steph: i do not know where to begin with this post, and i certainly don't think you and i could go in to it enough on a livejournal comment board. step by step:
1st, you dont do ANYTHING to be saved--we are saved by grace and grace alone. no sufficient amount of work or toil or any one thing on this entire earth could EARN us salvation.. Jesus said he wants our faith, not our sacrifices. all of the surrendering, the grieving over your own sin, all of that--that is what is necessary for SPIRITUAL GROWTH. once you are saved, you are SAVED---but you're a spiritual baby. you know that, i think i've read posts on the Music board [baaack in the day] on the same issue, right? And then we spend the rest of our lives learning and growing and maturing to finally reach what it is to be like Christ! But that doesn't even happen in our realm! We are finally like Him only in eternity! and it will take us a lifetime to get there! alot of times it's really hard for me to think of all of this trial and tribulation and breaking and molding and et cetera et cetera in the spectrum of eternity. because here and now it's kind of a bummer to know that i'm never going to fully be what i am intended to be for my entire time here--it is only after death, when i am with Christ himself. and whether you are a spiritual baby or a spiritual mommy, you will be Christ like. i think the maturity building "accrues," so to speak, eternal gifts and treasures in heaven.
i like what CS Lewis said [and if you havent read mere christianity, i strongly recommend it]. to summarize: he said that only a truly perfect man could repent perfectly in the way God intended..but the catch 22 is that a perfect man need NOT repent. so Christ came and repented FOR us, to not only carry our loads if we would only ask, but to show us how we can do it with His help. and for the rest of our lives, Christ ALLOWS us and GIVES US THE POWER to sacrifice ourselves. to learn to love. to learn to forgive. to learn to be like Jesus...and it is a tedious tedious journey that will take you your entire life. becoming a christian is not hard, becoming a mature christian is.
i'm sorry that this isn't backed by any form of scripture and i'm sure that someone with a clearer mind and/or heart could much more easily and affluently help you out, dearie. but in the mean-time i am always mindful of you in my prayers and i love you very much. *b
no subject
step by step:
1st, you dont do ANYTHING to be saved--we are saved by grace and grace alone. no sufficient amount of work or toil or any one thing on this entire earth could EARN us salvation.. Jesus said he wants our faith, not our sacrifices. all of the surrendering, the grieving over your own sin, all of that--that is what is necessary for SPIRITUAL GROWTH. once you are saved, you are SAVED---but you're a spiritual baby. you know that, i think i've read posts on the Music board [baaack in the day] on the same issue, right? And then we spend the rest of our lives learning and growing and maturing to finally reach what it is to be like Christ! But that doesn't even happen in our realm! We are finally like Him only in eternity! and it will take us a lifetime to get there! alot of times it's really hard for me to think of all of this trial and tribulation and breaking and molding and et cetera et cetera in the spectrum of eternity. because here and now it's kind of a bummer to know that i'm never going to fully be what i am intended to be for my entire time here--it is only after death, when i am with Christ himself. and whether you are a spiritual baby or a spiritual mommy, you will be Christ like. i think the maturity building "accrues," so to speak, eternal gifts and treasures in heaven.
i like what CS Lewis said [and if you havent read mere christianity, i strongly recommend it]. to summarize: he said that only a truly perfect man could repent perfectly in the way God intended..but the catch 22 is that a perfect man need NOT repent. so Christ came and repented FOR us, to not only carry our loads if we would only ask, but to show us how we can do it with His help. and for the rest of our lives, Christ ALLOWS us and GIVES US THE POWER to sacrifice ourselves. to learn to love. to learn to forgive. to learn to be like Jesus...and it is a tedious tedious journey that will take you your entire life.
becoming a christian is not hard, becoming a mature christian is.
i'm sorry that this isn't backed by any form of scripture and i'm sure that someone with a clearer mind and/or heart could much more easily and affluently help you out, dearie.
but in the mean-time i am always mindful of you in my prayers and i love you very much.
*b