Losing Your Salvation

I used to fear that the things I've done since I've become a Christian were bad enough for God to take away my salvation. Deep down, I know this is ridiculous, but nevertheless I still have that fear. Verses like 2Peter 2:20-21 which says, "If they've escaped from the slum of sin by experiencing our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ, and then slid back into that same old life again, they're worse than if they had never left. Better not to have started out on the straight road to God than to start out and then turn back, repudiating the experience and the holy command," only intensified my fears. The key word in this verse is "repudiate." This word has 5 different meanings:

1) to claim as having no authority or binding force
2) to cast off or disown
3) to reject with disapproval or condemnation
4) to reject with denial
5) to refuse to acknowledge and pay a debt, as a state, municipality, etc.

In other words, the only way to lose your salvation is to reject God; He doesn't reject you. It starts when people slide back into their old sinful lifestyle, which means they are using definition #1 and saying that God has no authority or binding force over them and His commands don't matter. As the Casting Crowns song says, it's a "slow fade."

Another way to think of this is through the analogy of adoption. The Bible says that God has adopted us as His children. That means that He chose us. What would you think of a parent who adopted a child and then disowned it because it was too bad? If we as humans can't imagine doing something like that, why would God do that? We are the ones who leave Him, He never leaves us. As Hebrews 13:5b says, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

2Peter 1:5 says, "So don't lose a minute in building on what you've been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others." Verse 9 says, "Without these qualities you can't see what's right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books." What Peter is saying here is that after you become a Christian, you can't just stay the way you are. It is important to keep striving to be better in all the areas that he mentioned, or you will not be able to see the evidence of the Holy Spirit's work in your life. You won't be able to see that you are no longer a slave to sin. Jesus died to save us from sin - we don't have to do it anymore!

Turning the Other Cheek

The hardest thing about being a Christian is learning to deal with criticism and persecution. Jesus teaches us to "turn the other cheek" and not fight back when people do us wrong. Everything in our nature wants to fight back, but this is not the right thing to do. The reason is that God wants to set things right for us. That is why Jesus was willing to die on the cross for us, because He was "content to let God set things right" as 1Peter 2:23 says. This is the example we must follow, no matter how hard it is. If Jesus could suffer through the cross for us, we can do this for Him. Not that we are doing it to earn His grace, but we are doing it out of gratitude for what He did for us.

Forgiveness is Not a License to Sin

Many Christians, including myself, fall into the trap of thinking that because God forgives our sins, it's ok to sin. This is not true at all. God sent Jesus to die for us to get rid of our sins, and He does not condone them by any means. Sin separated us from God and caused us to die; why would it be ok now that we're Christians? While no one can ever be perfect, we should still try to be. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we become His disciples. We learn as much as we can about His life on Earth and try to live like He did. We make mistakes, but we get better and better at it and sin less and less. We should constantly be striving to be better. The main thing is the attitude. As 1Peter1:17 says, "You call out to God for help and He helps-He's a good Father that way. But don't forget, he's also a responsible Father, and won't let you get by with sloppy living." God doesn't punish us, but He does train us to be like Jesus, and that means He won't let us get by with living in sin.

Blessings

Sometimes life is hard. During those times, it's easy to get down and just think about all the bad things that are going on. But the best thing you can do is to focus on all the blessings in your life. For example, family, friends, health, having enough food, shelter, clothing, and even just being alive is a huge blessing. Things are never that bad. We tend to focus more on the bad things because we don't like them, even though they usually only make up a very small part of our lives. You can have a perfectly good day, but one bad thing can happen and most people would describe their day as bad because of that one thing. Really everything about the day was good except that one thing. Positive thinking doesn't come naturally to most people, so it's something you have to make yourself do. If you ever catch yourself giving in to despair and disappointment, make yourself count your blessings. Eventually it will become a habit. When bad things do happen, remember Matthew 5:3-12:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

How to Become a Christian

The first step to becoming a Christian is to admit that you're a sinner. You have to understand that some of the things you do, things the Bible says are sin, are wrong and that you can't live in sin anymore. Romans 3:23 says, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

You also have to understand that sin brings death, not only of the body but of the spirit also. People who are not saved will die because of their sins and live in eternal torment in hell. Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Revelation 20:15 says, "If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." The good news is the second part of Romans 6:23, which is that God has given us the free gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus. This is not something you can earn because no human can be perfect, but it is a gift you can receive if you are willing.

