Salvation In Relation To A Feeling...

[swathdiver]

When I stray from God, my sense of joy and peace departs.  Then I will hear the voice of God again calling me to listen to him and follow.  When I do, the sense of peace and joy returns.  

 

Salvation happened to me when I first answered the call of God to follow Christ.  It continues to happen to me each day as God continues to work on my imperfections. 

 

And boy do you have a lot of imperfections KOB!  About half as many as me though!  

 

Mother's day, May 11th, 1986. The church sang "Love Lifted Me", then Bro. Billy Parsons preached a message entitled "The Lord is My Shepherd" from the 23rd Psalm. with the glow of God on his face and tears in his eyes(full of the Holy Ghost I believe). When the invitation came,  I think the first verse, I made my way to the end of the pew on the left side of the little church and was screaming "JESUS!!!!" before I could even get to the aisle.I had a welling up inside like I could just BUST for weeks after. I had to go to work that Sunday afternoon, and I went straight to my boss and told him what happened to me. That's the way it was. 

 

Glory to God for saving each of us!  Glory to Jesus for taking the blame for each of us, who don't deserve his grace.  The gift is too great for me to even comprehend.

 

As for the hymn, that is another one of my favorites that our local church sings quite often!  It's in the Majesty Hymn book too.

[No Nicolaitans]

Thanks everyone...it was interesting and a joy to read each person's "experience".  We may not all have the same experience, nor does the presence of (or lack of) a certain type of feeling indicate whether someone is truly saved.

 

I still remember that after I was saved...even while experiencing those doubts because I didn't "feel him come in"...there was something in my life that I can only describe as "an innocent freshness".  We truly do become a new creature...what a God we serve!

 

Thanks again for everyone's input, and may the Lord bless each of you.

[LindaR]

If salvation was based on "feelings" and "experiences" there would probably be alot of people wondering if they "lost" their salvation if the "feelings" and "experiences" weren't there like they were when those people first trusted Christ.  Salvation is based on what Christ has already done for us (His finished work on the cross of Calvary and His resurrection from the dead on the third day)....not on our "feelings" and "experiences". 

 

Romans 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Romans 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Romans 10:11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Romans 10:12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Romans 10:14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
Romans 10:15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
Romans 10:16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

 

After about 8 months of listening to my neighbor share the Scriptures about Jesus Christ and what He did for me, I believed the truth of those Scriptures and trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour and Lord. 

 

Titus 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

[Anon]

I think this is a great topic.

I actually remember my feelings of conviction more than I remember any "Feeling" of being saved. I was in Jr. Church and I was fairly new to church, maybe two months. And for like 2-3 weeks when they would ask for kids to come forward to wanted to be saved, I would raise my hand but then I was shy so I would be too scared to go forward. But I remember getting all sweaty and my heart would beat faster knowing I needed to be saved but too terrified to go forward. Then one week they changed it and told us to stay in our seats. That I could do...but I sat there with my head on the desk and my eyes squeezed tightly shut until someone came to talk with me. The conviction was very powerful and I will never forget it.

However the doubts started soon after! I remember being worried that my parents would not find me in the back room. I vaguely remember the teacher taking me through Scripture, although I knew the verses by then (thus the conviction). And the worst part is that he had me copy a prayer. I was really happy afterwards, but my mom tells me that even when I got home, I wanted to pray again because I was afraid that the copied prayer wasn't "good enough".

And then my dear old pastor, before baptizing me, said "Are you sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that you're saved?" And I was such a literal person that I started thinking inside, "Well...I mean...a SHADOW of a doubt....there might be a SHADOW of doubt, I mean, it's a scary thing to not want to go to hell....but I know I asked Jesus to forgive my sins....and I meant it....but a shadow? I guess I have a shadow of a doubt..." (I was 8) Of course I didn't say so though.

As a teen I prayed with my youth pastor again. I felt a little better but not what I thought I should feel like.

