Friday, December 30, 2011
Repentance
Have you ever wondered if you had "done it right" when you trusted in Christ for your eternal salvation? I will admit to having had doubts and fears to run through my mind over this issue in the past. But a friend and brother in Christ as well as a fellow blogger has helped me see that faith doesn't look inward at itself, but upward to Christ and beholds Him. In sharing the Gospel with someone, a certain person seemed to have trusted Christ, but later he began to have these doubts and fears as to whether he had "done it right" or not. The main issue in his mind was that this was eternity in question, and it better be right! He was right in that he understood the importance of the matter, but there was something that he was missing, something very important. This person understood that God loved him. He understood that God had done everything to make His gift of salvation available to him, and anyone that wanted it, but the one thing he was terribly unsure of was how to get it. I asked him if he wanted to be saved, and he desperately did. I asked him to think logically about it for a moment, and he did. I said that God being God, knew that he wanted desperately to be saved. Also, I asked him if it made any sense that the God of love who had gone to the great lengths He had to make salvation available to him, would then say, "I'm sorry, but you didn't do it just right when you received My gift of salvation, so you can't have it." He agrees that it would make no sense whatsoever, and it seemed that it was at this point that the "light" came on and he rejoiced in his salvation! The beautiful thing is that God has done it all, and therefore it is out of our hands, except to just accept that it is ours through Christ. I offer that this is true Biblical repentance unto salvation. This dear soul changed his mind, realized who God really was, he already knew he was a sinner and needed Christ, and now he had received what Christ had already done for him! Folks, this is really Good News! God bless you all.
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9 comments:
Excellent Brother David!
I like:
"I'm sorry, but you didn't do it just right when you received My gift of salvation, so you can't have it."
That's it!! This is the little unfinished business that people are trying to complete before they will accept they are saved. They are "trying" to do it right, rather than behold Him who had done it right.
Salvation is about what God has DONE, and not what man will DO. My faith beholds the done, and does not look within and ask, "Did I do enough of it (faith, repentance)?" Anytime I ask, "Did I do enough?" will ALWAYS result in doubt.
We can never know if we have done enough, but we can always know that He has done it all in our place. I am never asked to do a certain amount of anything to be saved, as there is no quantity of faith required. It is simply either accepting what is already mine, or saying, "No thank you! I will do it myself."
To me, faith is saying "Thank you!" for a gift that requires nothing from me. God is never stingy, but His compassion fails not ever.
Happy New Year!
Dave
Thanks Bro. David,
Biblical Repentance (a change of mind) is so simple and easy to comprehend in light of God's Grace -- yet we see secular dictionaries, confused preachers and dishonest religions making it difficult to understand.
In Jesus Christ eternally, Jack
Bros. Jack & dave,
You are both such a blessing to me. I am so thankful our Savior has made salvation a completed work that we just take! I'm also thankful He has brought us together as Christian brothers. God Bless you both as well as your loved ones in '12!
Excellent post. I've made that same mistake as this guy, I heard the illustration that faith is like a healthy eyesight - it is forgotten in the ease of it's use and looks at the object outward rather than inward.
So good bro. Chris! I love the part about it being forgotten in the ease of its use! It's Object is certainly outward! Then He comes IN when we receive Him! Good post! God Bless.
Dave, I am confused about something you wrote. You said that you used to have doubts and fears about this issue. Then, you discussed someone else that had doubts and fears regarding this same issue.
When the person you were counseling got past his doubts and fears,you characterized it as repentance unto salvation.
When you overcame your doubts and fears on this issue, was it repentance unto salvation for you also?
Thanks. john
Hi John,
Fair question! Glad you asked. No, I had at one time clearly trusted the Lord but through some faulty thinking, and looking too much inward at my own failings rather than toward my Savior, I became confused and fearful. Thankfully, some dear brothers and sisters in Christ helped me to get back onto solid ground in my thinking. This person I referenced had never come to that point as far as I know of having assurance in their relationship with Christ until that point. So, as far as I know, this was the point of salvation for him. Thanks for asking! God Bless.
Thanks Dave! John
My pleasure, bro. John!
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