How many times can you be saved?

[b1ohazard]

So I have this little Billy graham booklet called "Knowing Christ and Walking with Him".
On page 1 it says
"I have accepted Jesus Christ personally as my Lord and Saviour before but:" and then you have some choices.
On page 5 it says
"If you have failed in following Christ and you are sorry and ready to come back to Him, what must you do?" and then it tells you waht to do.
So any christian could just sin, repent, sin, repent until they die?
I don't get it!
If it's that easy, why doesn't everyone become a christian?
What's the catch?

 

[CShephard53]

Repenting is more than just confessing you're wrong. You need to stop letting sin hold you captive by the power of the Holy Spirit. That is not easy. In fact, the Christian faith is probably one of the toughest religions I know of.
That's reason number one.

Reason number two:
God does not call us to simple talk with Him when we feel like it. Like any relationship, it takes effort.
There is no evidence that you can simply pray a prayer and be saved. You would need to put your trust in God- all of your trust. You would need to see the significance of Jesus dying on the cross- to save us from sin, breaking its power.

 

[Criada]

So I have this little Billy graham booklet called "Knowing Christ and Walking with Him".
On page 1 it says
"I have accepted Jesus Christ personally as my Lord and Saviour before but:" and then you have some choices.
On page 5 it says
"If you have failed in following Christ and you are sorry and ready to come back to Him, what must you do?" and then it tells you waht to do.
So any christian could just sin, repent, sin, repent until they die?
I don't get it!
If it's that easy, why doesn't everyone become a christian?
What's the catch?

Yes - we could. And often do!
But accepting Christ isn't just saying a prayer - it's about faith.
The bible says you must Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord.

If you truly believe that He died for you, you will want to live for Him. So it's not an "easy ride".
Yes, I sin. And when I repent, He forgives me. But I love Him. I don't want to sin, I want to live a life that is pleasing to God in every way. And by His grace, He is moving me closer to that. But it is a slow process. And it's painful! Repentance is not just saying "Whoops, sorry,shouldn't have done that!"
It's the realisation that you have gone against the wishes of the holy God, that you have hurt Him. And believe me, that hurts!!

So - yes, He will forgive me, and go on and on forgiving me, because His love and grace are infinite.
But no, it's not easy!!

 

[ebia]

So I have this little Billy graham booklet called "Knowing Christ and Walking with Him".
On page 1 it says
"I have accepted Jesus Christ personally as my Lord and Saviour before but:" and then you have some choices.
On page 5 it says
"If you have failed in following Christ and you are sorry and ready to come back to Him, what must you do?" and then it tells you waht to do.
So any christian could just sin, repent, sin, repent until they die?
I don't get it!
If it's that easy, why doesn't everyone become a christian?
What's the catch?

There isn't one.

But...

... being a Christian isn't just a question of 'accepting Jesus as my Lord and saviour and asking his forgiveness occasionally'. It's about accepting him as Lord and saviour of the whole world, and allowing him you transform you. If one isn't allowing that tranformation to take place one hasn't really accepted the Lord and saviour bit at all. It's not just a set of magic words you have to say now and again - it's a way of life to be lived, however imperfectly and with many failures.

 

[Key]

If it's that easy, why doesn't everyone become a christian?
What's the catch?

The Catch is that really annoying time when you are supposed to be "Christian" and non-believers think that they can do anything they want to get them mad and you will just take it.

And if you beat the everliving heck out of some jerk that really needs to have the everliving heck beat out of them, everyone shakes their finger at you and goes "Tisk Tisk.. Look at the Evil Christians"

It's annoying... really.... it's really hard to be nice to people.. when they just think your supposed to be nice to them... like they some how deserve it.

I mean really.. there are some atheist that are really nice and respectful and there are others that I just want to beat with a rubber chicken until they are dead...

So the Catch is.. that I am really not supposed to go and beat people to death with a rubber chicken.. when I am supposdly following the Prince of Peace.

And I would have to say the other really annoying part of being a Christian is when other people who really must have been day dreaming about porn in Sunday school try to tell me about my own religion.. and act like I am supposed to give them the time of day..

So .. those are some of the downsides...

which explains why people deconvert... there are just too many people that you want to beat the heck out of, or give the beat down for their own stupidity, to follow a guy that teaches peace and love.

Humm this looked like a off base rant... I might delete this later.. if it looks that way.

God Bless

Key.

 

[childofGod31]

Like all the other posts have said: Christianity is a process of transformation that is often painful. You have to look at your weaknesses (like if you have a bad temper) and learn to subdue them. Or subdue your desires (to talk back to somebody, to have relations outside of marriage, to lie to somebody). It's an ongoing battle of evil and good and it's hard. It's about facing the hard questions every day.

