My Struggle with "Believing."

[ldonjohn]

What Does it Mean to Believe in Jesus?​

By L. Johnson​

Recently I was reading a post on a Christian forum where someone was attempting to argue that God is not a merciful and loving God. After several replies from other forum members this person apparently realized that he was getting nowhere with his argument and he signed off saying “you guys enjoy your delusion.” My reply to that post was “the delusion is yours, not ours.” That started me to thinking that there might be “Christians” who really are living a delusion. I think “deception” would be a better word to use here for I’m thinking of those who believe they are “Christians” because someone told them that they would be “saved” if they would say a prayer, or confess sin, or promise to follow Jesus, or accept Jesus as their Lord, etc. but they were not presented a full explanation of the Gospel message. Or maybe they were presented the Gospel but failed to completely understand the way of salvation. In other words they are really trusting in what they did instead of trusting in the Gospel. These “Christians” are content to believe that all is well in their relationship with God, when, actually they have been deceived and their faith is misplaced meaning they are not genuine Christians. Another group that I am thinking of are those who, like myself, had a salvation experience but for some reason are doubting their salvation and cannot find a lasting comforting assurance of being saved. For many years I struggled with a lack of understanding of “what believing in Jesus means” therefore I lived in a miserable state of uncertainty about ever being saved.
I was “saved” in church at age 13 & baptized. Several years later I started to question whether or not I really was saved. After about 7-8 years of living without any assurance of salvation I found myself in a state of fear and misery. I had no peace. I went to the alter at church several times to make sure that I was saved. I repented of my sins, I confessed my sins, I accepted Jesus as my Savior & Lord, I committed my life to Christ, I confessed Jesus publicly, I said the sinners’ prayer, I believed in Jesus, I believed He was God’s only Son who was virgin born, I believed He died for my sins, I believed He was raised from the dead, I believed He went to heaven, I believed He is coming back someday, I promised to serve Him the rest of my life, and I believed all the things that I was told that I needed to believe. Each time I went to the alter I was looking for some kind of “sense” of assurance of being saved; I would feel saved for awhile but soon the doubts & fears returned and the misery started all over. I still had no peace.
I began to question myself about whether or not I really repented, or if I really commit my life to Christ, or if I really accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior, or did I really commit to serve Him, or did I really believe in Jesus. I questioned all of the things that I had done to get saved. One of the bible verse that I was trusting in was Romans 10:13 “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” I had heard that preached as part of a salvation message many times. I would reason with myself that since the bible says it then if I called on Jesus name that I would be saved. Then God showed me that Romans 10:14 explains verse 13 as it says “how then shall they call on Him whom they have not believed, and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard, and how shall they hear without a preacher?” Therefore, meaning that I have to “believe” before I call on His name. The real question, then, became “what is the meaning of “believing?” I was confused that Acts 16:31 says “ believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved” but then James 2:19 says “You believe that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” So, my understanding of “believe” was at the center of my confusion.
During the time that I was seeking the truth about being saved I talked to my Sunday School teacher and to our pastor about believing in Jesus. Through them I found some good books to read about how to have assurance of salvation. The books were written by well known Christian authors like Dr. Harry Ironsides, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, and Dr. John R. Rice. I read those books over and over and over. Each book referred to scriptures about salvation; some I had already heard and some were new to me. I found myself saying a sinners prayer many times, each time finding relief from the fear & misery for awhile. But the relief would last for only a brief period of time and the misery would return only now it was becoming more of a fearful dread or a sense of doom. I thought that I would never know if I was saved.
To make a long story a short one I’ll get right to the point. After several years of living in this miserable condition I finally just gave up on everything I was trying to do and, out of desperation, I turned to God for help. One night as I lay down in bed to try and get some sleep I looked up at the ceiling and said a simple prayer “God, will you show me what I need to know about believing in Jesus?”
The next night I got the big family bible and opened it to the Gospel of John. That was the first time I had ever read in the bible except at church. As I started to read John 1:1 immediately I recognized that God was showing me the truth about His word and about Jesus that I had not seen before. This time was different because I was seeking answers from God Himself and I turned to Him with the attitude that He was my only hope and that I desperately wanted whatever He had for me.
God did not disappoint me. As I read through the Gospel of John God showed me the true grounds for having a settled peace with Him. He showed me that all of my efforts of repeating the prayers, confessing sin, making promises to Him, etc. were not faith in Him but faith in myself. God showed me that I must cease from all of my efforts to find the assurance I was so desperately seeking and to just trust in what Jesus had already done. When the Holy Spirit opened my spiritual eyes to the truth of the Gospel and I saw that my salvation rested only in the finished work of Jesus at the cross, that my sins were nailed to the cross with Him, and that when He said “it is finished” that He meant that my sin debt to God was “paid in full” with His Blood that He shed there, then an enormous sense of relief immediately filled my troubled soul.
Basically, God showed me that He wanted me to turn from myself to Him. That I must simply give up on self and transfer my trust to the finished work of Jesus at the cross; that to “believe in Jesus” means to believe that He will do what He says He will do when we place our trust in Him. Believing means that we rely on Jesus, that we leave it up to Him, that put our eternity in His hands, that we just believe Him without questioning Him. You see, my problem was that I thought that I had to do something like say a prayer in order to get God to save me; I was trusting my actions, my efforts, and my understanding based on what I had heard from man, therefore I was very much confused and my faith was misplaced. But, when I turned to God, by reading His word, the Holy Spirit showed me the truth of His way of salvation and He immediately cleared up all of my confusion.
So, for me, the lesson I learned applies to any and all acts of “self” to get saved which fail every time. If your faith is in your faith then your faith is not in Jesus.

