Ah, yes. I have read Ephesians 2.

Sorry, I'm a worry-wort... the aforementioned Hebrews verse just bothers me.

Since this is somewhat involved with this subject, I thought I'd bring it up: Hebrews 6:4-6.

Some have said that this is a hypothetical passage because the Bible says elsewhere that "They went from us, but the truth is they never belonged to us, for if they belonged to us, they would've remained with us"... and thus, they were never truly saved anyway.

But others have said that the "heavenly gift" mentioned in Hebrews 6:4-6 is enlightment, and thus if they "shrug off" that enlightment long enough, they can't return.

I'm personally very confused about this passage, as I'm sure many others are... but what is everyone else's opinions?

Hello all!

I am surprisingly very happy right now. 

So, as most know, I've been very stubborn lately when it comes to God and salvation. Well, I've been reaching out to all sorts of wonderful people (the posters of this forum included) about my problem. Everyone's said the same thing: I'm rejecting God.

Now, as most of you may not know, I've also been struggling with doubts to God's existence as well. My pride was getting to me. I kept telling myself I must know for sure. That's not how it works. I've also been reaching out to people about this problem as well -- My "I must know everything" pride.

Well, a gentleman from another forum I visit gave me a link to a website that talked about: A) "the heart of a child" which further talks about how a person who wants to know Jesus, must, with God's grace, come to Him with the heart of a child, being careful of who they trust. And B) The trustworthiness of Jesus Christ. And if Jesus is in fact completely trustworthy, then He is in fact the Son of God, and did come back to life thanks to God.... and you can't be the Son of God if God doesn't exist, now can you!? Therefore, God exists, despite me (and everyone else) not having a complete logical understanding of Him, and how He works.


Now, I understood (for a lack of a better term) how God reveals Himself. That didn't mean I was through with my stubborness.

However, this morning before going to Church, I recieved an Email from a friend that talked about just that -- stubborness (and more specifically, stubborness as it relates to God). To put it simply, the Email explained how stubborness is a pride thing even though it may not seem like it.

So, here I am, having figured out that they key to finding God is to humble myself before Jesus and ask for a heart of a child, and obey Him. Stubborness, which is my main struggle, is related to pride (and pride keeps people from finding God in the first place). Therefore, the key to stubborness is the same key that helped me with my doubts -- humility.

I'd like to thank everyone for all their prayers and help through my struggles. I admit I'm still struggling a bit with my stubborness, but I'm praying hard and have a sense of hope now-- for I can not do anything of myself, and I need God's help.

I have two cats (Lincoln, and Autumn). I love them, but they're a struggle to deal with from time to time.

One time I had a sandwitch in my room. I went to the bathroom to wash my hands before eating it. Upon returning to my room, I saw Lincoln in my room about to get to the sandwitch. I quickly grabbed him before he could get into it, and I rushed him out of the room. Then when I went back into my room, I saw Autumn about to get into the sandwitch. I rushed her out of the room. Then when I went back to my room I see Lincoln once again about to get to the food. I rushed him out yet again... Then I saw Autumn, YET AGAIN, in my room about to get the sandwitch so I rushed her out of the room.

Repeat, approx 5 times. 

I couldn't get both of them at the same time. And eventually Autumn beat me to the sandwitch. 

Well, about a year ago, I asked Jesus into my heart after gaining head-knowledge of Christianity. Is that the step you mean?

Because now I feel faithless, unrepentive (though there's a little part of me that wants to repent-- I'm assumming that's God gently urging me), my love for God is dry, and I don't have the "emotion" aspect anymore.

Is it possible for someone who at one time asked Jesus into their hearts to feel this way? Because if not, I don't know if I can take that step now. I feel like I'm in the same situation as Esau (though I haven't read that whole story yet, forgive me if that's a wrong comparision), but I feel like I'm unrepentant, and yet I want to repent. It's confusing.

If someone can clear this up, please do. Thank you.

[if anything]

Sorry about the confusion over the definition of hunger and thirst. I know how it's used, but I just didn't realize that it was possible for someone to refuse eating despite being hungry.

Ask yourself why.  Why do you not want to?

Well, the thought of surrendering my life just bothers me. I know the Truth is meant to set us free, but I'd just feel imprisoned since my heart doesn't want to surrender.

You can then turn around and ask yourself why you want to want to.

Because it's for the better good, and it would actually mean something in the long-run. Everything around me now is meaningless.

The thing is, I keep thinking the above Truth. But it doesn't seem to sink in to my heart. It just seems like thought, as someone mentioned in my other thread. I dunno... I'm just really confused.

I'm sorry for apparently asking the same questions over and over. I should probably ask follow-up questions if anything (for further explanations, like Brother Jerry alluded to).

I'm sorry for being stubborn and I'm not purposely trying to waste everyone's time (although I fully understand why you would think that), but...

Or is it that you don't want to accept Him

This is what I was saying in my other thread. I don't want to accept Him, but I "want to want to" if that makes sense. I can't explain it, but morally I just can't get myself to surrender... so yes, I see that I am being stubborn... but I don't want to be. Isn't God in control of our hearts? And this is a stubbornness of heart, right? I'm not blaming God, I just honestly don't get it.

I guess I just don't understand what it means to be hungry and thirsty then. Because from my view (and I'm probably wrong here, hence I don't understand what being hungry/thirsty mean), if I was hungry/thirsty, I don't see why I would be making excuses when the answers come to me. Wouldn't I just happily accept the answers? I don't get it... 

I'm sorry if I come off stubborn, but I honestly just don't get it.

But doesn't God make us thirsty? Doesn't God make us hungry? I mean you say no one can force me to be thirsty... but at the same time, as a human, I can't make myself be thirsty either, right?

