Not saved

[pantingdeer]

I was brought up in church and Jesus/God was very important to me and I was fearful of God. Then I turned 15 and sat beside an atheist in my religious studies class and he never said anything in particular that made me doubt but the number of things he'd say to me gave doubt over time and I began to drift away and lost interest. I was very fearful at the beginning of going to hell but over time I have sort of become desensitised to the thought of it even though I know that's where I'm going.
I sort of wonder how I just lost the spark. In my head it didn't make sense anymore and couldn't take a lot of stuff people said at church seriously anymore (even though I hardly went) - I'd just cringe a bit at the sight of people waving their hands around in the air and crying (I'm not a very emotional person. I never cry or get upset unless I'm stressed at exam time but apart from that never - I didn't even cry when my grandparent died.)
Even though I believe in God I don't really care about it all anymore - I just can't seem to emotionally connect to it.
I don't think I'll ever be saved unless I have some eye-opening revelation that gets my head back into gear as I seem pretty dead already.

I don't even know if I want to be saved because I drifted so far away I can't even take it seriously but I do believe in God so maybe pray that my eyes open so I see truth.

 

[timothyu]

Don't confuse Jesus and his Gospel with Christianity

 

[Mari17]

I was brought up in church and Jesus/God was very important to me and I was fearful of God. Then I turned 15 and sat beside an atheist in my religious studies class and he never said anything in particular that made me doubt but the number of things he'd say to me gave doubt over time and I began to drift away and lost interest. I was very fearful at the beginning of going to hell but over time I have sort of become desensitised to the thought of it even though I know that's where I'm going.
I sort of wonder how I just lost the spark. In my head it didn't make sense anymore and couldn't take a lot of stuff people said at church seriously anymore (even though I hardly went) - I'd just cringe a bit at the sight of people waving their hands around in the air and crying (I'm not a very emotional person. I never cry or get upset unless I'm stressed at exam time but apart from that never - I didn't even cry when my grandparent died.)
Even though I believe in God I don't really care about it all anymore - I just can't seem to emotionally connect to it.
I don't think I'll ever be saved unless I have some eye-opening revelation that gets my head back into gear as I seem pretty dead already.

I don't even know if I want to be saved because I drifted so far away I can't even take it seriously but I do believe in God so maybe pray that my eyes open so I see truth.

Do you want to be saved?

Also, I read your other post about desire for women, so in the same vein, is it that you are afraid that you aren't attracted to women, or you actually literally aren't attracted to them?

Just a side note - I would also cringe if people were waving their hands around and crying in church. Public displays of emotion are not necessarily an indicator of spirituality or Christian devotion.

 

[pantingdeer]

Do you want to be saved?

Also, I read your other post about desire for women, so in the same vein, is it that you are afraid that you aren't attracted to women, or you actually literally aren't attracted to them?

Just a side note - I would also cringe if people were waving their hands around and crying in church. Public displays of emotion are not necessarily an indicator of spirituality or Christian devotion.

I lost my sexual attraction to women 3 years ago very suddenly. Not gay but can't get excited (you know what I mean by this) by a woman now which I hate.

 

[pantingdeer]

Do you want to be saved?

Also, I read your other post about desire for women, so in the same vein, is it that you are afraid that you aren't attracted to women, or you actually literally aren't attracted to them?

Just a side note - I would also cringe if people were waving their hands around and crying in church. Public displays of emotion are not necessarily an indicator of spirituality or Christian devotion.

I don't care about religion, church or anything but I know I'm going to hell. I guess I want to go to heaven but I don't know if I want saved because I can't really emotiionally connect to any of it.

 

[timothyu]

Has the term emotional flatness been mentioned to you?

 

[pantingdeer]

no

Has the term emotional flatness been mentioned to you?

 

[Porpoise]

I'm sorry for what you're going through right now. You say you want to be saved but you've drifted away. Maybe try getting a prayer book and say some of the prayers each day. Even if you can't feel anything right now, I believe simply making an effort to spend time in prayer everyday may help. It's in times like these when we can't feel much that we most need to pray.

