Okay, am I saved or not?

[Faithful83]

Okay, this is something that is starting to frustrate me. I'm sorry but I'm confused.

I keep hearing that to be saved, repent, believe Jesus died and rose for your sins, ask for forgiveness of sins, confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised him from the dead, ask Christ into your heart/life etc. That basically, nothing but the blood of Christ can wash away your sins.

According to that, yes I am saved.

I also keep hearing that "ask Jesus into your heart" is nowhere in the Bible, that baptism by full immersion in water is essential for the washing away of sins, that speaking in tongues is also essential...the list goes on.

In that regards, I am not saved.

To make matters worse, both sides bring forth scriptures to support their views and accuse the other side of misrepresenting/misusing/etc. the scriptures they bring forth, making such an critical issue, to say the least, confusing.

How do I know the truth? I'd like to think I can go to scripture and come to the truth, but it seems that whatever truth I come to, someone will come along and say: "oh don't misquote that scripture, look at this scripture...that's where the truth is." and then have someone else then say "oh no that person is the one who's misquoting scripture...look at the original scripture."

It's like you're trying to find the truth about how to be saved, but you end up at in the middle of a tug-of-war between two groups of people who tell you that their way is God's way and the other way is man's way.

So, am I saved or not?

 

[Alternate Carpark]

Luke 23:39-43
One of the criminals hanging alongside cursed him: "Some Messiah you are! Save yourself! Save us!"
[40] But the other one made him shut up: "Have you no fear of God? You're getting the same as him. [41] We deserve this, but not him—he did nothing to deserve this."
[42] Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you enter your kingdom."
[43] He said, "Don't worry, I will. Today you will join me in paradise."

The two people on either side of Jesus as he was being crucified is symbolic of everyone's only options regarding salvation.
You either believe or you don't.
The one that believed did not speak in tongues and was not baptised in water. Yet Jesus said he will be saved on that same day.

End of argument..full stop.
If you want to know the truth for yourself, without any doubt or confusion, then build your personal relationship with God and allow Him to show you ALL truth.
For when God shows you something, not one person or thing will be able to convince you otherwise.
Your faith will be unshakeable.

John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

 

[bluesgal]

Well said Alternative carpark.
God Bless you

 

[Alternate Carpark]

Thankyou bluesgal..and may God bless you too !

 

[Faithful83]

How will I know if God is showing/telling me something? Because I've thought that before, then I read something/hear something to the contrary, and am then confused.

 

[C.A.B.L]

Faithfu,

I can understand your frustration. First of all, "asking Jesus into your heart" it's not in the bible because the phrase is symbolic in nature, asking in your heart simply means that you believe in your heart that Jesus died and is who he said he was. The whole 9 yards.

Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

1Co 12:10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:

You do not have to speak tongues to be saved, because if you did it would have been mentioned in the Romans passage I mentioned earlier. Tongues is an attribute of the Holy Spirit. That doesn't mean that if you do not speak in tongues you are not saved. The Holy Spirit gives gifts that he feels are necessary to the believer. So rest assured, that if you have done what it says in Romans 10:9 you are a Child of God

 

[Faithful83]

I'm haven't quite memorized the Sinner's Prayer, but if I recall, doesn't it pretty much cover Romans 10:9? It may not be in the Bible, but if it follows the direction of that verse, it seems that it's not unbiblical.

 

[CrystalA_grl]

I'm the last person who should answer these questions. Read the posts I've made on the topic "Change" in this same section. In some ways I am saved, but in some ways I might not be according to some people. I personally think we need to get close to God by searching Him out with all our hearts. What that really means, only God can tell.

 

[Sharky]

I think one of the main worrieds for many believers is 'what if i'm not saved because i did this... this.... that... this... etc etc etc?'. It's important to read your bible. 99% of people who get into worries like this don't read their bibles often enough.

Bluntly, in one big fat sentence like everyone said.

Romans 10:9
"Because if you acknowledge and confess wiht your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth) that God faised Him from the dead, you will be saved."

Amplified

Full stop, no questions asked, no comments given. THAT is salvation. As for baptism, it's a good idea to get baptised as soon as possible so check out with your pastor or get a christian friend, strong in faith to baptise you in a pool or something.

 

[Angelajt]

Okay, this is something that is starting to frustrate me. I'm sorry but I'm confused.

