Featured I thought I was saved, but....

No one is supposed to tell anyone they are saved or not saved. A person is supposed to examine their own lives in light of scripture so see if they be in the faith. I have saw people dragged up off of the altar and told they were saved and to never doubt it. I have seen people led down a Roman's road, repeat a prayer after me and told you are saved. I have heard people tell other people that if they doubted their salvation it was the devil speaking to them. If a person is not saved I would rather they doubt it and then make sure than live a lie.

 

You're correct, there is a huge problem with your view.

Jim, in all honesty you struggle mightily in theological understanding of the Scriptures and it has been noted by many on here that this is true.

It is quite possible however that some felt they were seeking God and it was actually the Father drawing them to Him. Some feel like they've just always loved God, did good &c and then for that God chose them (because they were good). The former is simply a misunderstanding of the mechanics of salvation and the latter is 100% heretical.

 

think many who fall into the "thought i was asaved" camp were those who grew up in a christian home, raised up in a good church, obeyed the rules pretty much, were 'good people" Even came forward at alter calls...

So many of them were seeing being 'saved' as cultural defines it as being.. "good" persons, ateading church, and not in gross sinning!

 

In other words, cradle row professions.

 

ANY who seek after the true God would be the asinnrs that God already decided to draw unto himself, for while yet sinners, none seek after the real God, but follow after Gods that we make up, such as a Budda. Allah, the Sun god ra etc!

 

You made perfect sense and I could not agree more.

I know a girl who is now a professional Southern Gospel singer who was raised in a very emotional church and she gets saved over and over again about every two years- and she believes in eternal security. She just thinks each time that she wasn't REALLY saved the previous numerous salvation experiences she had.

She does not "feel" saved, she "feels" convicted by the Holy Spirit that she needs to REALLY get saved in some "high octane" emotionally charged church service and she goes forward and gets "really saved" this time. Then everybody in the building shouts and cries and weeps as she gets up gives her testimony about being raised in a preacher's home and THINKING she was saved but now she has really nailed it down.

Until about two years pass and then she has to do it all over again.

It is because people put immeasurably too much stock in "feeling" the Spirit and "feeling" saved.

You repent, you trust- you're saved. That's it.

 

Well perhaps you don't know that I know this dear woman very well and I know believes in Jesus Christ as her Lord & Savior. With that said she is a human and so prone to mess up once and a while...but she is a believer and believers don't loose their salvation. :godisgood:

 

Bingo Rick...you nailed it!:smilewinkgrin:

 

EW&F, I have to disagree. On one post you talk about Carnal Christians and define their Christianity

Then you want to turn around and re-assure Amy

EWF, you are not a prophet. You don’t know if Amy is saved or not. You can't know. You don’t know if that “carnal Christian” you see sinning is saved or not. All you can do is look on the outward appearance and try to make an informed judgment, but in the end it is just a guess, and it is a guess that does not matter. All that really matter is what God can see and He looks at the heart.

If Amy does doubt her salvation she needs to take that up with God, not us here on the board.

 

So you don't think God gives assurance of salvation the moment you truly believe ? And i'm not talking about goose bumps, or chills running up and down your back, or all those other crazy things people come up with.

 

The trust IS the assurance.

I trust that Christ is Lord and saves those that trust that he is Lord so I am sure that I am saved because I trust that he saves those that trust in him.

I don't rely AT ALL on feelings.

 

Folks in the Bible did not wonder if they had believed, they knew and understood what to believe is.

To believe on Jesus is to rely or depend on him only to save you. It is to cast yourself upon, to commit yourself to Jesus to save you. It is not a feeling, it is a decision.

It is like loaning someone your car. That is a decision. You give them the keys and watch them drive off. You have trusted them.

It is like going to the doctor and allowing him to put you to sleep and open up your body and operate. It is a decision, you have trusted him.

It is like jumping out of a plane with a parachute, it is a decision, you are trusting the parachute to get you to the ground safely.

Luk 23:46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

Jesus trusted his Father to raise him from the dead. He placed his soul and spirit into his Father's hands and relied upon him to raise him from the dead as he promised. He then allowed himself to die, completely trusting his Father. This is a perfect example of saving faith or belief, trusting.

Trust involves feeling, but it is not feeling as Luke said. The man who jumps out of the airplane screaming with fear is trusting the parachute to get him down just as much as the man who jumps out with confidence. Both are depending on the parachute alone to get them to the ground safely.

If you have come to Jesus for him to save you, that is trusting him and you are saved.

But you cannot tell another person they are saved, only they know if they have come to Jesus and trusted him.

 

It is NOT a decision.

You do not DECIDE what to trust.

You are persuaded whether or not to trust something.

Do you DECIDE to trust a suspension bridge?

No. You decide whether or not to get ON the suspension bridge BASED on whether or not you TRUST it.

You trust it because you HAVE BEEN (passive- something is happening to you. It is not something that you do yourself) persuaded it is trustworthy.

Arminians like Winman teach that people are saved by grace through CHOICE.

The Bible says we are saved by grace through FAITH.

Faith is not choice. Choice is choice. Faith is faith. It is deceptive to conflate the two.

 

You decide to trust things all the time. When you buy a can of Campbell's Soup at the supermarket, you have made a decision to trust that the contents are indeed safe to eat.

Now, if on the news it was reported that someone was poisoning soup, you might decide not to purchase it again until the person was caught.

Let's say your brake pedal begins to sink a little when you apply it. You may decide it is safe to drive, or you may decide it is not safe to drive.

Let's say you came to a creek with a little wooden bridge over it. You look at the bridge and examine it. It looks strong enough to support your weight, so you decide to walk across. If the bridge begins to creak loudly as you start to walk, you may decide to stop and get off the bridge quickly.

A neighbor that just moved in asks you if they can borrow your car for a few minutes. You really don't know him too well, but he looks like a good guy, so you hand him your keys. That is a decision.

Trust is always a decision, though you may not realize it. Often, as in the case of the soup, you are so accustomed to buying that product you do not realize it is a decision, but it is.

You cannot say you have trusted something or someone unless you have acted on it. If you do not give your neighbor the car keys, you cannot say that you have believed him or trusted him.

You can say that you believe an airplane is safe to fly on, but to trust the plane you must get on. And that is a decision.

 

How do you know who or what I am?:smilewinkgrin:

 

You did not decide to trust campbells. You are either persuaded they are trustworthy or not.

You ARE persuaded. THat is not a decision.

You do not decide to trust in gravity. You HAVE BEEN persuaded that gravity will hold you to the earth.

You did not DECIDE it would. You were persuaded it would.

Then you would have been persuaded by the news that campbells may not be trustworthy.

You are confusing ACTING which is a decision with trusting which is NOT.

You BUY the soup BECAUSE you trust it. You trust it BECAUSE you HAVE BEEN (passive) persuaded that it is trustworthy.

No, you are persuaded it is safe or you are persuaded it is not safe.

You think continuing to ride IS trusting when the fact is that you continue to ride BECAUSE you trust.

And you trust because the circumstances have persuaded you that it will hold out a while longer.

 

Only God knows if you truly trust, Only God knows if you truly believe on him. A person might think he trusted when he actually don't trust. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it ? Jer 17:9 The assurance God gives is the Holy Spirit that comes into your heart at the moment of being born again. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying, Abba Father, Gal 4:6 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God, Rom 8:16

 

How do you know who or what I am?:smilewinkgrin: