point that you will truely be alive. You will have finally died to sin and the world. You will stand in the heart before the uncreated light of God and in the last true rebellion against the world you will have a foretaste of heaven.

OR....
You will decide that it is not all that important. This will allow you to continue to do whatever you want and justify it by saying that you are better than someone else or that the rules are not really clear. You will attempt to use the excuse that there are too many reasons to be skeptical. You will go on and party and live how you want to. You will become a slave to the passions and the demons will stir up lust, anger, fear and they will keep you in a state of perpetual doubt and heresy. You will continue to be tossed by the passions and sink deeper into them. You will be tied to the world and you will have a foretaste of hell because you will be tossed by never ending waves of passions, wants, doubts, anger and fear.

You are going to make a choice. Even if you choose to do nothing and think I am a total freak - you will have made a choice.
Whatever choice you make - it will be seen not in your words but in your actions.

Please get up and act. Begin the struggle.