I keep hearing that to be saved, repent, believe Jesus died and rose for your sins, ask for forgiveness of sins, confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised him from the dead, ask Christ into your heart/life etc. That basically, nothing but the blood of Christ can wash away your sins.

According to that, yes I am saved.

I also keep hearing that "ask Jesus into your heart" is nowhere in the Bible, that baptism by full immersion in water is essential for the washing away of sins, that speaking in tongues is also essential...the list goes on.

In that regards, I am not saved.

To make matters worse, both sides bring forth scriptures to support their views and accuse the other side of misrepresenting/misusing/etc. the scriptures they bring forth, making such an critical issue, to say the least, confusing.

How do I know the truth? I'd like to think I can go to scripture and come to the truth, but it seems that whatever truth I come to, someone will come along and say: "oh don't misquote that scripture, look at this scripture...that's where the truth is." and then have someone else then say "oh no that person is the one who's misquoting scripture...look at the original scripture."

It's like you're trying to find the truth about how to be saved, but you end up at in the middle of a tug-of-war between two groups of people who tell you that their way is God's way and the other way is man's way.

So, am I saved or not?

Faithful83, You are not saved because you say a sinners prayer or because you get baptized or speak in tongues.

You are saved because sombody told you that Jesus took your place and gave you his and you believed it.

Therfore it is not based on weather you feel saved or not or weather you sin or not. Sin was taken care of by Jesus once for all people for all sins, past, present and future.

Now, the bible says that those who put their trust in Jesus Christ are saved. PERIOD.

NOTHING ADDED NOTHING TAKEN. so if you believe what the bible tells you there, than let nothing change your mind. Even satan uses scripture to torment and accuse, but those in Christ hold on to that which is pure and true. Don't worry about doing....Jesus did everything. Go to God and ask him. What can I do for you because of what you did for me. He will tell you, if you do it you will be rewarded, if you don't, Jesus already paid for that sin, but he will still try to lead you in the right direction. The only unpardonable sin is UNBELIEF. That is blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

I hope that helps.

 

[Heinrich]

Hi Faithfull83

I believe Romans 10:9-10 says it pretty straightforward
But we can still be attacked by doubt (and like you) by all sorts of false doctrines which distorts the truth.

God is not the author of confusion, Pray to him to give you assurance of the fact that you are His child, He loves you and it does not please Him when He's children are led astray.

 

[Bonhoffer]

The answer lies in the very verse you have chosen as your signature.

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

Do you beleive in Him? Not just in the head, but in the heart ? Are you sorry for all the wrong you have done and wish to try to live a good life for God?

In your answer is yes then you will be saved.


If you have any doubts then keep asking Jesus to reveal more of Himself to you. Hopefully you'll have some sort of supernatural experience. Dont be paranoid if you dont though. Just be open to God. Dont put up any barriers. Just trust in Him.

As for needing water baptism and to speak in tongues. Well this is rubbish. Absolute heresy !! A church near me teach this and I was so concerned that they were teaching falsely that I wrote a letter to them to prove from the Bible that neither are nessicary.

If you want I can send you a copy of the letter which proves it.

God Bless you

 

[CrystalA_grl]

I am glad you guys are giving these scriptures of assurance. They are helping me because the simplify things instead of making salvation a complicated thing like a lot of people do.

 

[Where]

All you must do is believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins and rose again. Like, as many have said, is what is meant by "believe" in John 3:16. About Romans and "confessing that Jesus is Lord. You DO NOT have to do this to gain eternal life. Being saved and having eternal life ARE NOT always the same things in the Bible. In the case of the Romans passage, it is not refering to eternal life. It is referring to the fact that by confessing Jesus as your savior, you will be obeying God since you are telling others about His Son. This is saving you more from sinning since you are walking more with the Lord. Romans is a book written to help a person who is saved understand how to walk with the Lord and please Him. If you believe that Jesus died for you sins and rose again, you ARE SAVED, no question about it. Let me put it to you in this way too: If Adolf Hilter, even after World War Two, and killing al of those Jews...if he believed that Jesus died for His sins and rose again...Hitler would be in Heaven. Hitler could even CONTINUE to murder people and still go to heaven...as long as he believed in Jesus. The reason we don't Believe and then go around sinning like crazy is because we want to serve the Lord, just like He commands. But, just like the theif on the cross next to Jesus, nothing is required to life forever with Jesus eccept for believing in Him.
-P.S. If you have any other questions please post them here
-Where?

