These are a few questions that have been stirring in my mind for several months.
1.Can one actually receive Christ and not live for Him until years later?
2.Can the Holy Spirit dwell in someone for 5, 10, 15 years and it not change a person?
3.What does it mean when someone says "I have been saved for many years, but NOW I'm ready to get serious about my faith?" or "get serious with God"
Many people state a similar tale.... Raised in Christian home, saved at an early age, lived like a "normal" teen, experimented in college, got married and had some kids, and NOW I want to get real with God. This concept is somewhat disturbing to me. It is disturbing because that is how I was living my life for so long.
Have you ever made a profession of faith? If you have look at your life 5 years after that moment..... are you 5 years more worldly? or 5 years more Christ like? do the same thing for 10 years? 15 years? And so on...
God starts working on or molding His children the moment they become saved. I made a profession of faith when I was 7 years old. At the age of 17 I should have had 10 years of evidence of shedding the world and 10 years of putting on Christ. Well, I was not that at all. I was 10 years more like the world. I looked, talked, and thought worldly. To me that just proves that I was lacking something or I should say someONE and that was Jesus.
But the good news is that God broke my stony heart with His word and I was saved by grace!
1.Can one actually receive Christ and not live for Him until years later?
2.Can the Holy Spirit dwell in someone for 5, 10, 15 years and it not change a person?
3.What does it mean when someone says "I have been saved for many years, but NOW I'm ready to get serious about my faith?" or "get serious with God"
Many people state a similar tale.... Raised in Christian home, saved at an early age, lived like a "normal" teen, experimented in college, got married and had some kids, and NOW I want to get real with God. This concept is somewhat disturbing to me. It is disturbing because that is how I was living my life for so long.
Have you ever made a profession of faith? If you have look at your life 5 years after that moment..... are you 5 years more worldly? or 5 years more Christ like? do the same thing for 10 years? 15 years? And so on...
God starts working on or molding His children the moment they become saved. I made a profession of faith when I was 7 years old. At the age of 17 I should have had 10 years of evidence of shedding the world and 10 years of putting on Christ. Well, I was not that at all. I was 10 years more like the world. I looked, talked, and thought worldly. To me that just proves that I was lacking something or I should say someONE and that was Jesus.
But the good news is that God broke my stony heart with His word and I was saved by grace!
Comments
All of this being said, I just want to end on this note: Praise God for His sacrifice, and for His willingness to save children and grown-ups alike, and for allowing a place such as our blogs to discuss these issues that trouble us. Edify one another!!!! Hope this helped, Linda.
It's indeed possible to give your life to Christ and then to be deceived or fall into sin and not experience growth for years. However, it's obviously not optimal.
In fact, the clear expectation of the scriptures is that a person who has been born again will proceed on toward maturity in Christ.
The difference is the result of sin, Satan and a fallen world.
The Holy Spirit will not change an unwilling heart. We must submit to Him. The amazing grace of God is evidenced in our lives by His unwillingness to leave us during our times of sin - whether brief or prolonged. We remain firmly His because of the astounding sufficiency of His sacrifice.
However, I DO believe strongly that there are many people are more "Christianized" than actual Christ-followers. These are folks who are attempting to live the Christian life apart from being born again.
These folks look like passionate Christ followers at times, showing up in all the right places and saying all the right things, but they are living the Christian moral code and not a life of faith and humility and trust in Christ for their righteousness.
Whew... I may have to followup on this as a blog entry of my own.
Great post!!! Thanks for making us all think deeply.
Will God not take his child home if they do?
Thanks again guys! I love these discussions.
I also agree with Jeff that some of us THINK we had a saving experience but in truth didn't. We often discuss in our Sunday School class that we "play church." That is something only the person involved and God can determine.
Great discussion!
I might use that on my own blog...I'll reference it with "---Jeff..." just to give you props! haha
My point of this ridiculously long comment is that I believe the Bible teaches us that even as Christians we'll never be able to live a perfect life. However, during our times of struggle when our Christian life isn't what it should be, God knows just how teach you to lean more on Him, trust more in Him, and follow Him better.
Can you all do me a favor? I believe most of you have my email address if not get it from Lele. Can you send me some scripture regarding children of God living in sin? You can just send me the book and chapter. If you include the verse I will end up reading the whole chapter anyway, because context is VERY important. I know zilch (sp) about the Bible. Its strange, but true. I have been studying it and I am amazed by the things I have found. So, if any of you have the time please send that to my email address or if you want you can post it here. Its just whatever you want. Thanks and I really appreciate the comments. ><>
i struggled with this question for quite a long time. i was raised catholic and stayed there until i was in my late teens.
at 20 i had what i then considered to be a conversion experience, mainly out of a desperate situation wherein i told God that i'd made a mess of my life and i could no longer live it trying to do it my way. and for a while i did make some changes and did my best to live a better life. lacking any type of discipleship or accountability system, that all fell by the wayside.
at age 30, i called myself rededicating my life to Christ, but in the last couple of years as i've made a brutally honest reassessment of those events, i've come to the realization that i was actually saved at 30. whatever i thought had happened when i was 20, there was no evidence of Jesus living in me in the way i conducted my life for the next 10 years. in fact i know some of the things i'd done after i supposedly got saved at 20 were far more vile than the things i was doing before that time.
not saying i was or wasnt saved because of my works, but the lack of works was evidence that i was NOT saved.