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 Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 1:02 pm
The Bible says that once you are saved, you are never the same again; you are a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17). If you have gone back to your old ways, then most probably you were never saved (1 John 2:19). If, however, you were saved, then God won't let you stay in rebellion for long. He will deal with you in whatever way is necessary to bring you back into fellowship with Him.
Did you become a Christian by going to church or by asking Jesus to forgive you of your sins? The latter makes you a Christian, the former doesn't.
You don't try Christianity to see if it works, or if your life gets better. You receive Christ because you trust what he has done for you on the cross so you can escape the judgment of God upon you for your sin.
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Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2012 2:41 am
Years ago I thought just going to church made me a christian, I had been going for as long as i remember, but i disliked going, i found it boring and i loathed going. Then i foolishly cursed God and became an Atheist, then 4ish years ago i prayed to God as hard as i could asking him to just make my step dad at the time to go away, to leave me and my family alone, then we left like a week or so later, and we went to a shelter, the school at the shelter was a christian school or it was was strongly influenced by christians, i dont remember but some time of being there i got really sick to the point where i thought time was moving really fast and it scared me, i tried to pray to God but i was crying and stuttering really bad because the illness scared me and it made me just vomit everything i eaten, i hadnt eaten a whole meal in days, and as i prayed to God, the moment i said amen i passed out, that morning i felt better, the fever i had was gone and i was healthy again. Eventually we moved in with my grandma and we went to church and she asked me if i accepted Jesus in my heart, and i told her i wasnt sure, and she asked me if i wanted to and i just blurted out yes and we prayed to God asking him to save me and i told him that i accepted him. I have struggled with sin like everyone else but even when i fall and feel worthless i just listen to christian music or read the bible. Even now i still fal but i know that God has forgiven me, though the devil loves to try to make me fail, saying 'are you sure' and stuff like that, but I am willing to trust God and Jesus with my heart, even now writing this, i am at tears, just thinking how i used to hate everything, how i was when i was sick and how scared i get when i sin and Satan decides to make me think im not worthy, I am very glad God wants us to be apart of him and his wonderful plan.
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Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2012 7:57 am
Yes, I feel like this concept isn't emphasized enough: believing in him frees humanity, not just from the judgment of hellfire, but from our slavery to sinful habits and thoughts. Being freed from sin in our earthly life is just as important. You (or your choices) don't have to be dominated by lust, fear, anger, pleasure, or anxiety. If someone has never experienced that liberation in any part of their life, they were never saved ( I say "any part", because it's a gradual change depending on your willingness to submit and believe his word). Christianity has gained a reputation for being hypocrites because they don't teach or apply this enough—or they dress it up in religious vocabulary so no one understands: you are freed from sinful habits, sinful thoughts, sinful behaviors. Don't sit in your sin, he's extending his hand to lead you out. I think this is Satan's doing, keeping people captive in unbelief, that you can't live a worry-free, lust-free life while you're in this body—that is a lie. Quote: Romans 6:17-18 (NIV) 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
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Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2012 12:52 pm
God isn't a god of convenience. You can't try him and if it doesn't work out you turn in your resignation. People who do that aren't Christian because you have to follow God completely, or not at all. That's why so many people are surprised when their friends and family decide not to be Christian anymore.
On CNN last week there was this guy that tried out different religions to see which one was "best for him." He sounds like he never settled on one and needless to say he ended up more confused than he started. It was really sad.
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