 

[CrystalA_grl]

Where, I am totally confused by your post. I know the Bible says if we continue to sin we have not known God. I know it talks about that in Romans 6 and First John 3. How can you possibly say Hitler or anyone can continue to murder and still go to heaven? "Where" are you coming from, where? The Bible tells us we have to go and sin no more or a worse thing will happen. We might not be perfect, but I think God requires a little more from us than what you have said. Theres a verse that says, "You beleive in one God, good: the devils also beleive this and tremble." I foerget where that is offhand.

 

[Where]

By saying that we can't sin and that God expects a little more from us is to deny God's grace. Jesus came as a free gift to cleanse us from our sins. There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING we can do to earn a ticket to heaven. Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" So if we have to earn ou way to heaven by being "good people" then ALL of us would be going to hell; we have all sinned. God "requires" nothing but believing in Jesus to go to heaven. How is one sin worse than another I ask you? No sin is greater than another because sin is sin. If I was a murderer and a rapist and any other evil thing you could think of and you had been perfect your whole life except for lying ONE time...if we weren't Christians then we would go to hell. BUT if both of us believed in Jesus, that He died and rose again for our sins, then we would both go to Heaven. Just read John 3.16 " For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him should not parish but have everlasting life." It says in John, "...but HAVE everlasting life" This is present-tense, once you believe, you are going to heaven no matter what. Where in the Bible does it say that you must do good things to go to Heaven, keeping in mind context and word-meaning. It doesn't. I really don't see how the second part of your post has anything to do with anything that we are talking about. But if you don't think that Hitler could've gone to heaven then you are doubting the free Gift of forgiveness that is found in Christ Jesus.

 

[Andre]

We are not saved by our actions, it doesn't matter how good you are you are still a sinner and you need to have your record of sins wipped clean, God does not accept sin into His presence and we have failed Him. Then how do we make it? We don't, Jesus died in the cross to pay for our sins, God loved us so much that instead of giving us what we deserve, He punished Jesus instead of us, our sins were placed upon Jesus at the cross, He paid the penalty for us because we cannot pay for it ourselves, so when we recognize that we can't make it, confess Jesus as Lord and acept the free gift of salvation we have our records of sins wipped out completely and our names is written in the Book of Life, when that happens we receive the presence of the Holy Spirit that will write the law into our hearts and convict us of sin, this doesn't mean that we will speak in tongues or that we'll have butterflies in our stomach, but it means that after that you will feel bad when you do something wrong, you'll be drawn to God, you will be empowered to fulfill the calling of God, and that will produce fruits in your life, you will be change, you'll start to feel burdened for others, you want to seek God, you'll just change, but that doesn't happen at once though, it's a slow process.
Christianity is not based on feelings alone, that are days that you'll feel separated from God and have doubts aobut your salvation, the answers to those issues will be found in the word of God, salvation is a promisse from God and God keeps His promisses, remember that Satan will do whatever he can to separate you from God, and his greatest trick is to make you feel unworthy of comming into the presence of God, it's a lie!
If we could be saved by our own merrits God would not have sent His only Son to die for us, He did that because He loves you and me so much that He sacrificed His own Son so that we can be forgiven by His blood, and because HE rose again from the dead we will also be raised up to be with Him forever. We are also living in a fallen world where sin is still something that plagues all, including Christians, so if you sin confess your sin to God and He will forgive you.

Some scriptures to back up what I said.

Hebrews 8
10 "FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL
AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD:
I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS,
AND I WILL WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS.
AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD,
AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.

12 "FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES,
AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE"

Romans 10:9-10 (you know this one )

Ephesians 2

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Titus 3

3 For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.
4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,
5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,
6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.


Romans 6

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

John 5

24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

To answer the question about someone who claims to be a Chrstian and keeps on murdering people without remorse, that person doesn't have the fruits of the spirit in his life, he never trully acepted Jesus into his heart. Christianity is a close relationship with Christ, confession measn nothing if the person hasn't reppented from their sins and trully acepted Christ.

Baptism is also a big topic, but the Bible shows that salvation is not dependant upon water baptism, many were saved in the Bible and were never baptized, but Jesus commands us to do it, it doesn't change anything in the Christian life, you don't get super powers when you do it, it's a way to show your obedience to God and to publicaly profess your faith, at the time of the Apostles you were not considered a Christian and was not persecuted by others untill your were beptized. Is it necessary for salvation? no. Are we commanded to do it? Yes.

I hope this helps .

God Bless!!

