THE SPIRITUAL BATTLE – 47 Do Feelings Prove We Are Saved?
“3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. 6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked” (1 John 2:3-6, KJV).
Loved ones, in our Spiritual Battle we live in a world of many differing faiths and practices, all claiming Christ as their Savior. Thus, a restoration to God's way must be diligently preached. Were the prophets and apostles of Scripture living, they would be pressing for massive reforms by those who claim Christ as their Lord. They would be interested in no compromise with those doctrines or practices which are untaught in their own Spirit-inspired writings.
We are witnessing in the “church” today one of the saddest losses of the prophetic, apostolic vision – UNITY based on faith in the Word of God. The standard has never changed. It continues to be the Bible, God's inspired word. It must be our guide and our law (Romans 10:17).
Therefore, it saddens us to say that many believers have made their FEELINGS the standard upon which they rely. Please be warned, your feeling can deceive you. Notice the following passages that tell us man’s feeling are often deceitful:
"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" (Proverbs 14:12).
"He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool…" (Proverbs 28:26).
"O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct His steps" (Jeremiah 10:23).
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9).
When a man trusts his feelings for his knowledge of pardon, without properly weighing the testimony of God's Spirit in God's Word, there is no telling to what he will drift. The “religion of feeling” leads to all sorts of fanaticism and folly, to every degree of cruelty and crime.
Your feelings depend upon your faith, and the stronger the faith the more intense the feeling, and that, too, whether your faith be well founded or not. The belief of a lie will affect your feelings just as much as the belief of the truth, as many of you well know.
The Scriptures are inspired by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:13). By the Book of God, we are made wise unto salvation through Christ (John 5:39; 2 Timothy 3:15). When we, from the heart (Romans 6:17), do the will of God revealed in the Bible by the Holy Spirit, we know (not just feel) that we are children of God. In no other way can we know that we know God; for "hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep His commandments" (1 John 2:3).
“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3).
Our feelings are competent to testify as to things which take place in us, but they CANNOT testify as to what takes place in the mind of God. All we know about the mind of God is what the Holy Spirit has revealed:
“For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:11).
Pardon takes place, not in man, but in the mind of God. The Holy Spirit in the New Testament tells us what God requires us to do to become His children. When our spirits are conscious (aware) of the fact that we have done what God has revealed through the Sword (word) of Holy Spirit (Ephesians 6:17), “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Romans 8:16).
Our Lord Jesus is, “the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him” (Hebrews 5:8-9). He unequivocally says, “Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
Notice the effect his obedience had on the Ethiopian treasurer, "He went on his way rejoicing" (Acts 8:39). Why? Because he KNEW he had done what the Lord commanded him to do to be saved from his sins (cf. Acts 2:38; Mark 16:16).
His feelings of gratitude and joy followed his obedience to the truth of the gospel of Jesus. His salvation was not based on the way he felt but knowing that he had obeyed the truth. His emotions of relief and joy were only justified after his obedience.
Feelings do not prove you are saved; rather, salvation is based on objective truths found in God's word, such as believing in the Lord Jesus' death for your sins, His burial, and His resurrection. Your faith will compel you to repent and be baptized for the remission of your sins by the blood of Jesus.
While feelings can be part of the experience, they are unreliable and can be deceptive, so a changed life of seeking holiness and following God's ways is a more trustworthy indicator of salvation than fluctuating emotions.
Please think about these things...
If Christ stood before you right now and said, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark 16:16), what would you do?
If the Lord promises us salvation without baptism, why did Peter say it saves NOW (1 Peter 3:21)?
If sprinkling and pouring are scriptural baptism, why did Paul say the ONE baptism is a burial (Ephesians 4:5; Colossians 2:12)?
If we can have remission of sins without water baptism, why did Peter say baptism is “for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38; 22:16)?
If we get into Christ without baptism, why did Paul say we “are baptized into Christ” (Galatians 3:27; Romans 6:3-4)?
If we get into the body of Christ without baptism, why did Paul say we are “baptized into” the body (1 Corinthians 12:13)? The body and the church of Christ are the same (Colossians 1:18).
If Jesus Christ grasped your hand and said, “if ye love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15), would you love and obey Him?
Dear friends, let us return unto the Word of the Lord. Say not that ye believe the Book when (by your feelings) you act as though it were not true. Will you believe it? Will you practice it? Will you abide by the Word of God - the proper standard? Through the free gift of God’s grace by Jesus’ blood (Ephesians 2:8; Revelation 1:5) and your obedient faith (Romans 1:5; 10:17; 16:26), salvation is offered.
Shared with you by Samuel A. Matthews, preaching with the Liberty NW church of Christ, meeting in Portland, Oregon, USA. The God of Heaven and Earth is so good, and His love reaches all. He is in control, so trust Him. We love you with the love of the Lord (John 13:34-35).