Remember to be careful about your faith; be sure your faith is in Jesus and not in anything you do. He doesn‘t need you to help Him; He wants you to trust in Him as the one who paid your sin debt “in full” at the cross.
If you say a prayer for salvation, be sure you are trusting in Jesus and not in the prayer you just said; your prayer doesn‘t save you; Only Jesus saves.
If you go to the alter to accept Jesus as your Lord & Savior, be sure you are trusting in Jesus death at the cross & not in your trip to the alter.
If you promise to follow Jesus; remember you have to receive His free gift of salvation before you can follow Him; He paid for it with His blood.
If you turn from your sin, remember to turn from yourself to Jesus first, then He will give you power to turn from your sin through the Holy Spirit.
If you accept Jesus as your savior, remember that before you could do so that God accepted Jesus’ death, as “payment in full” for your sin. Again, be sure your faith is in Jesus and not in your prayer. We are saved by God’s grace through faith and God even gives us the faith we need as a gift. The faith God gives you will be focused on the Gospel message of Jesus and will not be focused on anything you can do or have done.
Ephesians 2:8,9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” “Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
　
Following are some of the scriptures that God’s Spirit used to show me the truth of His Word that I needed so that I could understand the true grounds for having a settled peace with Him.
​

John 6:29

“Jesus answered and said to him, “this is the work of God, that you believe on him whom he hath sent.”​

John 5:39 ​

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Jesus said to them, “search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”​

John 5:40 ​

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“And you will not come to me that you might have life.”​

John 6:37 ​

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“Jesus said “all the Father gives me will come to me and anyone who comes to me I will not turn away.”​

John 19:30 ​

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“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, “it is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.”​

And my favorite Bible verse, John14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no one can come to the Father except by me.”
　
ljohnson3954@att.net​

 

[56Bluesman]

I am glad that you have found your rest in Christ. I too went through a long crisis of faith similar to what you went through, until God led me to completely rest in the person and finshed work of our Lord Jesus.

 

[KaylaHansa]

This is something I have been (and still am) struggling with... I have heard so many interpretations of salvation so now when I read the Bible I read many verses with a interpretation already formed in my mind... anyways I question I have... I've heard many Christians who say that if you refuse to admit a certain sin to God, He will not forgive it. For example let's say you lied but you keep trying to justify yourself and won't admit to God that you sinned in doing that. What do you think about this?

 

[Petruchio]

I've heard many Christians who say that if you refuse to admit a certain sin to God, He will not forgive it. For example let's say you lied but you keep trying to justify yourself and won't admit to God that you sinned in doing that. What do you think about this?