 

[cupbearer]

Faithful83,

I've got a good one for you. This is how I came to understand I was truly saved. It's a little long but I can't condense it too much more. Try to picture a young woman sobbing and sniffing and blowing her nose all throughout the discussion. That was me. Tears everywhere. Newly born again and trying to figure it all out.

I was in my prayer chair -sobbing - because I couldn't hear the Lord. I thought that since only His sheep hear His voice - and I couldn't hear his voice - then I must not be saved! Even though I asked him into my heart. I was doomed. Maybe I wasn't chosen before time! Maybe can't be saved!!!

I went through one box of tissues and went to open a second box when I - understood - not heard - understood, "Wait".

This is what He showed me, told me, whatever, I can't describe it really.
He said:
You were like this box of kleenex. Nice on the outside, lots of layers inside, sturdy enough to even use as a foot stool or to prop up books on the shelf. But you were not fulfilling your purpose.
You asked if there was more to life than what you knew.
You called to me and I heard you.
You were stuck inside the box with no way out. It was dark and you could hear things going on outside but you couldn't get out of the box.

So you called to me and I came. You asked me to live in your heart and I do.

I ripped open your world like this: (then was compelled to pulled on the perforations and ripped open the box.)

He said take out one kleenex.
So I did.
He said this is sin - call it smoking. Hold it out in front of you and let it fall.
He said do it again - call this drinking...drop it on the floor. Do it again....
Well this went on for quite a while until I noticed a big pile of kleenex on the floor.
He said -I have exposed you to the light and we will take care of your mess one layer at a time.
This overwhelmed me and I thought - I'll never make it. There are too many kleenexes on the floor! I'm a mess! Maybe I should just go back into the box and hide.
He said -pick up the kleenex and fold them like the were in the box.
Then he said to put them back like they were before.
I said I can't. They will never be the same.
He said "Exactly".
Once I come into your life you will never be the same. You think you can go back but you cannot.

-It won't happen because I won't allow it.

Pick up the kleenex and fold them into a fan. (Yep. Thats what he said.)
Then I made a flower out of the kleenex and he said,
This is you now. My flower. You are not a mess on the floor - you have a purpose and I will make you into that flower.

Okay- I was really crying now but happy tears. Good grief. By the way: He's still pulling kleenex out of the box. They are down deep but He keeps finding them!

Now see if this isn't true in the bible. There are many scriptures that will back up what he told me. Never will I leave you, Never will I forsake you...You are the apple of my eye and I love you forever... See what you can find. And if he shows you the blessed assurance of your salvation in an unusual way - please share!

Beat that.

 

[Starcrystal]

Andre,
To answer the question about someone who claims to be a Chrstian and keeps on murdering people without remorse, that person doesn't have the fruits of the spirit in his life, he never trully acepted Jesus into his heart. Christianity is a close relationship with Christ, confession measn nothing if the person hasn't reppented from their sins and trully acepted Christ

Thanks. Now I don't have to answer it! Fruits of the Spirit is important. If a person is habitually comitting horrible crimes, they most likely never knew God. I don't think anyone who has truly been saved can continue such a lifestyle. 1 John 3:15 would apply to the "Hitler" argument. This would be far removed from Davids one time sin where he also repented with godly sorrow. I've been on other threads discussing the same subject of repentance.
It had been brought up that there were some people who thought as long as they beleive in Jesus Christ they could do anything they want and still be saved. Christ doesn't save us IN our sins, he saves us and delivers us FROM OUR SINS.
Look at Pauls example: he was a persecuter of the Church. He was a murderer by accomplice (Supporting the stoning of Stephen, and rounding up beleivers into prison for trial & execution) When he was saved he immediately forsook that life.
When the Holy Spirit truly gets ahold of someone, the drunk will drink no more....
The drug addict will put away their drugs.
The adulterer will seek to live in purity,
The theif will stop stealing....
The pugilist will stop picking fights,
The cusser will seek to curb their tongue....

"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? BE NOT DECEIVED, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor theives, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extertioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God....

(Now here's the GOOD news!) > And such WERE SOME OF YOU (Note the PAST TENSE THERE), But ye are washed, but ye are SANCTIFIED, (That means set apart from the wicked things you once did..), but ye are JUSTIFIED in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." ~ 1 Corinthians 6:9 - 11

Hallelujah!

 

[Starcrystal]

Did I say "I don't have to answer it?"

I think that was the Holy Ghost!