 

[AvgJoe]

I was brought up in church and Jesus/God was very important to me and I was fearful of God. Then I turned 15 and sat beside an atheist in my religious studies class and he never said anything in particular that made me doubt but the number of things he'd say to me gave doubt over time and I began to drift away and lost interest. I was very fearful at the beginning of going to hell but over time I have sort of become desensitised to the thought of it even though I know that's where I'm going.
I sort of wonder how I just lost the spark. In my head it didn't make sense anymore and couldn't take a lot of stuff people said at church seriously anymore (even though I hardly went) - I'd just cringe a bit at the sight of people waving their hands around in the air and crying (I'm not a very emotional person. I never cry or get upset unless I'm stressed at exam time but apart from that never - I didn't even cry when my grandparent died.)
Even though I believe in God I don't really care about it all anymore - I just can't seem to emotionally connect to it.
I don't think I'll ever be saved unless I have some eye-opening revelation that gets my head back into gear as I seem pretty dead already.

I don't even know if I want to be saved because I drifted so far away I can't even take it seriously but I do believe in God so maybe pray that my eyes open so I see truth.

Question: "What if I don't feel saved? Is being saved a feeling? How can I be absolutely sure that I am saved?"

Answer: This is an all-too-common question among Christians. Many people doubt their salvation because of feelings or the lack of them. The Bible has much to say about salvation, but nothing to say about “feeling saved.” Salvation is a process by which the sinner is delivered from “wrath,” that is, from God’s judgment against sin (Romans 5:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:9). Specifically, it was Jesus’ death on the cross and subsequent resurrection that achieved our salvation (Romans 5:10; Ephesians 1:7).

Our part in the salvation process is that we are saved by faith. First, we must hear the gospel—the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection (Ephesians 1:13). Then, we must believe—fully trust the Lord Jesus (Romans 1:16) and His sacrifice alone. We have no confidence in works of the flesh to achieve salvation. This faith—which is a gift from God, not something we produce on our own (Ephesians 2:8-9)—involves repentance, a changing of mind about sin and Christ (Acts 3:19), and calling on the name of the Lord (Romans 10:9-10, 13). Salvation results in a changed life as we begin to live as the new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).

We live in a feeling-oriented society and, sadly, that has spilled over into the church. But feelings are unreliable. Emotions are untrustworthy. They ebb and flow like the tides of the sea that bring in all kinds of seaweed and debris and deposit them on the shore, then go back out, eroding the ground we stand on and washing it out to sea. Such is the state of those whose emotions rule their lives. The simplest circumstances—a headache, a cloudy day, a word thoughtlessly spoken by a friend—can erode our confidence and send us “out to sea” in a fit of despair. Doubt and discouragement, particularly about the Christian life, are the inevitable result of trying to interpret our feelings as though they were truth. They are not.

But the Christian who is forewarned and well armed is a person not governed by feelings but by the truth he knows. He does not rely on his feelings to prove anything to him. Relying on feelings is precisely the error most people make in life. They are so introspective that they become preoccupied with themselves, constantly analyzing their own feelings. They will continually question their relationship with God. “Do I really love God?” “Does He really love me?” “Am I good enough?” What we need to do is stop thinking about ourselves and focusing on our feelings and instead redirect our focus to God and the truth we know about Him from His Word.

When we are controlled by subjective feelings centered on ourselves rather than by objective truth centered on God, we live in a constant state of defeat. Objective truth centers on the great doctrines of the faith and their relevance to life: the sovereignty of God, the high priestly intercession of Christ, the promise of the Holy Spirit, and the hope of eternal glory. Understanding these great truths, centering our thoughts on them, and rehearsing them in our minds will enable us to reason from truth in all of life’s trials, and our faith will be strong and vital. Reasoning from what we feel about ourselves—rather than what we know about God—is the sure path to spiritual defeat. The Christian life is one of death to self and rising to “walk in the newness of life” (Romans 6:4), and that new life is characterized by thoughts about Him who saved us, not thoughts about the feelings of the dead flesh that has been crucified with Christ. When we are continually thinking about ourselves and our feelings, we are essentially obsessing about a corpse, full of rottenness and death.

God promised to save us if we come to Him in faith. He never promised that we would feel saved.

www.gotquestions.org/feel-saved.html

 

[AvgJoe]

Mankind’s Need of Salvation
​

What do I need to be saved from?
The wrath of God. (Romans 2:5-6)

Why do I need to be saved?
Your sin has cut you off from God. (Isaiah 59:2) To sin, means to “miss the mark.” The Bible declares, “all have sinned; all fall short of God’s standard.” (Romans 3:23)

What is God’s standard?
To perfectly keep His Law, the Ten Commandments, for your entire life. Keep all of the Law and God will let you enter Heaven. Have you ever:

• used God’s name as a curse word? _____Yes _____No
• stolen anything? _____ Yes _____No
• told a lie? _____Yes _____No

This is just three of the ten. Answer yes to any? Yes. You are guilty of breaking God’s Law. You have sinned. The “wages (penalty) of sin is (physical & spiritual) death.” (Romans 6:23)

If you die, without being saved, you will be eternally separated from God. After death, life does go on, either in Heaven (with God) or in Hell (away from God), depending on your acceptance or rejection of God’s plan of salvation.