I'd pray for it, but like I said, I just don't have the faith now. I'm really confused here about what I have control over and what I don't.

I'm sorry. It's just that I've been battling with this for almost a year now and I'm really confused, and I'm afraid of the cut-off point (since this has been going on for so long). I mean, I don't have any faith left in me. In my heart I don't even want God (I just do in my mind it seems). This whole thing just worries me...

Hello everyone. I've got two questions:

1. Does God ever "reject" anyone in any situation? I found a link (forget what it is) that had a story of a guy's journey to Christ and in it, it said "the man thought for sure he had been rejected." So that's why I ask.

2. As some of you know, I "used to" be a Christian, and after some time, my faith and sense of morals left me. It has, however, come to my attention that I need to ask God for a new heart. But since my faith also left me, I'm wondering this question: When we need a new heart, does our faith leave us to (since faith comes from the heart)?

As they relate to a personal situation I'm going through, these two questions go hand in hand for me. Because I'm going through the situation described in question 2, but at the same time I feel rejected because I used to really want to do good works for God, but now the things that motivated me to do those good things don't have the same fulfilling desireable effect on me, and I find myself sinning intentionally a lot, and I look at living by God to be a bit of a hassle to say the least. It bothers me because I'm uncertain that I've ever been saved and I think I've just fallen away.

So can someone answer these questions and give any advice on my situation please? Thanks in advance.

Well I just read The Bible Answer Book, specifically Chapter 4, which is titled "How can I be Certain that I've Not Committed the Unforgiveable Sin?"

In it, the author says that the unforgiveable sin is indeed a continuous ongoing rejection of Christ. However, he also says:

"Furthermore, those who have commited the unpardonable sin have no godly regrets. As Paul emphasizes in the book of Romans, they not only continue in their evil ways, but approve of others who do so as well. (Romans 1:32)"

So this leads me to believe, that we do have a limit to how long we can reject Christ. Otherwise, how can a man be alive to display his irregrets (which indicate that he's commited the unpardonable sin, and yet he's still alive)?

This brings me back to what I said in the posts with all those links. I still willfully sin, and my knowledge and care seem to be "of the head" and not of the heart. I mean... when I'm not actively thinking about God, I don't really care. But when I'm thinking about God, all I'm thinking about is what it was like when I wasn't walking in sin... as I said in the first post:

but in my heart, I also don't mind how life is now, but intellectually I do mind and wish God would come back to me.

In other words, my care seems to be of the mind, and not of the heart... so does that mean my care isn't genuine? And futhermore, does that mean that I've committed the unpardonable sin?

 

Thank you everyone.

There is only one sin that can't be pardoned and forgiven in this life - rejecting JESUS CHRIST as Lord and Saviour. All of this is possible ONLY because of JESUS dying on the Cross for us.

I've always wondered... if someone comes in contact with God, understands it, and then rejects it then, is that the unpardonable sin? Or is it if we continue to reject it until we physically die? "Rejecting Jesus Christ as saviour" sounds more like the early one, but I thought we had unlimited chances until the day we physically die.

So... which one is it, if you know?

Thanks again.

Thank you everyone.

However, I found these links and the scary thing is that they seem to describe me better than I did in my above posts.

http://bible1.crosswalk.com/Commentaries/GillsExpositionoftheBible/gil.cgi?book=heb&chapter=006&verse=004&next=005&prev=003

http://bible1.crosswalk.com/Commentaries/GillsExpositionoftheBible/gil.cgi?book=heb&chapter=006&verse=005&next=006&prev=004

http://bible1.crosswalk.com/Commentaries/GillsExpositionoftheBible/gil.cgi?book=heb&chapter=006&verse=006&next=007&prev=005

http://bible1.crosswalk.com/OnlineStudyBible/bible.cgi?passage=heb+10:26,27

http://bible1.crosswalk.com/Commentaries/GillsExpositionoftheBible/gil.cgi?book=heb&chapter=010&verse=026&next=027&prev=025

My knowledge is in fact 'of the head' and not of the heart, and I do continue to willfully sin, and my faith that I did have (looking back on it) seems counterfeit... so I'm bothered by this, and all of this started because I fell into the mindset of "It can all be argued"... and I'm a rather closed-minded person, especially now -- but I thought it wasn't possible to commit an unpardonable sin? I'm confused. Can someone elaborate? Can I still be saved? Please help. Thank you.

-Brad 

Some of you may remember me from several months ago, but most probably don't...

Anyway, I was a doubter/seeker back when I first came here, but I soon became admittedly closed-minded to those doubts and have since found that nothing eased the doubts. Instead, I just found myself saying (in my heart) "Everything is argued... so how do I know this is correct? ...I don't."

And since then, the doubts just became completely destructive. My morals are all messy, I'm genuinely not sure if there's a God, I don't fear Hell for some reason (probably because I'm genuinley uncertain that it even exists and so I'm just thinking of the "idea" of Hell rather than the actual place), and whenever I try to do what the Bible says is right, I find myself feeling imprisoned because I don't really "want" to do it... and as I result, I find myself messing up and within minutes doing things that the Bible says is evil...

The thing is, me knowing what is morally-correct is just intellectually, and from the mind. If I can be honest, it doesn't even come from my heart. Instead, I find myself remembering what it was like when God was in my life (I used to be a Christian, but fell away), and intellectually I miss how life was back then... but in my heart, I also don't mind how life is now, but intellectually I do mind and wish God would come back to me. That might sound confusing, but hopefully it makes sense...

So I guess, in other words, it feels like I have a grip on God, but He doesn't have a grip on me (which is what I was trying to get at with the whole thing about how I intellectually miss God, but in my heart I don't mind life how it is now).

I don't really have any questions... just wondering if anyone can help/pray/give advice/etc...

Thanks in advance.

-Confused Brad