I confess that while I have come a long way in my journey to seperate myself from religion and fully embrace the truth of the Gospel that there are many times that I truly struggle with the things that I have been taught all of my life. Salvation being one of them. I had a good friend confess to me today that after 30 years of "playing" church that he finally accepted Christ. This came as a huge shock to me because I regarded him as a child of Christ. Through the conversation he told me that while he had accepted Christ at an early age that he had never developed a relationship with Him. His daily prayer life and worhsip activities were non-existant and he constantly struggled with sin. While I rejoiced at his boldness and honesty I couldn't help but wonder where the line was drawn between saved and lost. Is the belief in Christ at the root of our salvation or do our works indicate our true beliefs. If a person struggles with sin daily and is not able to overcome it does that make them lost even though they believe that Christ is the Son of God? Is it religion that teaches us that a prayer is all it takes to be saved? Is the struggle to establish a relationship with Christ truly an indicator of your salvation or is it simply a lack of understanding of the Gospel? The Gospel teaches us that we are free from the law and that we are forgiven from our sins. We should not be guilted by our sin to think that we are not saved but rather we should be convicted when we do sin and repent from those things. It does not say that we are perfect. Is sanctification not the process by which Christ transforms us to His likeness and thus our actions better reflect our understanding of the Gospel? I guess my struggle here is simply what qualifies you as being saved. I know that the Bible teaches that if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Christ is Lord then you will be saved. But James also talks about faith and deeds and that faith without deeds is dead. I struggled for a long time with my salvation because I felt guilty that I was not the same perfect christian that I thought other people were. I'm finding out that we are all pretty messed up. But though I struggle it does not take away from the fact that Jesus is my savior. I know that ultimately only God knows who belongs to Him and who does not so at this point I will rejoice with my friend and encourage him as best I can. I guess I am realizing that while my awareness of the need for Gospel transformation came early, my understanding of it is just getting started.
3 comments:
your questions are very valid - and not so easy to answer. but the key is faith - 1O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
So we believe - not with mental ascent but faith - and then we live, not by the law but by that same faith.
Thanks Keith - My faith in my salvation is unpenetrable but I wonder how many people struggle with these questions..both those who think they are saved but fail or struggle to live by faith and those who are not sure because of their deeds.
Thanks for asking those questions. Some of which I have asked myself.
Post a Comment