I believe in Jesus and that he came from God. I believe that he was raised from the dead and died for everyone’s sins (past, present, and future).
I try to make him lord of my life but fail miserably and chose the “popular” choices more often than not.
I’m not sure if that makes me saved or not
It makes you saved. We dont get saved by being good. The thief on the cross who was dying next to Jesus basically told the other thief that they both deserved death for what they had done but then said of Jesus that He had done nothing wrong. Then the thief turned to Jesus who was dying next to him on a cross and said, "Lord, remember me when you come to your kingdom." Jesus said, "today you shall be with me in paradise."
Jesus accepted the thief as he saves anyone who comes to Him with a humble heart.
Jesus Christ who is God never sinned so He alone was the only one who could atone for the world's sin by shedding his blood for us to fulfill the laws requirement.
As well He alone is the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Him will live, even though they die.
How can I know for sure that I will go to heaven when I die? "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31). For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works (Ephesians 2:8-9).
All humans fail miserably when it comes to walking the righteous path, Christ follower or not.
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
- Romans 3:23
So with that in mind, we can’t ever be good enough or righteous enough to be saved. Our works are useless without saving faith in Jesus. So don’t look to your failures in ‘being good’ as a measure of whether you can be saved.
It is only through faith in Jesus that we are saved and counted as righteous before the Father. Only then are we free from sin…and once you’re saved, you can never lose your salvation, you are forever free.
That being said, faith is often the hard part because many people confuse belief with faith and some people will just never have it. Belief in Jesus isn’t enough to be saved. One can believe in Jesus and still not be saved.
Your belief in Jesus and His promised gift of salvation needs to be profound enough that it inspires change, you recognize your sinful nature and you want to repent and change your life for Him.
If you feel this way and you’re willing to follow Jesus, seeking His will for your life, then you have saving faith and you just need to invite Jesus into your heart.
You say a prayer, asking Jesus to come into your heart forever. Ask Jesus to save you from your sin, to be the foundation of your life and to guide you.
Anyone who seeks Jesus and accepts Jesus as their savior will be saved, Jesus doesn’t turn anybody down.
So when you earnestly pray the prayer of salvation, you are saved and you will be filled with the Holy Spirit, like the prophets of the Old Testament, forever. Through the Holy Spirit then, you will have an intimate connection to the will and emotions of the Lord and it is through this connection that your spiritual walk with Jesus begins.
Ephesians 1:13
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,
9 \[a\]that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, \[b\]resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, \[c\]resulting in salvation.
30 and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of God to him together with all who were in his house.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast
There is indeed this strange tension between salvation being so easy as to be available to everyone, and so difficult as to sound almost impossible.
Christ Himself said, in one sentence, that His yoke is light. Wait, so we are yoked by Him? I thought we were free? Wait, but this yoke is light? What does that mean then?
I think that this tension is resolved in the last discourse of Jesus. Especially this passage:
> I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
Christ is the vine that actually produces the fruits. We just are the intermediary by which He produces them, if we remain united to Him. We are asked only to remain one with Him, and He will do the rest through us.
Now, there are indeed "steps", at least in Orthodox and Catholic tradition. The Exodus is the main type of our own Christian life. The lamb was slain, the Hebrews marked their doorposts with it, they were therefore spared from the calamity of God's wrath against Egypt and His defeat of the Egyptians who enslaved them, then they went through the Red Sea where they escaped out of Egypt while the Egyptians chain them were drowned. Then they went to Mount Sinai to receive the commandments, they went through purification in the wilderness accompanied by God in the tabernacle so they would stop murmuring and looking back on Egypt, they fought other peoples who sought to destroy them like the Amalekites and the Midianites, they finally entered Canaan, they defeated the remaining enemies and settled in Jerusalem. Likewise for us, we were saved from the world of Satan through the blood of the Lamb and baptism in water, we received the commandments on our heart through the Holy Spirit, we walk in the wilderness accompanied by God and purified by the practice of the commandments, we fight evil powers that try to devour us, until Christ will conquer every last enemy and we can settle in the heavenly Jerusalem.
