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False conviction or God?

Discussion in 'General Baptist Discussions' started by cookinout, Oct 29, 2010.

  1. cookinout

    cookinout New Member

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    So I have a question. Here lately I have been under conviction. . . BAD. I was saved a few years ago and my husband has just been called to preach. I feel like I sort of fell away from God, and when he announced his call it almost made me mad when everyone else was rejoicing. I know this is selfish of me and I need to learn to die to myself. Whenever there is an alter call, my heart jumps and at revivals I just sit there and sweat. I don't feel saved but I also don't know if all of this is stemming from emotions or people shouting or just the whole revival feeling. I have no idea whats going on. I really really thought I was saved up until recently. I have prayed and prayed and somethimes God will give me amazing peace, and sometimes conviction. I even went to the alter and prayed and asked God for peace about my salvation and begged him to save me if I wasn't saved.That Sunday I got the most amazing peace. . . . and then the conviction comes back a few weeks later. It is really starting to get to me, because I think well what if I just got saved when I went to the alter to pray and I haven't told the church? What if that is when the Lord saved me and not a few years ago? What if that was it and I need to be baptized again. I know there is a lot of emphasis put on time and place, but I just want to know that I know, you know?? So confused.
     
  2. cookinout

    cookinout New Member

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    I guess I didn't really state my question :eek: Has this ever happened to anyone here? Did you ever doubt? Have you experienced strong conviction after you were saved? I hate to put such a question on people, but just at a loss now :)
     
  3. webdog

    webdog Active Member
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    I had doubts. In fact I was saved at 7 and began to slowly erode my relationship with God in my teens. It snowballed from there. In my 20's you would have been hard pressed to even know I was a believer. God took hold of my life after the death of my younger sister (she was 25), and I realized she had looked up to me and followed the same path I did. I repented, poured out my heart to God and haven't looked back since then.

    Remember, satan is a deceiver and the father of lies. He wants the child of God to feel that way so they become ineffective for Christ. I can tell you that for those many years living for myself, I was under conviction.

    I think at this point if you have trusted Christ, you should put it all on Him. When you begin to feel "lost" so to speak, pray and say "It's yours God, you took my punishment in my place and these doubts don't belong with me".
     
  4. Tom Bryant

    Tom Bryant Well-Known Member

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    Yes, it has happened after I was saved and going my own way. But it changed when I decided to obey God.

    No one here can tell you if you're saved or not, that is the work of God's Holy Spirit as He deals with your heart. But a Scripture came to my mind about why you're in so much turmoil. in 2 Peter 1, Peter writes:

    If you do not continue to grow ("to add" those qualities of a Spirit directed life) Peter says you are blind or short sighted and it's possible to forget your own purification (salvation) from your former sins. The key to assurance of salvation is a continued growth in the Lord.

    Have you talked to your husband about your feelings and doubts? Go to your husband and your pastor. They'll be more understanding than you probably think they will be.

    Meanwhile, will be praying for you.
     
  5. ashleysdad

    ashleysdad Member

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    From the time I was about 12 until I was 20 I struggled with the same thing that you describe hear. I would pray just about every night that is I was saved God would give me peace and if I wasn't saved that God would save me. At one point I was so desperate that I even prayed for a sign. My family rarely received visitors so I prayed that if I was saved that someone from my moms family would come over and if I wasn't saved someone from my dads family would come over (no idea how I decided on whos family would represent what). Anyway about 30 minutes after I prayed sure enough my moms sister came to visit. I was so excited I finally had proof that I was saved. That lasted about 30 minutes when my dads brother stopped in for a visit. I was more confused than ever! Finally when I was 20 I was in my second year of Bible College of all places when I heard something that was profound in that it was so simple. Being saved is not a feeling it is faith. We cannot base our salvation on what we feel and think but on what Gods word teaches and promises. Nowhere in the Bible do we read of any elaborate "sinners pray" just simple words of faith. I think that so often we try to make salvation something much more complicated than it is. The power of God in saving us is not in if we follow a formula correctly (was I sincere enough? was I TRULY repentant enough? etc.) The power of God in Salvation is that He loved us enough to send His Son to be our substitution at the cross. When we come to Him in faith and in repentance He is Faithful to save and save fully and completely! I believe that the repentance that is spoken of in the Bible is not in a promise to forsake sin (as if any of us could keep that promise) but in a realization that our path is leading to death and destruction and that His path leads to life and we give up our path for His. What finally gave me peace was in just accepting Gods word at face value. Does God mean what He says or not? If we confess He is faithful to forgive. The flip side of all this is that very often we unintentionally give up the peace that God wants us to have in our lives by not staying close to Him. The further that we drift away from God by not having a personal time of devotion on a daily basis then the more we are opening ourselves up for Satans attacks and one of his favorite forms of attack is to try to make us question our very basis of salvation. My advice (not sure that I am qualified to give any) would be to continue to spend time before God with this. Be dilligent in the Word and realize that the promises in the Bible come from a God that cannot lie and who is faithful to keep every promise. Finally once it is settled then stay in the Word and stay close to God as that is where we receive strength and the ability to withstand Satan and his attacks. Once I took the Bible at its face and committed myself to a daily walk with God that was when the peace of God stayed and the doubts and fears subsided. God is not the author of confusion He will let you know if you are His or not. The key is to be in the word. I will be praying for you as I know how miserable this can be. Don't give up and don't base your salvation on a feeling that can change but on Gods word that cannot!
     
