Clearing Up Conversion Confusion
Clearing Up Conversion Confusion
1 John 5:10-15 (NASB)
10 The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son.
11 And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
12 He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.
13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
14 This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
15 And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.
God gave us the Bible so we could know Him and live in a way that pleases Him. He desires that we truly understand His teachings and how they apply to our life. Simply put, the Lord wants us to trust in Him with complete confidence.
We have an enemy, however, who attempts to undermine that confidence at every turn. We’ve all been there—joyfully moving along through life, sure of our salvation, and then, BAM! We stumble into sin, and our feelings take over. The devil uses our remorse and conflicting emotions to eat away at our confidence. We think, “There’s no way I can be saved. If I were truly saved, I would never have done such a thing.” Overwhelmed by feelings of regret and shame, we find our faith coming under fire.
It’s amazing how effectively our fleeting emotions can undermine assurance in God’s promises. But we shouldn’t really be surprised. After all, we’ve been conditioned to let our feelings lead us through life. “If it feels good, do it”—a popular saying from the ’60s—is still an all-too-common idea today.
Yet the Lord does not speak in feelings; He speaks in truth. Whenever your emotions contradict the Bible, you can be sure that the Scriptures are reliable. For a believer, “feeling saved” is as irrelevant as a husband or wife “feeling married.” You either are or you’re not; feelings simply do not make it so.
Have your feelings of regret stolen your confidence in eternal salvation? Lay them before the Lord today, and embrace the certainty that comes only with His truth.