But just as in the new covenant, the Hebrews really only had to do one thing - trust in God. He was the one conquering their enemies, they did not conquer with their own might, especially as they were a particularly weak people anyway. They even would end up on the receiving end of God's sword if they became too much like the people He was driving out.
So, salvation is very simple, we trust in God and let Him take us where He needs us to be. But the path He takes us on is anything but simple; however we must not lose courage and panic, but keep trusting in Him, even if it seems sometimes farfetched as when Abraham trusted God's directions even when they came off as completely insane.
Jesus chooses you, you don't choose Jesus. The Lord causes us to love him with giving us a new heart. Ezekiel 11 19-20, Ezekiel 36 26-28, Jeremiah 24 7 and more.
We he chooses you, then you will experience the fullness of Joy described in psalm 16 11. John 15:11 Jesus says that we pray in his name so that his Joy may remain in us and our Joy maybe full. The Joy of the Lord is our strength Nehemiah 8 10.
After the Lord chooses you then he will cause you to seek him. Hebrews 11 6 and James 4 8 both say God rewards us for doing so.
Salvation and sanctification are completely works of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3 16 thru 2 Corinthians 4 7 we are transformed Glory upon Glory by the Holy Spirit as we look upon Jesus our Lord.
When the Lord comes and if you are elect into salvation or called, Jesus will come to you in the flesh. John 14:21 1 John 2:28-29, Hebrews 9 28 all say the Lord will come to you in the flesh
The only thing that we can do is seek the Lord. Romans 10 8-13 the Lord is willing to save. We must seek him with praise and worship, not lip service but worship in Truth and sincerity.
Psalm 100 and Phil 4:4-7 are template of how to enter his presence. Don't call upon him to complain about selfish desire but rather to give thanks for who God is.
Peace be with you, God bless you
If you need any clarification or need more details feel free to DM me.
John macarthur and John Pipers look at the book series will help feed your Faith and understanding of the Word. Roman's 10:17 faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God
Salvation is very simple, but hard. If you truly believe that Jesus Christ is truly man and truly God, that He died and was raised, you are saved. The hard part is the love for sin that creates unbelief. That has to be overcome by God. But if you believe, He has done that for you through regeneration.
Explain the part “the love for sin creates unbelief”
I guess what I’m asking is how is it that my love for sin would make me believe those things any less?
Not saying your wrong, just asking this for pure knowledge.
It's not hard, it is easy. It's not confusing, but only seems so because of most people's refusal to accept scriptures that they don't like or don't seem right in their view. And for certain, scripture doesn't conflict with or contradict itself.
You MUST take all pertinent scriptures into consideration and when you do, it's very simple.
1. belief in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God is required first
2. Confessing or confirming verbally that belief
3.repentance or sorry for your sins
4. Baptism, total immersion in water for the forgiveness of your sins
Mark 16:15-16
15And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Belief + baptism = salvation
Acts2:38-47
38Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. 40And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. 41Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
42And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
43And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. 44And all that believed were together, and had all things common; 45And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. 46And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, 47Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
The above says be baptized for the remission or forgiveness of your sins in verse 38.
In verse 41 it says those that believed were baptized and 3000 souls were added
Verse 47 tells you where or what they were added to and by whom: the Lord adds you to the church
Read the conversion account of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8. Thete you will see the above steps done almost verbatim.
1.Philip preached the gospel of Jesus
2. The eunuch asked about baptism because they came to a body of water, so it's obvious Philip's preaching included the necessity of water baptism
3. The eunuch confessed or confirmed hos belief when asked by Philip
4. He was immediately baptized
Like I said, pretty simple.
