Saved, unsaved, saved again

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Sudsy
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Saved, unsaved, saved again

Post by Sudsy »

This thread is not for discussing whether or not one can be saved and lose their salvation but rather if you thought you were saved and then backslid (living for self, disobedient, deliberate sinning), did you sense at that time that God never abandoned you as His child (you were still saved) or did you instead have fear that He might have abandoned you and if you died in that backsliden state you had forfeited the gift of eternal life.

This thread is about how you felt regarding God and his relationship with you through this time and not using scriptures to support one way or the other regarding losing your salvation.

It appears to me, in other threads, that many of us have gone through some period were we felt we were saved, then unsaved, then saved again (born again and then born again, again). Now some may say when they were trully born again they realized that whatever happened before this, they were not born again. But I'm looking for those who really had experienced the new birth, backslid and returned to fellowship with God.

My own personal testimony is that when I backslid for a number of years, my sense was that God had not abandoned me and I had not lost my salvation or forfeited my gift of eternal life but rather He was there, in the background, saying "come home my child" and "I'm still here for restored fellowship but you must open the door for that to happen". I had never changed my belief about Jesus and what He had done for me but you might say I was trusting Him as Saviour but in practise was not making Him Lord during this wandering time. Others may have felt they had gone from saved to unsaved and feared judgment time.

If you had a similar experience of a wandering sheep, what was your sense of God during that time. One of fear, one of love, both or something else ?
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Josh
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Re: Saved, unsaved, saved again

Post by Josh »

I thought I got saved when I was 3 or 4 since I asked Jesus into my heart and spoke in tongues. I think I repeated this when I was 9 and 13. Don't really remember anymore.

By the time I was in my 20s, I didn't think God existed at all and certainly didn't feel, act, or think I was saved.

In my 30s I was the kind of person who "would not inherit the kingdom of God". Drunkards, fornicators, and blasphemers will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. I wasn't a person who was anywhere near to that kingdom, nor even wanted to be.
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Sudsy
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Re: Saved, unsaved, saved again

Post by Sudsy »

Josh wrote:I thought I got saved when I was 3 or 4 since I asked Jesus into my heart and spoke in tongues. I think I repeated this when I was 9 and 13. Don't really remember anymore.

By the time I was in my 20s, I didn't think God existed at all and certainly didn't feel, act, or think I was saved.

In my 30s I was the kind of person who "would not inherit the kingdom of God". Drunkards, fornicators, and blasphemers will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. I wasn't a person who was anywhere near to that kingdom, nor even wanted to be.
Josh in the other threads you posted -
I felt like to truly follow God I'd have to change everything about myself and give up everything I enjoyed or liked, so off I went one day to that church.
So, when was it that you found out you could not "change everything about" yourself and true Christianity was a relationship with God where He changes our hearts to enjoy different things ?
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Josh
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Re: Saved, unsaved, saved again

Post by Josh »

I thought my problems were things like I wasn't kind to some people, etc. - basically the world's definitions of right and wrong.

Once I decided to try to follow Jesus, he started changing things about me I didn't know even needed changing. And I realised his standard for me was much higher than I thought what I needed to be a good person. I originally wanted to be better at saving money. Jesus wanted me to learn to live giving all my money away, even when I had nothing left to give.

Note that I don't think Christianity is a "relationship with God". That's modern evangelical-speak. Nor is it "just about our hearts". To know what is in our hearts, look at how we live.
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KingdomBuilder
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Re: Saved, unsaved, saved again

Post by KingdomBuilder »

I agree... Not to mention "a relationship" is vague. I was never good with relationships (not just in a romantic context), so saying that Christianity was a relationship made no sense to me. At all.
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Re: Saved, unsaved, saved again

Post by MaxPC »

Some of my random thoughts on your OP, Sudsy. Some are really random :lol: none of them are nonnegotiable and definitive articles of faith. These are just my life experiences and observations.

God doesn't leave us; rather we leave Him when we are distracted by the world and forget who we truly are: His Disciples. Everyone has done this at least once in his/her life.