  6. webdog

    webdog Active Member
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    Excellent advice and Scripture!
     
  7. Jon-Marc

    Jon-Marc New Member

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    Here is my experience. At age 16 I was invited to church by a friend. I didn't want to go but reluctantly agreed. I was shy and withdrawn and afraid to say no, and I allowed them to get me in a back room as someone said, "Repeat these words after me." I had no idea what was going on or what the words meant as I called on the Lord to "save" me, but I didn't have the courage to tell them that.

    When I went home, my dad asked me, "Well, did you get saved?" (Didn't I recently tell this in a forum here?) I replied, "Yes, but I don't know what from." We all laughed. However, I found acceptance and love there that I wasn't getting from my dad, and I continued going. I got involved in the music ministry there after finding out I was blessed with a good voice.

    Some time during the next year (almost), I started to have a "head belief", and I learned what "saved" meant. Then about two weeks short of a year after being "saved", I was reading in the New Testament that belief and repentance were necessary for salvation to take place, and neither of those had happened for me. I got down on my knees by my bed and called on the Lord to forgive me and save me, and He DID! Then I knew it was real!
     
  8. cookinout

    cookinout New Member

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    Thank you all sooooo much! I know that no one can tell me if I'm saved, but the confusion comes with the peace for a week, then conviction for a week. I grew up in a different denomination, there were no alter calls, revivals or anything, so all of this has been fairly new to me. I have asked for signs too, and honelstly, every sign I have asked for has pointed to me being saved (I know this is crazy). I have talked to my husband, and he thinks I just need to let it go. . . we have been through this many times. The thing is, when I got saved it was just him and me in the car, so he knows what I went through. : ) Part of this too, is that I DO NOT feel strong enough in my walk to be a preachers wife right now. I have seen preachers wives be the backbone of the church, go to the alter and pray with people and I feel like I am nowhere near there. Anyway,thanks again guys. I appriciate you taking the time to read this and offer advice!
     
  9. freeatlast

    freeatlast New Member

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    cookinout, there is only two reasons that we question our salvation and one is because we have some sort of sin in our lives.The other is because we are not really saved. Most of us has been there. However to have questions on this can also be good if we are really not saved or if we have become slack in certain areas. Over the years I have listened to those who claim they get saved at some age then fall away only to return with rededication later in life. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is impossible to be saved and fall away or return to sin according to the bible. What is really happening is that these people are really getting saved for the first and only time instead of just rededication. Yes someone might stop praying as they should or studying their bible as they should but to return to practice sin is impossible for a Christian according to scripture 1John 3. However to get to your concern may I offer you this.
    Go here;

    http://www.gerald285.com/index.php?p=1_5_Salvation-Tests

    Click on the links;
    The almost Christian and
    Evidence of a true believer.

    These will leave no doubt in your mind one way or the other. As a matter of fact for the true believer it is a great encouragement. I will lift you in prayer on this matter. God bless :smilewinkgrin:
     
    #9 freeatlast, Oct 29, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 29, 2010
  10. ReformedBaptist

    ReformedBaptist Well-Known Member

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    cookinout,

    I would encourage you to faithfully study the Scriptures. I have not really doubted my salvation personally, except for brief moments after sinning. But not like your describing. However, my wife has. And the way I encouraged her was to pray for her and encourage her to systematically study the Scriptures.