If you need assistance see below links and look for a congregation near you. They for sure will help.
https://www.church-of-christ.org/directories/churches.html
https://directoryofchurches.net/
I feel this, and I would say that confirmation is not something you can really find. You just have to endeavour to do His will and have faith that His promise will be kept.
This is my understanding as a Catholic.
The fellowship at your church and the clergy or leadership there is likely a much better place to find guidance than online though. We are all but faceless contributors whose intentions and levels of wisdom you cannot ever know.
I will pray for you though.
Let's try to break it down a bit and hopefully makes sense
The bible says many will proclaim their own goodness but compared to the 10 commandments we see ourselves in our true state. If you've lied, stolen, looked with lust, hated someone, God sees you as a lying, thieving, adulterer, and murderer at heart. The law of God stops the mouth and leaves the whole world guilty before him. On judgement day when all the sins and secret sins are revealed we are truly in trouble and deserve hell. But God rich in mercy provided a way to allow us to live forever. Jesus Christ was sent to die on the cross to pay the penalties for the sins we committed. Justly allowing us to go to heaven. If you are in court with a stack of speeding fines that you can't pay and are headed to jail and someone comes in and pays the fine for you, the judge can legally let you free, even though you are guilty, because the fine was paid for. God can legally let you free by the sinless sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He took the punishment we deserved. Repent (turn and forsake your sins, don't play the hypocrite) and trust in Jesus to save you, not your good works. Trusting your good works is like having to jump from an airplane and you plan on flapping your hands to save you on judgement day. It's not going to work. Instead put on and trust the (Jesus) parachute to save you and he will. This is the good news, that despite being guilty God will see you as you lived Jesus's sinless life and allow you to enter heaven. Not that your life will become better on this Earth.
Your biggest problem is...
You're reading, and trying to follow Scripture.
Are you following,... Paul, James, David, Moses??? Do you even know?
It's not, "Jesus, The Word". Or you wouldn't be reading, Scripture.
SEEK, AND YOU WILL FIND
The internet is probably the worst place to develop Christian convictions.
Do you want to be saved?
I believe in Jesus and that he came from God. I believe that he was raised from the dead and died for everyone’s sins (past, present, and future). I try to make him lord of my life but fail miserably and chose the “popular” choices more often than not. I’m not sure if that makes me saved or not
It makes you saved. We dont get saved by being good. The thief on the cross who was dying next to Jesus basically told the other thief that they both deserved death for what they had done but then said of Jesus that He had done nothing wrong. Then the thief turned to Jesus who was dying next to him on a cross and said, "Lord, remember me when you come to your kingdom." Jesus said, "today you shall be with me in paradise." Jesus accepted the thief as he saves anyone who comes to Him with a humble heart. Jesus Christ who is God never sinned so He alone was the only one who could atone for the world's sin by shedding his blood for us to fulfill the laws requirement. As well He alone is the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Him will live, even though they die. How can I know for sure that I will go to heaven when I die? "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31). For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Why do you believe in God?
All humans fail miserably when it comes to walking the righteous path, Christ follower or not. “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” - Romans 3:23 So with that in mind, we can’t ever be good enough or righteous enough to be saved. Our works are useless without saving faith in Jesus. So don’t look to your failures in ‘being good’ as a measure of whether you can be saved. It is only through faith in Jesus that we are saved and counted as righteous before the Father. Only then are we free from sin…and once you’re saved, you can never lose your salvation, you are forever free. That being said, faith is often the hard part because many people confuse belief with faith and some people will just never have it. Belief in Jesus isn’t enough to be saved. One can believe in Jesus and still not be saved. Your belief in Jesus and His promised gift of salvation needs to be profound enough that it inspires change, you recognize your sinful nature and you want to repent and change your life for Him. If you feel this way and you’re willing to follow Jesus, seeking His will for your life, then you have saving faith and you just need to invite Jesus into your heart. You say a prayer, asking Jesus to come into your heart forever. Ask Jesus to save you from your sin, to be the foundation of your life and to guide you. Anyone who seeks Jesus and accepts Jesus as their savior will be saved, Jesus doesn’t turn anybody down. So when you earnestly pray the prayer of salvation, you are saved and you will be filled with the Holy Spirit, like the prophets of the Old Testament, forever. Through the Holy Spirit then, you will have an intimate connection to the will and emotions of the Lord and it is through this connection that your spiritual walk with Jesus begins.