God’s Plan of Salvation

The Futility of Human Effort
The Bible teaches that no amount of human goodness, human works, human morality or religious activity can get anyone into Heaven. Being a good person, belonging to a religious family, being baptized, going to church, none of these can save anyone. Everyone still falls short of God’s perfect standard. (Isaiah 64:6, Romans 4:1-5, Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5-7)


The Only Way
Jesus said to him, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except by (through) me.” (John 14:6)


What must I do to be saved?
1) Realize that you’re are a sinner. (Romans 3:23, 5:12; 1 John 1:10)

2) Change your mind about Jesus (repent).

• Jesus said: “…unless you repent (have a change of mind that results in a change of action), you will all perish and be lost eternally. (Luke 13:5)
• …now God charges all people everywhere to repent. (Acts 17:30)

3) Believe the Gospel, that Jesus Christ died for you, was buried and rose from the dead.

• We are made right in God’s sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in the same way, no matter who we are or what we have done. For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God’s anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed His blood, sacrificing His Life for us. (Romans 3:22, 25)
• For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)

4) Go to God in prayer, confessing Jesus as Lord and your need for forgiveness of your sins. Give your life to Jesus, making Him the Lord of your life.

• For it is believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. (Romans 10:10)
• For anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.(Romans 10:13)

What should I pray?
Following is an example:

Dear God,

I know I am a sinner. I have broken your Law and deserve to pay the penalty for my sins, which is eternal separation from you. God, I need your forgiveness. I believe that your Son, Jesus the Christ, is Lord of all, that He shed His precious blood as payment for my sins and that, on the third day, You raised Him from the dead. I am willing to turn from sin. Jesus, please come into my heart, to be the Lord and Savior of my life. Live your life through me. In Jesus Christ name, Amen.


If you sincerely prayed this prayer, you are now saved and the newest member of God’s family. But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn! (John 1:12-13)

Your acceptance or rejection of Jesus is the most important decision you will make in this life. It is a matter of eternal life and eternal death.


I accepted God’s plan of salvation, what next?
A good place to start: Bible Truth - New Convert's Class

 

[AvgJoe]

I'd just cringe a bit at the sight of people waving their hands around in the air and crying

This is something you won't see in most Baptist churches.

 

[Of the Kingdom]

Don't confuse Jesus and his Gospel with Christianity

This isn't helping the OP at all. Instead of saying, "The other guys are all wrong", why don't you say something that's right and helpful? <end rant>

PS. I probably wouldn't have posted this just because your post is not helping, but I posted it partly because I *don't have any idea what you believe in or stand for* after all these many posts.

 

[Sabertooth]

...now which I hate.

Do you mean that you hate women or the loss of libido...?

 

[pantingdeer]

the

Do you mean that you hate women or the loss of libido...?

the latter

 

[Sabertooth]

@Andrew98 ,

Do you believe that there is a Hell to shun and a Heaven to gain?

Have you ever been Born Again?

 

[anna ~ grace]

We have been saved, we are being saved, and we shall be saved. I have no idea who originally said it, but it's a good quote, and many Catholic and Orthodox Christians quote it a lot.

Our salvation is a journey of faith, works, suffering, love, humility, stumbling, getting back up again, and following Christ, through grace. We may not "feel" much of anything. Or we may. Either way, we can and should rely on Christ deeply, very much, tell Him everything, every struggle, doubt, anxiety, and sorrow. And let Him help us follow Him.

 

[pantingdeer]

@Andrew98 ,

Do you believe that there is a Hell to shun and a Heaven to gain?

Have you ever been Born Again?

Yes
Yes
Don't know

 

[Sabertooth]

Don't know

That link is in Polish.

 

[pantingdeer]

Do you mean that you hate women or the loss of libido...?

How do I get my attraction for women to return. It just seemed to go away very suddenly and now I like no one.

 

[Sabertooth]

How do I get my attraction for women to return. It just seemed to go away very suddenly and now I like no one.

That seems to be the least of your problems. Wanting Heaven and avoiding Hell, with no arrangements made seems to be the bigger problem.

The same God that can fix problem #1 can also help you with problem #2. He made you and He made sex & marriage.

What good would it do you, if someone fixed you libido concerns but you still went to Hell when you died, anyway...!?