How many unconfessed sins did the thief have when he gave up the ghost? And who among us is in any way perfect, that we, at all times, recognize our imperfections? Certainly, we recognize that we are sinners, but our minds are not so perfect that we can see and truly comprehend all of the imperfections within us. Suppose you repent of a sin. Does that mean that you truly comprehend how horrible that sin is in the sight of God? And if you do not know how truly horrible it is, can you truly repent of it? We are justified (justification means forgiveness) by faith, and not by sanctification, which naturally comes afterwards.

Do not try to please God with your works or your moral perfections, but lean on God's grace for all your needs, works and perfections.

 

[LBP]

If you say a prayer for salvation, be sure you are trusting in Jesus and not in the prayer you just said; your prayer doesn‘t save you; Only Jesus saves. ... If you go to the alter to accept Jesus as your Lord & Savior, be sure you are trusting in Jesus death at the cross & not in your trip to the alter. If you promise to follow Jesus; remember you have to receive His free gift of salvation before you can follow Him; He paid for it with His blood. If you turn from your sin, remember to turn from yourself to Jesus first, then He will give you power to turn from your sin through the Holy Spirit. If you accept Jesus as your savior, remember that before you could do so that God accepted Jesus’ death, as “payment in full” for your sin. Again, be sure your faith is in Jesus and not in your prayer.​

In my experience, this is precisely what most people do. Except for folks who are obviously disturbed -- which I'm not suggesting you are -- I have seen few people go through this level of doubt, confusion and uncertainty about their salvation after they have sincerely turned to Jesus. I reject your premise that large numbers of people are living under a "delusion" that they are Christians, even though they think they have sincerely turned to Jesus, because they "were not presented a full explanation of the Gospel message" or "failed to completely understand the way of salvation." One thing that comes through to me in the Gospels is that there is nothing tricky or difficult about accepting God's offer of salvation. There seems to be a veritable plethora of recent posts on CF, often by Newbies, attacking the traditional way of coming to Jesus by saying a prayer confessing one's sin and one's need for forgiveness and accepting God's offer of salvation through Jesus; I have no axe to grind with anyone who wants to emphasize that this cannot be a mechanical exercise and must be done with a sincere heart, but I am inherently suspicious of anyone whose message is that he has found some key that large numbers of other "deluded" people who "just think" they are Christians have missed. So congratulations to you for finding peace and security about your salvation, but I don't think this is or should be a serious concern for the vast majority of people who have "said a prayer for salvation" or "gone to the alter to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior."

 

[ldonjohn]

In my experience, this is precisely what most people do. Except for folks who are obviously disturbed -- which I'm not suggesting you are -- I have seen few people go through this level of doubt, confusion and uncertainty about their salvation after they have sincerely turned to Jesus. I reject your premise that large numbers of people are living under a "delusion" that they are Christians, even though they think they have sincerely turned to Jesus, because they "were not presented a full explanation of the Gospel message" or "failed to completely understand the way of salvation." One thing that comes through to me in the Gospels is that there is nothing tricky or difficult about accepting God's offer of salvation. There seems to be a veritable plethora of recent posts on CF, often by Newbies, attacking the traditional way of coming to Jesus by saying a prayer confessing one's sin and one's need for forgiveness and accepting God's offer of salvation through Jesus; I have no axe to grind with anyone who wants to emphasize that this cannot be a mechanical exercise and must be done with a sincere heart, but I am inherently suspicious of anyone whose message is that he has found some key that large numbers of other "deluded" people who "just think" they are Christians have missed. So congratulations to you for finding peace and security about your salvation, but I don't think this is or should be a serious concern for the vast majority of people who have "said a prayer for salvation" or "gone to the alter to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior."

I have received many replies from readers of my article "What Does It Mean to Believe in Jesus?" All of the emails, except 3, were from people who have had the same experience that I wrote about. Most of those who replied to the article thanked me for writing it and sharing it with others. I don't believe that I suggested that there are "large" numbers, as you said, of diluted Christians who aren't really saved. I did say and I quote, "That started me to thinking that there might be “Christians” who really are living a delusion. I think “deception” would be a better word to use here for I’m thinking of those who believe they are “Christians” because someone told them that they would be “saved” if they would say a prayer, or confess sin, or promise to follow Jesus, or accept Jesus as their Lord, etc. but they were not presented a full explanation of the Gospel message."