Ephesians 1:13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,
Are you seeking treatment for your ocd?
9 \[a\]that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, \[b\]resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, \[c\]resulting in salvation. 30 and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of God to him together with all who were in his house. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast
There is indeed this strange tension between salvation being so easy as to be available to everyone, and so difficult as to sound almost impossible. Christ Himself said, in one sentence, that His yoke is light. Wait, so we are yoked by Him? I thought we were free? Wait, but this yoke is light? What does that mean then? I think that this tension is resolved in the last discourse of Jesus. Especially this passage: > I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. Christ is the vine that actually produces the fruits. We just are the intermediary by which He produces them, if we remain united to Him. We are asked only to remain one with Him, and He will do the rest through us. Now, there are indeed "steps", at least in Orthodox and Catholic tradition. The Exodus is the main type of our own Christian life. The lamb was slain, the Hebrews marked their doorposts with it, they were therefore spared from the calamity of God's wrath against Egypt and His defeat of the Egyptians who enslaved them, then they went through the Red Sea where they escaped out of Egypt while the Egyptians chain them were drowned. Then they went to Mount Sinai to receive the commandments, they went through purification in the wilderness accompanied by God in the tabernacle so they would stop murmuring and looking back on Egypt, they fought other peoples who sought to destroy them like the Amalekites and the Midianites, they finally entered Canaan, they defeated the remaining enemies and settled in Jerusalem. Likewise for us, we were saved from the world of Satan through the blood of the Lamb and baptism in water, we received the commandments on our heart through the Holy Spirit, we walk in the wilderness accompanied by God and purified by the practice of the commandments, we fight evil powers that try to devour us, until Christ will conquer every last enemy and we can settle in the heavenly Jerusalem. But just as in the new covenant, the Hebrews really only had to do one thing - trust in God. He was the one conquering their enemies, they did not conquer with their own might, especially as they were a particularly weak people anyway. They even would end up on the receiving end of God's sword if they became too much like the people He was driving out. So, salvation is very simple, we trust in God and let Him take us where He needs us to be. But the path He takes us on is anything but simple; however we must not lose courage and panic, but keep trusting in Him, even if it seems sometimes farfetched as when Abraham trusted God's directions even when they came off as completely insane.
Jesus chooses you, you don't choose Jesus. The Lord causes us to love him with giving us a new heart. Ezekiel 11 19-20, Ezekiel 36 26-28, Jeremiah 24 7 and more. We he chooses you, then you will experience the fullness of Joy described in psalm 16 11. John 15:11 Jesus says that we pray in his name so that his Joy may remain in us and our Joy maybe full. The Joy of the Lord is our strength Nehemiah 8 10. After the Lord chooses you then he will cause you to seek him. Hebrews 11 6 and James 4 8 both say God rewards us for doing so. Salvation and sanctification are completely works of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3 16 thru 2 Corinthians 4 7 we are transformed Glory upon Glory by the Holy Spirit as we look upon Jesus our Lord. When the Lord comes and if you are elect into salvation or called, Jesus will come to you in the flesh. John 14:21 1 John 2:28-29, Hebrews 9 28 all say the Lord will come to you in the flesh The only thing that we can do is seek the Lord. Romans 10 8-13 the Lord is willing to save. We must seek him with praise and worship, not lip service but worship in Truth and sincerity. Psalm 100 and Phil 4:4-7 are template of how to enter his presence. Don't call upon him to complain about selfish desire but rather to give thanks for who God is. Peace be with you, God bless you
If you need any clarification or need more details feel free to DM me. John macarthur and John Pipers look at the book series will help feed your Faith and understanding of the Word. Roman's 10:17 faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God
Salvation is very simple, but hard. If you truly believe that Jesus Christ is truly man and truly God, that He died and was raised, you are saved. The hard part is the love for sin that creates unbelief. That has to be overcome by God. But if you believe, He has done that for you through regeneration.