God created each of us with a unique beauty and aptitude that promotes and fulfills His Kingdom if we choose to devote ourselves to that purpose.

He isn't trying to change our God-given nature nor require that we change ourselves. Instead He invites us to freely choose to focus on His Kingdom.

We fall down and we get up. We fall again and rise again. It's our imperfections and distractibility that cause us to stumble. It's our vigilance that alerts us to potholes.

It's God's mercy and grace that gives us the heart to get up again. When we give up instead of getting up, we are succumbing to temptations of doubt and forget to trust and submit to God's plan.

Like I said: ramblings. :lol:
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Sudsy
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Re: Saved, unsaved, saved again

Post by Sudsy »

Josh wrote:I thought my problems were things like I wasn't kind to some people, etc. - basically the world's definitions of right and wrong.

Once I decided to try to follow Jesus, he started changing things about me I didn't know even needed changing. And I realised his standard for me was much higher than I thought what I needed to be a good person. I originally wanted to be better at saving money. Jesus wanted me to learn to live giving all my money away, even when I had nothing left to give.

Note that I don't think Christianity is a "relationship with God". That's modern evangelical-speak. Nor is it "just about our hearts". To know what is in our hearts, look at how we live.
When I say "relationship with God", I am referring to what occurs when we are born again and have been reconciled (established friendly relations) with God and we build on this relationship through scripture, prayer, the brotherhood, etc). I can live very religiously (tithe, pray, give), like the Pharisees were doing in Jesus day, but He pointed out their hearts (motivation) were messed up. So, too today, many are living very religiously by doing good deeds, following some groups holiness standards, etc and yet their hearts (intellect, will and emotions) can be far from God as their motivation is to appear as super Christians and it really is all about them. Like the Pharisees they are always pointing out the short comings in other's lives to show how "holy" they are. On the other hand, there are those who have a relationship with God and they are strugglling with their fleshly nature to live out their Christianity to be more Christ like. So, I don't think what we view outwardly is always an obvious reflection of what is in our hearts.

Scripture does say that from the abundance of our heart, we say things. Our words are an indicator of what is most abundant in our hearts. If it is Jesus, we will talk about Jesus. If sports, we will talk about sports. If politics we will be drawn to talk about politics. If it is our family, we will talk about family. Sadly our words often reflect that Jesus is not what is most abundant in our (my) hearts.

Interesting how some of the great men in scripture had actions that we certainly would not see as Christian today. For example, David was said to be a man after God's own heart. And look at the beautiful Psalms he wrote in his relationship with God. Yet David made some obviously big mistakes. And Peter in the NT, denying Christ before sinners, what a terrible testimony. Yet God used Peter in a very powerful way. God works out His plan through us very flawed creatures. May the glory by His.
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Sudsy
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Re: Saved, unsaved, saved again

Post by Sudsy »

MaxPC wrote:Some of my random thoughts on your OP, Sudsy. Some are really random :lol: none of them are nonnegotiable and definitive articles of faith. These are just my life experiences and observations.

God doesn't leave us; rather we leave Him when we are distracted by the world and forget who we truly are: His Disciples. Everyone has done this at least once in his/her life.

God created each of us with a unique beauty and aptitude that promotes and fulfills His Kingdom if we choose to devote ourselves to that purpose.

He isn't trying to change our God-given nature nor require that we change ourselves. Instead He invites us to freely choose to focus on His Kingdom.

We fall down and we get up. We fall again and rise again. It's our imperfections and distractibility that cause us to stumble. It's our vigilance that alerts us to potholes.

It's God's mercy and grace that gives us the heart to get up again. When we give up instead of getting up, we are succumbing to temptations of doubt and forget to trust and submit to God's plan.

Like I said: ramblings. :lol:
I especially like your last ramble -
It's God's mercy and grace that gives us the heart to get up again. When we give up instead of getting up, we are succumbing to temptations of doubt and forget to trust and submit to God's plan.
God is there doing His part to affect our will and I believe He has allowed us choice to submit to His will. 'May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven'. Such mercy, such grace. Where would we be without those affecting our hearts.
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