What Are My Motivations?

[DTate98]

Over the past four or five years, a particular sin has been controlling me. I'd prefer not to explicitly state the sin, but if you feel it would help in giving me advice, then I can tell you through email.

Yesterday was a small victory in the battle against this sin. I overcame the temptation, with the help of God of course. But I'm concerned. Over and over, I kept hearing a verse said in the Sunday sermons. It would state all of these wicked types of people and say these will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. Considering I had fit the description for two of the people described in that verse, I naturally began to worry. I've been skeptical about my relationship with God, wondering if I was ever saved in the first place. The fact that I was just found on a list of people who would go to Hell didn't reassure me. I began praying in my head over and over, asking if God would help me. I know that hearing the word of God and then repenting is a good thing, but why did I do it? Was I truly doing it out of love for the Lord, or out of fear for myself?

I've heard stories about what might be in Hell, and I don't like any of it. I don't know if I love God like I need to. It's more respect than anything, though I'm not sure if repeating a sin for five years is what I would call respect.

I need help on this. It's one of the many things I have to deal with to be in a better relationship with God.

 

[Danny Paul]

Going to church weekly may help you. I will pray they with the help of God you may overco,e that sin and stay faithful in Him.
They're always consequences for sin. They can be very painful. It might be because of that particular sin. But these consequences are to lead you to the right path. Without them, you keep walking to Satan. Thank God He loves you and disciplines you.

Stay faithful to Jesus. God loves you, NO MATTER WHAT!

 

[The Portuguese Baptist]

Over the past four or five years, a particular sin has been controlling me. I'd prefer not to explicitly state the sin, but if you feel it would help in giving me advice, then I can tell you through email.

Yesterday was a small victory in the battle against this sin. I overcame the temptation, with the help of God of course. But I'm concerned. Over and over, I kept hearing a verse said in the Sunday sermons. It would state all of these wicked types of people and say these will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. Considering I had fit the description for two of the people described in that verse, I naturally began to worry. I've been skeptical about my relationship with God, wondering if I was ever saved in the first place. The fact that I was just found on a list of people who would go to Hell didn't reassure me. I began praying in my head over and over, asking if God would help me. I know that hearing the word of God and then repenting is a good thing, but why did I do it? Was I truly doing it out of love for the Lord, or out of fear for myself?

I've heard stories about what might be in Hell, and I don't like any of it. I don't know if I love God like I need to. It's more respect than anything, though I'm not sure if repeating a sin for five years is what I would call respect.

I need help on this. It's one of the many things I have to deal with to be in a better relationship with God.

OK. In order to determine whether you are saved or not, we need to run through the requirements for salvation:

• Do you recognise that you have sinned against God (Romans 3:23)?
• Have you confessed your sins to God and asked him to forgive you (1 John 1:9)?
• Do you believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate (John 1:1; John 1:14; Romans 10:9)?
• Do you believe that Jesus Christ was crucified and has risen from the dead (Romans 10:9)?
• Do you believe that, on the cross, Jesus bore your sin and suffered the punishment due to it, and that your sin has been cancelled as a result of that (Colossians 2:14; 1 Peter 2:24)?
• Do you understand that God has allowed this to happen to his Son out of love for you, as a gift of grace (John 3:16; Romans 6:23)?
• In other words, do you believe in Jesus as your Saviour (John 3:16; Acts of the Apostles 16:31)?

If you have answered ‘Yes’ to all of these questions, then you can be sure that you are going to Heaven, and not to Hell! After you have become a Christian, you do not lose salvation for sinning again.

The list of people you read in those verses refer to people who do it without understanding that it is a sin, or without wanting to change it. However, if you believe in Jesus, you will understand that it is wrong, and that you must struggle to stop.

For more information, I highly recommend one of the following articles:

• http://www.gotquestions.org/forgiveness-of-sin.html
  
• http://412teens.org/qna/will-God-forgive-me-no-matter-what.php

Feel free to talk to me if you need more help!

 

[DTate98]

OK. In order to determine whether you are saved or not, we need to run through the requirements for salvation:

• Do you recognise that you have sinned against God (Romans 3:23)?
• Have you confessed your sins to God and asked him to forgive you (1 John 1:9)?
• Do you believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate (John 1:1; John 1:14; Romans 10:9)?
• Do you believe that Jesus Christ was crucified and has risen from the dead (Romans 10:9)?
• Do you believe that, on the cross, Jesus bore your sin and suffered the punishment due to it, and that your sin has been cancelled as a result of that (Colossians 2:14; 1 Peter 2:24)?
• Do you understand that God has allowed this to happen to his Son out of love for you, as a gift of grace (John 3:16; Romans 6:23)?
• In other words, do you believe in Jesus as your Saviour (John 3:16; Acts of the Apostles 16:31)?