If you are going to attack someone please get things correct.

The point of the article is that some people might be trusting in their actions of saying a prayer, confessing sin, going to the alter, etc. instead of trusting in the Gospel message. In other words, they are trusting in "self" and not in the finished work of Jesus. We are told to examine our faith in 2 Corinthians 13:5 “Examine yourself, whether ye be in the faith.”

I have also received several emails from readers of the article who expressed to me that they are going through the same experience of doubting their salvation today and two people have been living in the misery for many years and asked for help in finding the same peace I found. I am confident that God is using the article to help others.

I'm really not concerned with your opinion.

 

[ldonjohn]

This is something I have been (and still am) struggling with... I have heard so many interpretations of salvation so now when I read the Bible I read many verses with a interpretation already formed in my mind... anyways I question I have... I've heard many Christians who say that if you refuse to admit a certain sin to God, He will not forgive it. For example let's say you lied but you keep trying to justify yourself and won't admit to God that you sinned in doing that. What do you think about this?

There is no way a person can remember all of his/her sin. The important thing is that when we come to the Lord for salvation we come realizing our helpless hopeless sinful condition, our need to be forgiven, and that Jesus' death on the cross and His shed blood there is all that God requires for us to be forgiven. We cannot add anything to help God save us. We must turn from "self" to the finished work of Jesus and totally rely on Him.
We come to Him to receive His free gift of salvation.(Free to us, He paid for it with His blood)

 

[KaylaHansa]

Oh I wasn't saying you have to confess every sin...that would be impossible. But I mean if you do realize you sinned... but you won't humble yourself and admit it. You'll admit your a hopeless sinner, but you refuse to admit you sinned in that certain area and you refuse to ask forgiveness for it.

Also I just read this today 2 Peter 2:

20 For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. 21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”

How would you interpret these verses?

 

[Petruchio]

How would you interpret these verses?

I'm not John Gill, but here is his reading of it:

For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world,.... The sins of it, the governing vices of it, which the men of the world are addicted to, and immersed in; for the whole world lies in wickedness, and which are of a defiling nature: the phrase is Rabbinical; it is said (q),

"he that studies not in the law in this world, but is defiled בטנופי עלמא, "with the pollutions of the world", what is written of him? and they took him, and cast him without:''

these, men may escape, abstain from, and outwardly reform, with respect unto, and yet be destitute of the grace of God; so that this can be no instance of the final and total apostasy of real saints; for the house may be swept and garnished with an external reformation; persons may be outwardly righteous before men, have a form of godliness and a name to live, and yet be dead in trespasses and sins; all which they may have

through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions, read, our Lord, and the latter leave out, "and Saviour"; by which "knowledge" is meant, not a spiritual experimental knowledge of Christ, for that is eternal life, the beginning, pledge, and earnest of it; but a notional knowledge of Christ, or a profession of knowledge of him, for it may be rendered "acknowledgment"; or rather the Gospel of Christ, which, being only notionally received, may have such an effect on men, as outwardly to reform their lives, at least in some instances, and for a while, in whose hearts it has no place. Now if, after all this knowledge and reformation,

they are again entangled therein; in the pollutions of the world, in worldly lusts, which are as gins, pits and snares:

and overcome; by them, so as to be laden with them, and led away, and entirely governed and influenced by them:

the latter end, or state,

is worse with them than the beginning; see Mat_12:45. Their beginning, or first estate, was that in which they were born, a state of darkness, ignorance, and sin, and in which they were brought up, and was either the state of Judaism, or of Gentilism; their next estate was an outward deliverance and escape from the error of the one, or of the other, and an embracing and professing the truth of the Christian religion, joined with a becoming external conversation; and this their last estate was an apostasy from the truth of the Gospel they had professed, a reception of error and heresy, and a relapse into sin and immorality, which made their case worse than it was at first; for, generally, such persons are more extravagant in sinning; are like raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; and are seldom, or ever, recovered; and by their light, knowledge, and profession, their punishment will be more aggravated, and become intolerable.