Under the Jewish religion, people had to sacrifice animals to be forgiven of their sins. When Jesus (God's Son who became human and sacrificed Himself on the cross for our sins) died for us, he became the perfect sacrifice for all the sins of all mankind. Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." God knows we can't be perfect, so He sent Jesus to save us from hell. Jesus, although innocent, was convicted by the Romans and the Jews and sentenced to death on the cross. While it was unfair, God planned for it to happen to save us. On the cross, Jesus took all of our sins upon Himself. He died and His body was placed in a tomb and guarded. Three days later God raised Him from the dead. The stone had been rolled away from the tomb and angels appeared to everyone who went to the tomb looking for Him. He also appeared to His disciples several times before they witnessed Him ascending into Heaven. All of this can be found in the books Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in the Bible.

What do you have to do to be saved? "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved"(Romans 10:13). "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved"(Romans 10:9-10). "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne"(Revelation 3:20-21). In other words, you have to follow each of these steps and then pray a simple prayer. An example would be:
Dear God, I know that I am a sinner and that the wages of sin is death. I ask you to forgive me of all my sins. I believe that you sent Jesus to die on the cross to save me from hell and to give me eternal life. Please come into my life and change me into who You want me to be. I know I can never be good enough to earn your grace, but I accept it as a free gift. Train me to follow your ways. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

After praying this prayer, you need to join a church, be baptized, and read the Bible as much as possible.

Lemonade

Another reason I believe I struggled with depression for so long is because of my negative thinking style. I've heard the saying "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade" before but never really understood what it meant. When life gave me lemons, I would bite into them and suck all the juice out. In other words, I kept thinking about my problems and how bad and unfair everything was. Then I got to where I put a negative spin on everything, even good things. After a while I was completely bitter and sour and stuck in my condition. I prayed to God for help, and he got me out. And I finally figured out how to make lemonade with my lemons. Lemonade is made of lemon juice and sugar. To make "lemonade" out of bad situations, you have to add sugar. In other words, think of all the things you have to be grateful for, all the things that have gone right, and how nothing bad lasts forever. Things always get better unless you believe they won't. Psalms 91:14-16 says, "'If you'll hold on to me for dear life,' says God, 'I'll get you out of any trouble. I'll give you the best of care if you'll only get to know and trust me. Call me and I'll answer, be at your side in bad times; I'll rescue you, then throw you a party. I'll give you a long life, give you a long drink of salvation!'" While God does not promise that bad things will never happen to you, he does promise that he will rescue you and repay you, or "throw you a party."

Keep Your Eyes on Jesus

I was depressed for about 7 years, mostly during high school. All my friends had moved away or stopped liking me and I was not getting along with my parents at all. I always felt bad because I knew I should be out there living for God, but all I did was sit in my room. I thought something was wrong with me. How could a Christian become depressed? I think there were several reasons, but the main one was that I took my eyes off Jesus. Matthew 14:22-36 tells the story of Jesus walking on the water after he had risen from the dead. His disciples were fishing when he walked up to them. They thought He was a ghost until He told them not to be afraid. Peter said, "Master, if it's really you, call me to come to you on the water." So Jesus did and Peter jumped out of the boat and started walking on the water...that is until he took his eyes off Jesus and looked at the waves. Then he panicked and started sinking. He called out to Jesus to save him, and Jesus pulled him out. The reason I believe I became depressed was because I took my eyes off Jesus and looked down at the waves (my problems) all around me. I panicked and started sinking. However, instead of asking Jesus to help me, I just wallowed in self-pity. I also tried many different things to cure me of my depression, none of which worked. Finally I realized that I was doing the wrong thing: I needed to turn my problem over to God and allow him to pull me out of the water. I couldn't get out myself. I am not completely better yet, but for the first time in a long time I am seeing results - and they are lasting. This problem has gone on so long that it will probably take some time to fix, but I have no doubt that God will save me.

June 22, 2009

Being raised by Christian parents, I've never known any other way to be. I officially accepted Jesus as my Savior when I was 10 years old. It was the best decision I've ever made, and I was ready to spread the Gospel and change the world. However, there were a few things that I did not fully understand. For one thing, if Jesus had saved me from sin, why did I still sin? And since I did still sin, did that mean I was not really saved? I have learned over time that being saved is kind of a two-part process. When you accept Jesus into your heart He immediately takes control of your life and saves you from hell. Then the second part begins. This part is a process that happens over the rest of your life where Jesus "cleans house" and you gradually sin less and less. Being saved does not depend on what you do, it depends on what God does. God doesn't stop loving you when you sin. As Psalms 31:23 says, "Love God, all you saints; God takes care of all who stay close to Him, but he pays back in full those arrogant enough to go it alone." Being saved is about admitting that you can't overcome sin on your own and staying close to God so he can do His work in you. As Romans 8:9(?) says, "You're not 'doing' anything; you're simply calling out to God, trusting Him to do it for you. That's salvation."