Just so you guys don't think that I've forgotten to talk about the poll on salvation experiences, I wanted to say a quick word. The poll was almost uniform in the number of people who said that they had had a salvation-type experience as a child that they did not consider to be their true saving entrance into a relationship with Jesus Christ. One person replied that they had always kept following Jesus since they had been saved. I was surprised that I did not have a reader that was saved at a young age and that fell away for a season and then returned, through repentance, to Christ. Frankly, I expected more than one of these responses.
My main question that I want to ask on this subject next time is this: How can a young professing Christian tell the difference between the discipline of God on their life for unfaithfulness and regular pangs of conscience and guilt they feel for violating a norm of their childhood?
Now in one sense, the only answer to any wayward person is "repent...now!" In this way, Baptists and Methodists have more in common than one might think at first, regarding their view of how to deal with unfaithful professing Christians. However, when we get back to my main question, something else important arises:
Can we know the difference between the troubled conscience of a religious lost person and the conviction of sin and discipline that attends the disobedience of the faithful?
I'll give you a chance to sound off. I'll post next time on my studies of this topic.
1 comment:
I was one of the many that said that I had a salvation experience as a child that was not genuine.
I have gone back and forth on when I was actually saved and my personal answer to your question, is that when I was 7 I went to the alter and said a prayer to ask Jesus into my heart. There was no conviction of sin, I did not even know that I was a sinner. There was no change in my life after the prayer. I just knew it was expected of me to get saved. And in order to get saved... according to my church... was to say the sinners prayer. after the prayer I was the same "good" little girl I always was. I was never expected to be any thing other than a "good" little girl. As long as I had that going and I went to church, then I was fine.
It wasn't until I was 19 that I was confronted with scripture that said I was not saved. Then I realized that I was a sinner in need of Jesus and His Grace and it was His grace alone that could save me. It was nothing of my self. I don't remember the date but I remember being broken and humbled and asking the Lord to forgive me and change me and He did.
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