I've had to come to the conclusion that as others have said...you can't rely on "feelings" but you have to rely on the Word of God. It's not what "we did" but what HE did. If it was what we did, we'd have to constantly be afraid that we didn't say the right words, or get enough forgiveness, or have enough faith. But if it is what HE did, then we can rest in that.

[John81]

I think most, if not all of us, have had times when we wondered about our salvation. That's one of the devils favorite tactics, to make us question whether we are saved or not. Such thoughts would come upon me from time to time the first two or three years after I was saved and they really bothered me. It wasn't until a Baptist pastor walked me through what it means to be saved, and after that we both agreed that I was indeed biblically saved. Then he explained to me the doctrine of "once saved, always saved" and that made such a difference! No more doubts, no more worry. Praise God!

[Salyan]

I think this is a great topic.

I actually remember my feelings of conviction more than I remember any "Feeling" of being saved. I was in Jr. Church and I was fairly new to church, maybe two months. And for like 2-3 weeks when they would ask for kids to come forward to wanted to be saved, I would raise my hand but then I was shy so I would be too scared to go forward. But I remember getting all sweaty and my heart would beat faster knowing I needed to be saved but too terrified to go forward. Then one week they changed it and told us to stay in our seats. That I could do...but I sat there with my head on the desk and my eyes squeezed tightly shut until someone came to talk with me. The conviction was very powerful and I will never forget it.

However the doubts started soon after! I remember being worried that my parents would not find me in the back room. I vaguely remember the teacher taking me through Scripture, although I knew the verses by then (thus the conviction). And the worst part is that he had me copy a prayer. I was really happy afterwards, but my mom tells me that even when I got home, I wanted to pray again because I was afraid that the copied prayer wasn't "good enough".

And then my dear old pastor, before baptizing me, said "Are you sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that you're saved?" And I was such a literal person that I started thinking inside, "Well...I mean...a SHADOW of a doubt....there might be a SHADOW of doubt, I mean, it's a scary thing to not want to go to hell....but I know I asked Jesus to forgive my sins....and I meant it....but a shadow? I guess I have a shadow of a doubt..." (I was 8) Of course I didn't say so though.

As a teen I prayed with my youth pastor again. I felt a little better but not what I thought I should feel like.

I've had to come to the conclusion that as others have said...you can't rely on "feelings" but you have to rely on the Word of God. It's not what "we did" but what HE did. If it was what we did, we'd have to constantly be afraid that we didn't say the right words, or get enough forgiveness, or have enough faith. But if it is what HE did, then we can rest in that.

Amen! That's exactly it. After I came to this IFB church and started learning more thoroughly about repentance and theology, I went through an extensive period of doubt. Did I repent enough? Did I truly believe? It didn't help that I don't remember the time Mom told me I prayed for salvation when I was four. I'd 'made sure' once or twice since then, but I honestly can't tell you when I first believed into salvation - I still don't know! (Makes for interesting responses come testimony time, let me tell you.) it wasn't until I finally gave up 'checking' on myself and decided to simply lean on what God said - whosoever shall call shall be saved - and I knew I understood what must be understood there - and just trust that since I called, He saved me - that I finally had assurance. And that took a little while of remembering to trust His Word instead of dwelling on doubts - this whole thing was about two years long. Salvation comes by trusting Him, and assurance by trusting His Word.

[Alimantado]

As Kitagirl says, a great thread. All testimonies of God's mercy, and Jesus' work on the cross. Praise God! It's such a shame people don't share their experiences more often--or maybe they do but I'm not reading the give God the praise section enough!

 

Also like Kitagirl, the feelings I remember most are the feelings of conviction--so strong I was becoming quite desparate. So when I did believe and was saved inevitably I felt relief. I really like NoNicolaitans phrase "innocent freshness"--I think I felt some of that too. But as others have said, whatever the feelings were, the reality is what actually happened and what was done for us 2,000 years ago.

 

Strangely, I ended up inadvertently blogging my salvation experience >on this forum, over two years ago now. Wow, a funny thing to read. What kind and supportive people you all are.