(q) Zohar in Gen. fol. 104. 3. Vid. Bechinot Olam, p. 178.

 

[ldonjohn]

Oh I wasn't saying you have to confess every sin...that would be impossible. But I mean if you do realize you sinned... but you won't humble yourself and admit it. You'll admit your a hopeless sinner, but you refuse to admit you sinned in that certain area and you refuse to ask forgiveness for it.

Also I just read this today 2 Peter 2:

20 For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. 21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”

How would you interpret these verses?

kayla,

I'll assume you are asking about a saved person, a born-again Christian, who refuses to confess a known sin.
First, I want to emphasize that I am not a minister, a preacher, or a bible scholar, I'm just a forgiven sinner trying to share my experience of how God brought me through a difficult time in my life where I lived in fear & misery because I wasn't sure of my salvation.
I'll try to explain my understanding of your question using some scripture but I do want to say that other forum members are probably more knowledgeable about this that I am.
Considering the following scriptures my response would be that if a Christian refuses to confess and forsake known sin that he/she would fall out of fellowship with God. The results could be unanswered prayer, possibly falling further into sin, and more severe consequences could follow if that person partakes of the Lord’s Supper with unconfessed known sin. I do not believe a true Christian will lose his/her salvation because of unconfessed sin. Notice I said a “true’ Christian; one who has trusted in the Gospel message for forgiveness of sin and a changed life in Christ.
Psalms 66:18 “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear [me]:”
1 Thessalonians 5:19“Quench not the Spirit.”
Galatians 5:16“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh”
1 Corinthians 11:28 “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of [that] bread, and drink of [that] cup.”
v29 “For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.”
V30 “For this cause many [are] weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.”
V31 “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.”

Next, I’ll try to answer your question about 2 Peter 2:20.
I have learned that many times when I do not understand a verse of scripture that if I will go back and read several verses before and after that verse, sometimes read the entire chapter, that the meaning becomes clear or is explained. Again, I’m not a bible scholar, but if you will read 2 Peter 2:1 - 20 I think you will see that v20 is talking about false teachers; they are not believers.

Hope this helps.

 

[KaylaHansa]

What about Matthew 6:15? By the way, I don't think Bible scholars are the ones that know most... God can open truth to anyone.

 

[ldonjohn]

What about Matthew 6:15? By the way, I don't think Bible scholars are the ones that know most... God can open truth to anyone.

Kayla,

Again, I repeat that I'm not an authority on God's word; I'll give my thoughts on Matthew 6:15.

It has nothing to do with our salvation. Jesus is talking about our daily walk with God after we become born again. Christians continue to sin and therefore must daily confess & forsake known sin in order to maintain fellowship with God. Here Jesus is saying that if we ask God to forgive us of our sin against Him while at the same time we refuse to forgive others for their trespasses against us then we are being hypocritical.

Kayla, I don't know your purpose in picking scripture verses to question. I can see how doing so could lead to some confusion about what the bible is teaching us. I do know that there is more about the bible that I do not understand than that which I do understand. I have read and studied the bible for years and it seems that every day as I read the bible that I find that something I have read for years suddenly becomes more clear to me or sheds a new light on something that I have or had believed/understood. I say this because I don't know that I can explain every verse in the bible; I can only give my understanding at any given time. Many times it is difficult or impossible to explain just one verse; we must look to see how that verse was used in context of the chapter or book in which it is used as well as to whom it was written.

hope this helps.

 

[KaylaHansa]

I'm mentioning these verses because they confuse me... they make me doubt my salvation. And the verse sounds pretty straight forward... "neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Your Father will not forgive...

Recently, I have read comforting words in the Bible about salvation, but then today I read this:
16 If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. (1 John: 5)

Why does the brother need to be prayed for by another believer? Shouldn't the sin be forgiven already...

 

[aWalkbyFaith]

Rom 3
"21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus."


Amen.