    Your going to have times when you feel saved and when you don't. Having the truth and wisdom of biblical truth fresh and strong in your mind will be of great aid and comfort to you. It's not always easy to choose to act upon the truth of God over your feelings.

    The backbone of any church is the Lord Jesus Christ, not the pastor(s) or the pastor's wife. Look to the Scriptures as to what a young woman is to be. There is absolutely NOTHING in there about what is often expected of a pastor's wife. These are often traditions of men and cultural traditions. Your husband should recognize this, accept it, and not place unbiblical expectations on you.

    But sometimes men of God are caught in the zeal of religious success. I am not saying this is the case with your husband. It's just possible. THe antithesis to religious zealatry is singular faithfulness to the Lord Jesus and His Word. A man of God must be a preacher before God first, and then a lover of mankind for Christ's sake.

    As a recap, first and foremost spend time in the Scriptures. Not out of obligation or duty, but as a beloved disciple of Jesus. Sit at his feet and learn of Him. He is gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your soul.

    May the grace and peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
    RB
     
  11. ReformedBaptist

    ReformedBaptist Well-Known Member

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    Hey free,

    Can you exegete or expound the following text?

    2 Peter 1
    1Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:

    2Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,

    3According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

    4Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

    5And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;

    6And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;

    7And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

    8For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

    9But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

    10Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

    11For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

    12Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.
     
  12. freeatlast

    freeatlast New Member

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    No not in this forum with the OP. You can start another thread or if you prefer you can PM me with the text you want responded to and I will be glad to do so.
     
  13. Benjamin

    Benjamin Well-Known Member
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    Absolutely! The closer I got to the Word the more I prayed, in tears, for more faith. I felt so undeserving of the love God was giving me, so foolish that I was only just now turning to Him and beginning to understand all these wise and loving instructions for life. Every time I opened the Bible and read it was like He was speaking to my most intimate thoughts and this astounded and frightened me.

    Some things I discovered were that the truths of it all did in fact make bring me more faith. God used my love for the Truth as He put His Words into my heart and all His promises became reality to me, such as when I prayed for understanding of my feelings, He said:

    Ask, and will be given you, seek, and you will find, knock, and the door will be opened unto you.

    One thing that really clicked for me as I agonized over the reality of being bound, like a slave, in love to all Almighty God’s Truths and suffered in my fears of inadequacy , while always being drawn ever closer to such a powerful God, was these Words:

    For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption where by we cry Abba, father. Romans 8:15.

    I understood that I was a child and He (this powerful, loving, Almighty God which was full of Truth), was my Father. I had been crying out to Him as a troubled child who had given up on the world and was now in my Loving Father’s hands, I had nothing more to fear. I was just growing.
     
    #13 Benjamin, Oct 29, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 29, 2010
  14. Amy.G

    Amy.G New Member

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    There is a 3rd reason we question our salvation and that is we listen to the lies of the Devil. He wants us to question our salvation, to doubt, to fear, to believe God could not possibly love us and we aren't good enough to receive God's grace. This is his tactic for creating useless, defeated Christians.

    The Devil is a liar and the father of lies. He can't take us away from Christ, but he can sure make us ineffective and fearful.

    Don't listen to him.

    Resist the Devil and he will flee from you.

    Rest in the promises of God
     
  15. annsni

    annsni Well-Known Member
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    I agree with Amy. Oftentimes, there are even those around us who demean our salvation because we don't believe exactly like them.

    Cookinout - be sure that you are not questioning because of what others say but because of what the Scriptures say. :)
     
  16. Tom Butler

    Tom Butler New Member

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    cookinout,

    You're getting such good counsel here, I can't add much to it.

    The first thing is, you now know you are not alone, that you're not the only one who's been through what you're going through.

    Here is my own take. You have some job description in your mind for a pastor's wife, and you don't think you're up to it. Then don't do it, and enlist your husband's support. He will get the word out for people to leave you alone and not expect you to be the associate pastor. I suspect this reluctance on your part is connected to your feeling of conviction.

    Now, about your assurance of salvation. Only you can tell us that. But as for me, I have trusted Christ for my salvation. I have put all my eggs in that basket. I have nowhere else to go. If I die and go to hell, I'll die trusting Jesus for my salvation. If that's not enough, I'm a dead man. But I'm done with doubt.