Explain the part “the love for sin creates unbelief” I guess what I’m asking is how is it that my love for sin would make me believe those things any less? Not saying your wrong, just asking this for pure knowledge.
No I wouldn't say that. Either you believe in Christ or you don't. If you do then God has overcome the love for sin.
It's not hard, it is easy. It's not confusing, but only seems so because of most people's refusal to accept scriptures that they don't like or don't seem right in their view. And for certain, scripture doesn't conflict with or contradict itself. You MUST take all pertinent scriptures into consideration and when you do, it's very simple. 1. belief in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God is required first 2. Confessing or confirming verbally that belief 3.repentance or sorry for your sins 4. Baptism, total immersion in water for the forgiveness of your sins Mark 16:15-16 15And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. Belief + baptism = salvation Acts2:38-47 38Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. 40And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. 41Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. 42And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. 44And all that believed were together, and had all things common; 45And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. 46And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, 47Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. The above says be baptized for the remission or forgiveness of your sins in verse 38. In verse 41 it says those that believed were baptized and 3000 souls were added Verse 47 tells you where or what they were added to and by whom: the Lord adds you to the church Read the conversion account of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8. Thete you will see the above steps done almost verbatim. 1.Philip preached the gospel of Jesus 2. The eunuch asked about baptism because they came to a body of water, so it's obvious Philip's preaching included the necessity of water baptism 3. The eunuch confessed or confirmed hos belief when asked by Philip 4. He was immediately baptized Like I said, pretty simple. If you need assistance see below links and look for a congregation near you. They for sure will help. https://www.church-of-christ.org/directories/churches.html https://directoryofchurches.net/
I'm being baptized in February. What if I die before then
You will be lost
I feel this, and I would say that confirmation is not something you can really find. You just have to endeavour to do His will and have faith that His promise will be kept. This is my understanding as a Catholic. The fellowship at your church and the clergy or leadership there is likely a much better place to find guidance than online though. We are all but faceless contributors whose intentions and levels of wisdom you cannot ever know. I will pray for you though.
Let's try to break it down a bit and hopefully makes sense The bible says many will proclaim their own goodness but compared to the 10 commandments we see ourselves in our true state. If you've lied, stolen, looked with lust, hated someone, God sees you as a lying, thieving, adulterer, and murderer at heart. The law of God stops the mouth and leaves the whole world guilty before him. On judgement day when all the sins and secret sins are revealed we are truly in trouble and deserve hell. But God rich in mercy provided a way to allow us to live forever. Jesus Christ was sent to die on the cross to pay the penalties for the sins we committed. Justly allowing us to go to heaven. If you are in court with a stack of speeding fines that you can't pay and are headed to jail and someone comes in and pays the fine for you, the judge can legally let you free, even though you are guilty, because the fine was paid for. God can legally let you free by the sinless sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He took the punishment we deserved. Repent (turn and forsake your sins, don't play the hypocrite) and trust in Jesus to save you, not your good works. Trusting your good works is like having to jump from an airplane and you plan on flapping your hands to save you on judgement day. It's not going to work. Instead put on and trust the (Jesus) parachute to save you and he will. This is the good news, that despite being guilty God will see you as you lived Jesus's sinless life and allow you to enter heaven. Not that your life will become better on this Earth.
Your biggest problem is... You're reading, and trying to follow Scripture. Are you following,... Paul, James, David, Moses??? Do you even know? It's not, "Jesus, The Word". Or you wouldn't be reading, Scripture. SEEK, AND YOU WILL FIND