Hi guys, I'm quite troubled by what I read one of the threads here. It talks about easy-believism, where people think that "mere-belief" without the repentence and the change of heart means your saved. I go to church and serve in the photography and altar ministry and am able to speak in tongues.
I used to be addicted to pornography but every single time I did it, I would repent and ask God for forgiveness and promised Him that I wouldnt do it again but I'll still fall short. But a few weeks back, I decided to get baptized in water and give up all my sinful addictions to completely follow Christ. Then the devil started to put thoughts of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit in my head, I rebuked them at once but they kept afflicting me. I know in my heart that I wanna go to heaven and that whatever the devil tried to make me think was not of out freewill.
My main point is, does it mean if I continue in my sinful bondage that I was never really saved in the first place?
Thank you for all your valuable reply
It is actually so easy that it is hard, if that makes sense.
I am not sure where you came across this "mere-believism", perhaps it was a misunderstanding but,from my understanding of the Holy Spirit, it is just a matter of belief! God says (paraphrasing), "that if you are truely seeking Him, then your only sin that will keep you seperated from Him is the sin of unbelief, EVERY other sin that we commit has already been paid for at the cross.
As far as repentance goes, is a one-time acknowledgement of your sinfull nature and that you are totally dependent on Jesus Christ for your salvation. To repeatedly go to God asking for forgiveness every day or whenever you think to do it, is like telling Him that what Jesus did on the cross was not sufficient. In other words, how many times do you expect Jesus to die on the cross for you? He died once for all and for all sins! In Jesus Christ you do not get forgiveness, rather, in Jesus Christ you are forgiven! Jesus said (paraphrasing) at the cross: " it is finished"; not Him but His task of taking care of your sin, It is done, forever and God said He would look at your sin no more.
The only other task other than the above belief about your forgiveness, is if you are "Born Again". Have you pesonally thanked Jesus for what He did on the cross for you, the finallity of it and then invited Him in to yourself, in to your heart? Jesus said (paraphrasing) to come to the Father, to have salvation and eternal life, you must invite Him in and therefore go through Him to the Father.
Have you been born again? If you have, start living in the truth and peace of that, it is over, Jesus said so!
Now, if you haven't or you are not sure, then let's do it again for the first time. If you want to be sure, here is a suggested prayer. Get in a quite place of meditation, open up your heart to Jesus Christ and talk to him directly and personally, claim His forgiveness for your sins,
once and for all and say:
Lord Jesus, I need You. I confess that I have been in control of my life and as a result have sinned against You. Thank You for dying for the forgiveness of my sins. Come into my heart. Take control of my life and make me the kind of person that You want me to be. As an expression of my faith I now thank You for coming into my life and for giving me eternal life.
Now, if you have done this, " for the first time", then all you sins past, present and future are forgiven. You are saved, have eternal life in Heaven and are a child of God. Sometime we can talk more exstinsevely about what it means to be a child of God, this is really awesome!
Now 3 more things:
- The Bible tells us (parahphrasing): that " it is by faith (believing) in Grace that you are saved and it is not by your works unless you could boast! So, in all love and respect, I ask that you stop this non-sense about speaking in tongues, and because of the above, the Lord holds no value in it with regards to your salvation.
- Water baptism can be a wonderful experience as an outward expressing of your love and dedication to Jesus Christ but, in itself, it has nothing to do with your salvation. Again, if it did, it would be salvation dependent on something that you have to do. Remember, Grace is the death, burial and resurrected life of Jesus Christ. And God says that this Grace is a gift and it is free, again, no works on our part.
- Your sin of ponography. Ultrasonic, please listen clearly. The mere fact that you are distressed about it is that the Holy Spirit is working in your life, otherwise, you would not think twice about it. This sin has already been taken care of at the cross, believe it and live in it. We are not perfect yet, that is another great discussion and, until our perfection comes, we are subject to some form of sin in our lives. God is perfection and there is no existence of negativety in His being. Ultrasonic, the truth is, that, for example, if we are negative about anything in our life, then that is not of God and therefore is sinful. Now, to God, this sin of negativity is no worse that your ponography or a sin that I might commit. When it happens and when the Holy Spirit convicts you, thank Him for what Jesus did on the cross and pray that He will work in your life to remove this sin from you, HIS WILL not yours. Just because pornography is still in your life, it does not mean that you are not forgiven or saved. It is a process of Him refining you: it is not going to happen over night. Keep working on it, block porn sites on your internet, what ever, keep working on it. While in this refining mode and it will last your entire physical life, rest assurred that , if you are "Born Again", you are forgiven and saved to eternity! You are dead to sin at the cross but you are not dead to sinning!
God Bless!
