Once a Sheep Always a Sheep, or Salvation Deficit Disorder?

[RickyD]

One has to be careful of teachings that add to the idea of "by grace through faith;" the teaching of "Lordship Salvation" is one of those. I don't know if that is what you are hinting at here; but that is one of the very things that can lead people to doubt their salvation.

From the moment you turn to Christ and trust Him, is the moment you are saved. No one else can know if you put your faith on and in Christ and His sacrifice; only the person in the relationship can know that. The OP sounds as though they did indeed trust in Jesus, and call upon Him. Know that you are sealed at that point and nothing can separate you from God; you are one of His sheep and if you should stray HE comes to find you.

Much of the guilt is a good thing; it reminds us not to plug our spiritual ears, but to listen to the Shepherd's voice. However, you also cannot let guilt interfere in your relationship with God. He is the great forgiver, and if you ask Him to forgive, then it is done; finished, forgotten. Once you are adopted into Christ's family, God is your loving Father Who wants a relationship with you! Remember it is by grace through faith that you are saved, and keep your ears open for His voice, and don't turn your back on His Love because of guilt that you cling to.

I wasn't doing anything like that. {mod snip}

[HeIsEnough]

So what can i conclude, i feel like i cannot go forward, but i cannot go backward.

You feel you cannot go back, perhaps because you are dead to sin. In ignorance, sin is easy. Once you're enlightened, in only brings guilt and shame, or worse. That is what I would call dead to sin.

I would suggest you not worry over having any friends at the moment, I know its not easy. Sit and spend time with the Lord in prayer and in reading and studying the scriptures. Due the duty you must, but let the rest go and have the world pass you by, they have nothing to offer you anyway. Once schooling is over, people disappear almost instantly anyway, so its not so bad.

As far as your past, it is past. Many of us can tell you similar stories of falling on our faces. Whatever it was you did, you don't have to do it again from this day forward, every morning His mercies are anew.

As you draw closer to God, He will put your past in perspective, perhaps a little of the fabric of humility and gentleness the Lord wants very much in your life. Caution though, not drawing close is a place of sheer misery, never ending mental anguish. When reading what you wrote, I think you already know that, and looking at the scriptures you've provided, they have made you wise and you see the goodness in Christ. I don't think you need to worry at all over osas, move forward with the Lord and you will see it in plain sight.

Commit to the Lord to purity in all things in your life, He can do it, its easy for Him. He loves us more than we can fathom, and He is always at the ready to do these sorts of things for men when their hearts are perfect before Him. :hug

[yimaocho]

Hey Jemz! Welcome to the board!

Like others have said, I totally identify with you. I had a great relationship with God when I was younger, but during high school I drifted away. But God Himself pulled me back to Him again. I thought I had lost my salvation too and I was embarrassed and afraid to go to Him for forgiveness, but once I did He made it clear that all of my sins, past, present, and future, are forgiven and forgotten. I still regret that I strayed away from Him because there are consequences for sin, but I know He has forgiven me.

Also, it took a long time for the guilt to go away, and actually I still feel really really guilty sometimes when I think about what I did. Guilt can make it seem that God is still angry with you, but if you have sincerely asked Him for forgiveness, He's forgiven you.

Watch "The Everything Skit" on YouTube. I think it's a story that many of us share.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyheJ480LYA

[YOU TUBE VIDEO]cyheJ480LYA[/YOU TUBE VIDEO]

[truthwarrior]

I have heard many coming here to RR in desperation about their salvation and whether or not they could lose it. This kind of thinking of losing your salvation is false and comes from both Calvinist and Arminianist doctrines. Christians you cannot lose what has been given to you by the blood of Jesus Christ. You were once slaves to sin- He has bought you for a price and you are now His if you believe in Christ Jesus and have repented of your sins.

Calvinist= saved by grace and not on your own but by election; you must keep it up with the works or you were not saved to begin with.

Arminianist= you completely choose on your own whether you are saved; you must keep it up with the works or you will lose it.

Now, if one looks in Corinthians you might be surprised that Paul went to speak with the most wayward Christians you could ever find. In fact, the Corinthians were doing things worse than the pagans. Here is the first thing Paul ever said to the Corinthians....

1 Corinthians 1

1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:

3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving
4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

10 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters,[a] in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.

Now this should put things in perspective....:yeah


Cling to the Lord and He will sanctify us through the Holy Spirit and WILL keep us firm til the end.

[Karen]

:thumb

[acceptedintheBeloved]

8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.


Now this should put things in perspective....:yeah



... He will sanctify us through the Holy Spirit and WILL keep us firm til the end.

:thumb

[waiting1]

“And this will we do, if God permit. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall “Fall Away,” to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame”

From Jesus Christs' Hand!

This Scripture is about someone who is unsaved, hears Gods' Word, understands it and is illuminated by the Holy Spirit and now knows in their Heart that Jesus Christ is the only way Heaven and the only means of Salvation. Then they turn from the Truth and reject it, and then go back to the ways of the world. The Holy Spirit responds as described for one who does this and does not accept the offer of Salvation.
Those who are saved can never ever be lost or experience the above.

Satan will tell you lies to convince you otherwise, and he is the father of lies.

[TaliaKirana]

:hug Oh, I have been there. I was saved when I was young and then fell away when I got a little older. I drifted into some very New-agey thinking, and I got tempted into homosexual sin, because of what another girl coerced me into doing. Eventually, God called me back when I got into my senior year of high school through the Left Behind books. I've had a few other periods where I got off track since, but it was never as bad or as long. He will not lose a single one of His sheep. He may have to break our pride and disentangle us from the thorns of sin, but He will not leave us to suffer and be lost.

[Shonsu]

Here's a great article on that passage in Hebrews 6: http://www.gotquestions.org/Hebrews-6.html

I prefer the second viewpoint, that it is speaking of believers.

[dleader]

I agree with Glory in Print on your being like the prodigal son. Your Heavenly Father has been waiting for you everyday with open arms ready to take you back.:yeah