 

[ldonjohn]

I'm mentioning these verses because they confuse me... they make me doubt my salvation. And the verse sounds pretty straight forward... "neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Your Father will not forgive...

Recently, I have read comforting words in the Bible about salvation, but then today I read this:
16 If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. (1 John: 5)

Why does the brother need to be prayed for by another believer? Shouldn't the sin be forgiven already...

Kayla,

This is one bible verse that has caused much debate. I’m not sure anyone really understands its full meaning. In bible times some sins were considered so severe that God would end a person’s life for committing that sin. One such sin was a man “sleeping” with his father’s wife. Another example was Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-10. I think the “death” mentioned in 1 John 5:16-17 is physical death not the “second death” which is spending eternity in hell.

The last part of 1 John 5:16 is saying that there is not reason to pray for the “sin unto death” because the person who commits that sin is already dead.

Kayla, please, please consider the following suggestion. If you are doubting your salvation you must stop picking bible verses that confuse you. That is what happens when we just pick a verse here and there that speaks about something that we fear or doubt.

Furthermore, if you doubt your salvation then there are 2 books in the bible that you need to focus on; those 2 books are the Gospel of John & the book of Romans. Read them and re-read them; don't give up, look up & ask God to show you whatever it is that is keeping you from finding assurance of salvation.

The focus of the Gospel of John is to present the Gospel message. The Gospel of Grace which is God’s way of saving us. Roman also presents the message of the Gospel.

Will you go back and re-read the article I used in my post entitled “What Does It Mean to Believe in Jesus?” under the thread “My Struggle with Believing.” I explain the time in my life when I doubted my salvation and as a result I was living a miserably life of fear and uncertainty. I thought that I would never know if I was saved.

The reason that I wrote the article about believing is Jesus for salvation is I suspected that others might have been led to say the sinners' prayer without fully understanding the Gospel. In other words I can see how someone could think that just saying the prayer is all that is needed for salvation so they say the prayer without actually trusting in Jesus' death on the cross for forgiveness of their sins; meaning that their faith is in their act of saying a prayer and is not in the Gospel.

I suspect that many people are trusting in something they have done like saying a prayer, confessing their sins, promising to follow Jesus, baptism, public confession, etc. for their salvation because they heard a preacher say that if they would do so then they would be saved.

God showed me that I was looking for assurance in the wrong place. Many times I had heard preachers quote Romans 10:13 for salvation but since I did not read the bible I did not know about the next verse, v 14. But when I actually began to read the bible and search for the truth I found Romans 10:14 which told me that before I call on the name of the Lord that first I must believe or trust in His death on the cross.

God used the Gospel of John mostly to show me what I needed to know but I also had read Romans 10:9-14. So, the truth is that first we believe that Jesus' death on the cross paid our sin debt to God "in full" then we say the prayer. In other words we must see our need to have our sins forgiven, then see that Jesus did all that God requires for us to be forgiven when He died on the cross, & then just simply rest in the assurance of God's word that God will do what He said He would do if our faith is in the Gospel message.

One way I have learned to look at this is that there are 2 kinds of faith, the right kind & the wrong kind. Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” “Not of works, lest any man should boast.” God gave me the right kind of faith to believe just like this verse says, it is a gift of God. The faith God gave me was focused on Jesus’ death at the cross; that’s the “right kind of faith” and that is “saving faith.” The “wrong kind of faith” was focused on myself, on what “I was doing” to try to get God to save me like saying the prayer.

If & when you said the sinners' prayer were you trusting in the prayer or were you trusting in the blood of Jesus that He shed on the cross for payment of your sins. Do you see the difference? That's the focus of the articles I wrote; is your faith in yourself or is it in Jesus? Please go back and re-read the article, I think it will help you.

1 Corinthians 1:18“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” This verse is comforting to me because the preaching of the cross is not foolishness to me. What does this verse mean to you?

Hope this helps,

ldonjohn

 

[KaylaHansa]

Kayla,

This is one bible verse that has caused much debate. I’m not sure anyone really understands its full meaning. In bible times some sins were considered so severe that God would end a person’s life for committing that sin. One such sin was a man “sleeping” with his father’s wife. Another example was Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-10. I think the “death” mentioned in 1 John 5:16-17 is physical death not the “second death” which is spending eternity in hell.

