I spent the first weekend of October in central Arkansas, visiting old friends and former students at Homecoming:
I am relishing having my family nearby:
My work life has improved immensely over the past two weeks, and because I have no shame, meet Mooogan:
I brought home this lovely Scentsy today! It's the little things, you know?
I am eagerly awaiting the return of this:
And I am becoming a member of Crosschurch soon. Just a minor hangup... it's Baptist, and I grew up attending an Assemblies of God church. Because of this "minor hangup," I need to be re-baptized. I've been stubborn about it, but my heart is slowly changing.
Most AG believe that salvation is not eternal; it can be lost. Baptists believe in "eternal security," meaning salvation cannot be earned, and therefore cannot be lost. It is freely given. Where do I stand? According to scriptures, salvation is freely given. There is no argument. It is actually a non-issue.
But here's the deal: I cannot grasp it. I want so badly to believe that if you are "saved" at the age of 7, then live your life as though Christ doesn't even exist, that you are not worthy of eternity with Christ. The truth is that you aren't, and neither is the one who follows Christ relentlessly. I get too caught up trying to figure out how it works. I find myself wanting a clear distinction between true Christ-followers and those who only claim to be.
Praise God He is not that way, though. We'd all be condemned to Hell (which I believed was true for too long)! I still have questions, of course. My mind will never fathom nor grasp it all, but that is not what I was created to do.
Hmmm... I never knew about that distinct difference between the two denominations. I suppose I lean more towards the AGs though. True, no good works of ours can "earn" us our salvation. But if we take Him on as our Savior and then go on living a life in which our actions deny Christ, we haven't transformed at all. Baptism signifies that we've died and buried our old self. And I take John 14:15 very seriously where Jesus says, "If you love me, you will obey my commands." I believe the converse of that is true as well... "If you do not obey my commands, you do not love me." I know that comes across as harsh, because we all mess up and disobey... and I'm not talking about believers who struggle, fail, and truly repent. I'm talking rather, about the choice to live a life that denies Christ by disobeying him. As "saved" people, we are no longer our own. We've been bought by Christ. Our words are one thing, but if, by our lives, we show that we belong to the Prince of this World, I believe we indeed endanger our salvation.
ReplyDeleteJust some thoughts. Thanks for sharing your journey.
One more thought on that... you mention wanting a distinction between the true Christ-followers and those who only claim to be. And I agree that it's definitely not our place as humans to attempt to make that distinction. But God, on the other hand, is supremely capable of making it... and make no mistake, He does. Motive is HUGE to him, and we read in Scripture that God sees not what is outside, but what is in the heart. What is present in our Heart is what he looks at. Not our "worthiness", because as you said, not a one of us is worthy. But our "brokenness" and true repentance, the kind that starts in the heart and moves outward so that it changes our actions. My thankfulness and confidence comes from the fact that I know that if my heart belongs to him, there is NO condemnation for me, regardless of my failures. But the flipside to that glorious truth is that if in my heart I deny and reject him, He sees all the way to my core... and any actions of mine, even good behavior, cannot save me then.
ReplyDeleteOk, sorry for the novel! Hope it doesn't bug you that I commented twice.