All #ourCOG News 5.0
CHRISTIANS, have you been
SAVED or SELF-DECEIVED?
It was a rude awakening for me upon realizing the “gospel” that I had been taught and lived by my entire life, was not the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was an even harsher awakening when I had to reflect deeply on whether I had truly been saved; I was absolutely convinced that I was. Scripture literally says:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God..”
What made me realize that I was not living of the true Gospel was when I finally read and studied the Bible for myself. I realized what was actually required of a believer. And no, I am NOT by any means suggesting that salvation requires anything more than the grace of God and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel is perfect in its simplicity. But salvation does not stop at having faith in Jesus and then no real change in the life of the Christian. It requires that we are born again. But what does this really mean?
(Matthew 7:21-23)
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
“You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that–and shudder.” (James 1:9)
We are saved by a LIVING faith. You will know this by the good fruits it produces.
Believing in Christ but continuing to live by your formal life is a dead faith. You are not saved with a dead faith.
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.
For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:13-14).
The narrow gate is hard to find and hard to cross through because it REQUIRES:
•denial of self
•denial of self-righteousness
•recognition of sin
•full repentance
•submission to Christ
•commitment to obey Him
•follow him no matter what the cost
It requires you to be born again. Faith requires you to hand over your own life. Dead to sin, dead to our past lives. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. This is what is required to be a Christian.
Many believers will fall away especially in the end times. Why? Because it is difficult to be a Christian. When you realize the kind of faith that God requires of us- a faith that must totally deny the self, a life that is no longer our own, a faith that obeys Christ all the way to death, well.. many people aren’t up for that.
I pray that everyone will understand what true faith in Christ means. I lived a life fully convinced that I was saved.
Many people are on the road with the sign that says “Heaven” but actually leads to Hell.
The Bible says that “MANY” will say before God on judgement day, “Lord, Lord, have I not prophesied in Your name..”
To which they will be told by God, “I never knew you; depart from Me..”
This is truly a nightmare for so many people, who after death, think they are about to enter into heaven but instead they will be in hell. When I realized that I had most likely convinced myself that I was saved, and probably not saved, I was utterly paralyzed with fear. I stayed up for 3 consecutive nights reading and studying the bible. Because…
this is a matter of heaven or hell.
Please.. Do not settle for assuming that you are saved simply on the basis of a prayer you prayed asking Christ into your heart, believing in the Lord, were baptized, lived a righteous life, asked God for forgiveness, or any of these things but still live the life you once lived.
But with this being said, if your faith in Christ is alive and true, and you have been truly born again in the spirit, the bible says you have been sealed; we can have full assurance that we are saved.
Comments