The last part of 1 John 5:16 is saying that there is not reason to pray for the “sin unto death” because the person who commits that sin is already dead.

Kayla, please, please consider the following suggestion. If you are doubting your salvation you must stop picking bible verses that confuse you. That is what happens when we just pick a verse here and there that speaks about something that we fear or doubt.

Furthermore, if you doubt your salvation then there are 2 books in the bible that you need to focus on; those 2 books are the Gospel of John & the book of Romans. Read them and re-read them; don't give up, look up & ask God to show you whatever it is that is keeping you from finding assurance of salvation.

The focus of the Gospel of John is to present the Gospel message. The Gospel of Grace which is God’s way of saving us. Roman also presents the message of the Gospel.

Will you go back and re-read the article I used in my post entitled “What Does It Mean to Believe in Jesus?” under the thread “My Struggle with Believing.” I explain the time in my life when I doubted my salvation and as a result I was living a miserably life of fear and uncertainty. I thought that I would never know if I was saved.

The reason that I wrote the article about believing is Jesus for salvation is I suspected that others might have been led to say the sinners' prayer without fully understanding the Gospel. In other words I can see how someone could think that just saying the prayer is all that is needed for salvation so they say the prayer without actually trusting in Jesus' death on the cross for forgiveness of their sins; meaning that their faith is in their act of saying a prayer and is not in the Gospel.

I suspect that many people are trusting in something they have done like saying a prayer, confessing their sins, promising to follow Jesus, baptism, public confession, etc. for their salvation because they heard a preacher say that if they would do so then they would be saved.

God showed me that I was looking for assurance in the wrong place. Many times I had heard preachers quote Romans 10:13 for salvation but since I did not read the bible I did not know about the next verse, v 14. But when I actually began to read the bible and search for the truth I found Romans 10:14 which told me that before I call on the name of the Lord that first I must believe or trust in His death on the cross.

God used the Gospel of John mostly to show me what I needed to know but I also had read Romans 10:9-14. So, the truth is that first we believe that Jesus' death on the cross paid or sin debt to God "in full" then we say the prayer. In other words we must see our need to have our sins forgiven, then see that Jesus did all that God requires for us to be forgiven when He died on the cross, & then just simply rest in the assurance of God's word that God will do what He said He would do if our faith is in the Gospel message.

One way I have learned to look at this is that there are 2 kinds of faith, the right kind & the wrong kind. Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” “Not of works, lest any man should boast.” God gave me the right kind of faith to believe just like this verse says, it is a gift of God. The faith God gave me was focused on Jesus’ death at the cross; that’s the “right kind of faith” and that is “saving faith.” The “wrong kind of faith” was focused on myself, on what “I was doing” to try to get God to save me like saying the prayer.

If & when you said the sinners' prayer were you trusting in the prayer or were you trusting in the blood of Jesus that He shed on the cross for payment of your sins. Do you see the difference? That's the focus of the articles I wrote; is your faith in yourself or is it in Jesus? Please go back and re-read the article, I think it will help you.

1 Corinthians 1:18“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” This verse is comforting to me because the preaching of the cross is not foolishness to me. What does this verse mean to you?

Hope this helps,

ldonjohn

I did get come to know God through an alter call and at that time I didn't know the gospel message very much at all. I didn't even know why Jesus died on the cross... I knew it was for our sins but I didn't understand why and exactly what happened. God opened this to me though, how He had to die to pay our debt and salvation is through Him by faith...

 

[ldonjohn]

I did get come to know God through an alter call and at that time I didn't know the gospel message very much at all. I didn't even know why Jesus died on the cross... I knew it was for our sins but I didn't understand why and exactly what happened. God opened this to me though, how He had to die to pay our debt and salvation is through Him by faith...

Kayla, below is a link to 7 articles about salvation. They are very long articles but are well worth reading. I'm not allowed to include URL's in my posts so you will have to add the http and www prefix to the link. You will have to re-type it of course.



jashow.org/wiki/index.php?title=Can_You_Be_Sure_Where_You_Will_Spend_Eternity%3F