If you have answered ‘Yes’ to all of these questions, then you can be sure that you are going to Heaven, and not to Hell! After you have become a Christian, you do not lose salvation for sinning again.

The list of people you read in those verses refer to people who do it without understanding that it is a sin, or without wanting to change it. However, if you believe in Jesus, you will understand that it is wrong, and that you must struggle to stop.

For more information, I highly recommend one of the following articles:

• http://www.gotquestions.org/forgiveness-of-sin.html
  
• http://412teens.org/qna/will-God-forgive-me-no-matter-what.php

Feel free to talk to me if you need more help!

I have answered yes to all of these. But I am still not sure why I believe. Is it because I long to be with the Lord someday, or avoid eternal punishment when I die? I take everything in the Bible as fact, and I struggle with sin, but through all that, I feel like I'm not doing it out of love, but out of fear.

In Revelation, it shows the Great White Throne Judgement. In it, all the dead are judged according to their deeds and the Book of Life. If anyone's name was not found in the Book of Life, they were to be cast into the lake of fire.
I have also read that many, emphasis on many, will come to the Lord saying "Lord, Lord!" meaning they thought they were saved when they were not, and God will say "Depart from Me, I never knew you."

This worries me because even the most outwardly religious people can have their hearts in the wrong places and find themselves not in the Book of Life. Like most Christians, I would prefer to have my name written in the Book of Life.

If there is some part of scripture that can show me whether or not I am following God rightly, then please point me to it.

 

[The Portuguese Baptist]

I have answered yes to all of these. But I am still not sure why I believe. Is it because I long to be with the Lord someday, or avoid eternal punishment when I die? I take everything in the Bible as fact, and I struggle with sin, but through all that, I feel like I'm not doing it out of love, but out of fear.

In Revelation, it shows the Great White Throne Judgement. In it, all the dead are judged according to their deeds and the Book of Life. If anyone's name was not found in the Book of Life, they were to be cast into the lake of fire.
I have also read that many, emphasis on many, will come to the Lord saying "Lord, Lord!" meaning they thought they were saved when they were not, and God will say "Depart from Me, I never knew you."

This worries me because even the most outwardly religious people can have their hearts in the wrong places and find themselves not in the Book of Life. Like most Christians, I would prefer to have my name written in the Book of Life.

If there is some part of scripture that can show me whether or not I am following God rightly, then please point me to it.

It is not a problem that part of the reason you are a Christian is fear from Hell. That actually makes sense: you hear someone tell you that, if you do nothing, you are going to Hell, and you are afraid and think, ‘Gosh! Is there any way I can escape that? What must I do?’, and he replies, ‘Yes, God loves you and has paid the price for your sins; believe in Jesus and you will be saved.’ The initial motivation may really be fear from Hell, and it makes sense: Hell is made to instil fear on those who hear about it.

Now, the Bible also says that perfect love drives out fear. This means that, since God loves you, your motivation of fear will eventually be replaced with love. You just need to understand that God loves you, and that he wants you to be saved. Read 1 John entirely, and then tell me what you think.

Regarding those who claimed, ‘Lord! Lord!’ and still went to Hell, which can be found in Matthew 7:21-23, you need to read it in context; if you read Matthew 7:15-20, you will see that Jesus is talking about false prophets. Many people will believe that they are saved, but are only there actually just for other reasons; they do not really love God and have not expressed a genuine conversion.

Exactly what these people have done wrong is subject to speculation, but we can get some leads from some textual aspects. In verse 22, Jesus says that those people will say, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ This suggests that these people think that it is their works that save them, thinking they can achieve their salvation, meanwhile failing to realise that good works do not pay the price for the bad works they have committed, and that they still have to pay for that penalty, which only Jesus could have done; meanwhile, the Bible strongly argues that only Jesus' sacrifice can atone for your sin, and that only faith can save you. If you understand that faith alone saves and that you are absolutely powerless to save yourself without God, then it does not seem that you would be included in this group.

If you are worried about these things, read 1 John, and see how God assures you that you really are saved. Focus on serving him, all the while realising that you are a sinner who deserves eternal condemnation, and asking God to forgive you.

Feel free to keep on talking to me if you wish!

