“The Stable Word”

Friday, July 27, 2012

    I know you probably hear this a lot.  In 1986, I know without a doubt, Jesus saved me.  I had no fear of dying.  I prayed to Jesus all night that night to just take me on home.  I was that positive where I was going, no doubting, not even scared.  But after about a year, I got out of church, got married, had children, then went back to church, got to witness my wife getting saved, and stayed in church.  After that, not to give the devil any praise, I got to doubting my salvation so bad it got me out of church again, this time for about 20+ years.  Now we are back in church, but I just don't seem to have the assurance about being saved like I did when I first got saved… or did I get saved at all?  The devil still makes me doubt now and again, but I still keep going.  I see a lot of people shouting in our church, but I don't feel the need to shout like that.  It’s tough; I just want to feel what I felt when I first got saved, no doubting, no fear, full of confidence, knowing where I would go if something happened to me.  My mind is just back and forth, back and forth.  Our preacher says things like, “You feel in your heart before you do in your mind.”  I don't know what that means.  Thank you for your time.  God bless.

Sincerely,
Unstable Soul

Dear Unstable Soul,

It sounds like you are using your personal experiences and feelings as the judge of whether or not you are saved.  This is a very common thing to do, but it isn’t the correct gauge of our salvation.  Some people feel confident that they are saved when, in fact, they are lost (Matt 7:21-23).  Others’ hearts condemn them while they are actually saved (1 Jn 3:19-21).  It is our adherence to God’s Word that saves us (Rom 1:16), not how we feel about the issue.  If you are doing what God says you must do to be saved, then you can have confidence regardless of how you feel (see “What Must I Do To Be Saved?” for further details).

This church you are attending is emphasizing feelings over faith.  Faith is a concrete thing that is objective, not subjective.  Faith comes from hearing God’s Word and then living by that Word (Rom 10:17).  We can find true confidence when we can read from God’s Word and then see that our life matches it.  This preacher is teaching the opposite.  Time to find a church that gives you book, chapter, and verse to place your confidence in.  We know of many congregations like this all around the country.  We’d be happy to get you in touch with someone locally if you’d like.  Our email is askyourpreacher@mvchurchofchrist.org.

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