Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Doubting My Salvation

Today, I listened to one of Matt Chandler's most recent sermons, "Dealing with Doubt."  It was very challenging in the sense that I'm not sure where I'm landing spiritually right now. 

You know, you grow up thinking a + b = c... but now I'm not so sure. Now my eyes are starting to be opened to the fact that it's all about my heart.  I can say with my mouth and my mind that I believe one thing, but if my heart is not landing there, then how can I truly believe what I think I believe?  Does that make sense? 

I may post more of his sermon later on, but here are some questions to think over regarding your salvation.  It's essentially a way of measuring where your heart is.  Don't get me wrong, there's more to being saved than these few questions, but asking them is a great way of getting me thinking about the state of my heart!

-Do you see moral conformity to Jesus Christ in your heart?
-Do you hate indwelling sin in yourself?
-Do you desire holiness?
-Are you growing in graciousness?
-Are you growing in generosity?
-Is your heart delighting in what God delights in?
-Do you love your brothers and sister in Christ?  Do you extend grace to them?  Do you grant them the benefit of the doubt?

This sermon is so weighty, I definitely need to listen to it again... 

"If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."  This verse keeps running through my head.  I tend to focus more on the "confess with your mouth" part than the "believe in your heart" part.  However, I DO believe it in my heart, but do I apply it to my life???  Lately, no.  All I can do is pray that God will change my heart... That He'll make "yes" be my answer to all of the questions above. (Sure, you can't be perfect so there will be times when the answer is "no," but overall there should be consistency.) 

God = success, not God + Dacia = success.  It's totally out of my hands, otherwise my flesh wants to think it's all on me. 

As Lloyd Shadrach says, "Christ + nothing = EVERYTHING."