 

[DTate98]

It is not a problem that part of the reason you are a Christian is fear from Hell. That actually makes sense: you hear someone tell you that, if you do nothing, you are going to Hell, and you are afraid and think, ‘Gosh! Is there any way I can escape that? What must I do?’, and he replies, ‘Yes, God loves you and has paid the price for your sins; believe in Jesus and you will be saved.’ The initial motivation may really be fear from Hell, and it makes sense: Hell is made to instil fear on those who hear about it.

Now, the Bible also says that perfect love drives out fear. This means that, since God loves you, your motivation of fear will eventually be replaced with love. You just need to understand that God loves you, and that he wants you to be saved. Read 1 John entirely, and then tell me what you think.

Regarding those who claimed, ‘Lord! Lord!’ and still went to Hell, which can be found in Matthew 7:21-23, you need to read it in context; if you read Matthew 7:15-20, you will see that Jesus is talking about false prophets. Many people will believe that they are saved, but are only there actually just for other reasons; they do not really love God and have not expressed a genuine conversion.

Exactly what these people have done wrong is subject to speculation, but we can get some leads from some textual aspects. In verse 22, Jesus says that those people will say, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ This suggests that these people think that it is their works that save them, thinking they can achieve their salvation, meanwhile failing to realise that good works do not pay the price for the bad works they have committed, and that they still have to pay for that penalty, which only Jesus could have done; meanwhile, the Bible strongly argues that only Jesus' sacrifice can atone for your sin, and that only faith can save you. If you understand that faith alone saves and that you are absolutely powerless to save yourself without God, then it does not seem that you would be included in this group.

If you are worried about these things, read 1 John, and see how God assures you that you really are saved. Focus on serving him, all the while realising that you are a sinner who deserves eternal condemnation, and asking God to forgive you.

Feel free to keep on talking to me if you wish!

Thank you so much. I will read 1 John as soon as I can.

 

[Llewelyn Stevenson]

Thank you so much. I will read 1 John as soon as I can.

And that was an excellent suggestion. 1 John is a very good read I will doubly recommend.

 

[DTate98]

It is not a problem that part of the reason you are a Christian is fear from Hell. That actually makes sense: you hear someone tell you that, if you do nothing, you are going to Hell, and you are afraid and think, ‘Gosh! Is there any way I can escape that? What must I do?’, and he replies, ‘Yes, God loves you and has paid the price for your sins; believe in Jesus and you will be saved.’ The initial motivation may really be fear from Hell, and it makes sense: Hell is made to instil fear on those who hear about it.

Now, the Bible also says that perfect love drives out fear. This means that, since God loves you, your motivation of fear will eventually be replaced with love. You just need to understand that God loves you, and that he wants you to be saved. Read 1 John entirely, and then tell me what you think.

Regarding those who claimed, ‘Lord! Lord!’ and still went to Hell, which can be found in Matthew 7:21-23, you need to read it in context; if you read Matthew 7:15-20, you will see that Jesus is talking about false prophets. Many people will believe that they are saved, but are only there actually just for other reasons; they do not really love God and have not expressed a genuine conversion.

Exactly what these people have done wrong is subject to speculation, but we can get some leads from some textual aspects. In verse 22, Jesus says that those people will say, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ This suggests that these people think that it is their works that save them, thinking they can achieve their salvation, meanwhile failing to realise that good works do not pay the price for the bad works they have committed, and that they still have to pay for that penalty, which only Jesus could have done; meanwhile, the Bible strongly argues that only Jesus' sacrifice can atone for your sin, and that only faith can save you. If you understand that faith alone saves and that you are absolutely powerless to save yourself without God, then it does not seem that you would be included in this group.

If you are worried about these things, read 1 John, and see how God assures you that you really are saved. Focus on serving him, all the while realising that you are a sinner who deserves eternal condemnation, and asking God to forgive you.

Feel free to keep on talking to me if you wish!

Thank you for your help. I've grown in my faith and I'm nothing but thankful for what Jesus did for me. I still struggle with a few sins, and one of them managed to work it's way into my dreams, so I'm trying to get rid of it by praying. Some days it works, others the temptation gets the best of me. It feels like a losing battle, and that may be because I'm relying too much on my own strength. I just don't know how to trust God completely. It's like when you're little and you don't know how to snap your fingers, it seems easy until you try it, then you look at other people who have dealt with the same sin and overcame it with God's help. I just want to be done with the temptation and the struggle. If you have any advice or know a good verse/passage of scripture, let me know.