But if you love God, then you want to follow Him and try to please Him.

Some Christians will not be saved. Just because they went to church and prayed "Lord, Lord", doesn't mean they are going to heaven. Only the transformed Christians will make it. Only the ones that turned their life around and became "a new creation" in Christ.

MAT 7:22 Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?'
23 Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

MAT 7:13 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

 

[tapero]

So I have this little Billy graham booklet called "Knowing Christ and Walking with Him".
On page 1 it says
"I have accepted Jesus Christ personally as my Lord and Saviour before but:" and then you have some choices.
On page 5 it says
"If you have failed in following Christ and you are sorry and ready to come back to Him, what must you do?" and then it tells you waht to do.
So any christian could just sin, repent, sin, repent until they die?
I don't get it!
If it's that easy, why doesn't everyone become a christian?
What's the catch?

Good question, because it is true, Christians come to Christ, well, as it happened with me I came to Christ, was born again, saved, then repented.

So any christian could just sin, repent, sin, repent until they die?

However yes we do sin. God has forgiven sin present, past and future, and only those who beleive in Christ and that he was resurrected are saved.

If there are some who think we don't sin, it's because they don't see the sin in themselves, and are merely looking at the outside of themselves. Sin is deeply rooted and God works on the inside of man, as we turn things over to Him. He changes us from the inside out. There may be sins we never give to him, perhaps not see in ourselves, but their is much sin in all men, saved or unsaved.

However, we still sin on the outside as well, and we are forgiven.

Salvation is only once. You never lose your salvation. When you believe you become indwelled by the Holy Spirit guaranteeing your redemption (salvation.)

If it's that easy, why doesn't everyone become a christian?

Part of the reason that people don't come to Christ is because they don't believe.

The Holy Spirit is always calling us to Christ, yet we don't hear, because we are hardened.

Another part is as we are a child we are open to God, however as we grow, we become hardened to the things of God. For example the bible says God is plainly seen in the creation of the world; babies, trees, all that is made by God.

I can assure you I never saw God in His creation before I came to Christ. It wasn't until after I came to Christ that I recognized God through His creation.

My heart was hardened to see things before Christ.

What's the catch?

The problem is that salvation is very simple, but many try to make it difficult. I would suggest that the Billy Graham material is very good.

Blessings,
tapero

 

[Merlin]

Hello,

"If you have failed in following Christ and you are sorry and ready to come back to Him, what must you do?" and then it tells you waht to do.
So any christian could just sin, repent, sin, repent until they die?
I don't get it!
If it's that easy, why doesn't everyone become a christian?
What's the catch?

No catch,
It really is simple.
Who knows why more don't accept Jesus. They should!
God only wants one thing,
for us to quit trying on our own and trust in Him.

 

[kamikat]

Being saved is not a one time event. Sure, most Christians will have a conversion experience when they decide they are going to live their lives for Christ, but we make the choice to follow Christ with every decision we make. The reason more people don't choose Christ is because being a Christian is hard. Yes, God forgives us when we commit a sin and ask for forgiveness, BUT we have to make the effort to stop commiting that same sin over and over again. Christianity is about trying to follow the straight and narrow path and repenting when you fall off the path.

 

[Stinker]

So I have this little Billy graham booklet called "Knowing Christ and Walking with Him".
On page 1 it says
"I have accepted Jesus Christ personally as my Lord and Saviour before but:" and then you have some choices.
On page 5 it says
"If you have failed in following Christ and you are sorry and ready to come back to Him, what must you do?" and then it tells you waht to do.
So any christian could just sin, repent, sin, repent until they die?
I don't get it!
If it's that easy, why doesn't everyone become a christian?
What's the catch?

The posts answering your OP are so good!

All I can tell you is that in my case, the change was rather sudden. I was reading the 4 Gospels and the Psalms and somewhere in that day's reading there was just something positive that came over me that I still to this day cannot accurately describe. My entire being or (state of being) was changed. I had no desire to willingly engage in sin anymore like I used to. When I do unintentionally sin, I really feel bad. I repent and carry on. That is all we can do.

 

[Libre]

Repentance means to leave what you are and turn to Him. We often confused repenting with confessing sin, but it is not the same. Confessing means to agree with God about missing the mark.

I do believe salvation, as in being born again, is a one time event. It has, however, a second component. We will be saved from the wrath to come because we are saved now. The story is not over yet. Jesus has yet to return and raise up those who are His.

Read the gospel of John, and then epistles like Galatians and Ephesians. Stay away from Revelation until you are very well grounded in the truth.

Libre