    I have a dear relative who has been through her husband's death and a son's serious illness. She's one of the most vital Christians I know. She says, I've always cast my burdens upon the Lord. I've given them completely to him.

    Then, she says, the next day I take them back.

    May God give you grace to take your burdens to the Lord and leave them there.
     
    #16 Tom Butler, Oct 29, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 29, 2010
  17. HankD

    HankD Well-Known Member
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    Yes. I was saved for many years and then had an emotional crash which lincluded serious doubt as to my salvation along with self-destructive thoughts.
    It was a spiritual roller coaster ride and even included some hospital time.

    Years later I realized it was necessary to bring me to total and complete dependence upon Him were I to keep my sanity.

    Thankfully, not everyone has or needs this experience to bring them to that realization.

    Psalm 30
    2 O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.
    3 O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
    4 Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.
    5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.​

    HankD​
     
    #17 HankD, Oct 30, 2010
    Last edited: Oct 30, 2010
  18. webdog

    webdog Active Member
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    At your request...

    http://www.baptistboard.com/showthread.php?t=68463
     
  19. Winman

    Winman Active Member

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    I too had a period of great doubt about my salvation. In my case, it was due to false teaching.

    Many folks base assurance on their feelings. They also think that faith means this continual confidence without doubt. So, as soon as they doubt they get all worried about it and question whether they have faith. The more they try to believe, the more doubts they have. This can become a serious problem.

    Faith is not examing yourself to see if you have this continuous stedfast confidence. Faith is looking away from yourself. You are really not part of the equation at all. Let me explain.

    If I asked you right now to name a person you know you trust, could you do it? I bet you can name several persons you know you trust. You might say your spouse, your parents, your siblings, or your best friend.

    Now, if I challanged your faith in these persons would you get all emotionally upset? If I said, "You don't trust your husband, you don't really trust your Mom!", would that upset you?

    No, you would laugh in my face. You know for a fact you trust your spouse or your parents and nobody could shake that faith with any argument.

    If I asked you if you trust your parents would you go though some self examination and ask yourself repeatedly if you really trust them? Of course not.

    And how do you know you trust your spouse and parents? From knowledge and experience. You know your spouse loves you because of the way he treats you. You know your parents would give their very lives if they had to for you. You know this from looking at them, not yourself.

    Don't even worry about what you are. We are all sinners and we are very fallible. The question to ask is, "Can I trust Jesus?". Now I bet the moment you take your mind and eyes off yourself and look only at Jesus you will instantly say that yes, Jesus can be trusted. Jesus loves you more than your parents do, he loves you more than your spouse. And, unlike our parents or spouse, Jesus is PERFECT. He never lies, he never misleads, he never fails. If Jesus makes a promise, he ALWAYS keeps it.

    And Jesus said that whoever comes to him he will not cast out. Did you come to Jesus in your heart and ask him to save you from your sins? If so, then the word of God says you are saved.

    The scriptures say whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Did you call out to Jesus to save you? Then, the word of God says you are saved.

    You've got to get your mind off yourself, that is not the issue. We are not saved because we are faithful to Jesus, we are saved because Jesus is faithful to us.

    You could be the most untrustworthy person in town. You could be a perpetual liar and thief. But you could trust your godly mother who loves you and you know she would give her life to help you.

    So, forget about yourself, and keep your eyes on Jesus. It doesn't matter how unfaithful you are, your salvation depends on how faithful Jesus is. And Jesus is faithful. He made promises in his word and he always keeps those promises. Depend on those promises.

    John 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

    Salvation is something you can know. You can know if you came to Jesus in your heart and asked him to save you. And you can know that if you did, Jesus did not cast you out for any reason. Just read John 6:37 and think on Jesus's promise when you doubt.

    If you called on Jesus, it doesn't matter how worried and upset you are. He did not cast you out if you came to him. Quit worrying and leave it in Jesus's hands.
     
    #19 Winman, Oct 30, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 30, 2010
  20. cookinout

    cookinout New Member

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    Wow, thank you all so much for the wonderful advice. I never expected to hear from so many of you, what a blessing! I will keep praying, studying and seeking God, and I know that I will get peace. I have felt wonderful all weekend, but in a way I feel like I can't give into it. . . . that I might be decieving myself. I know its crazy, but I know I can get through it. . God is good!
     
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