Mind of a Christian

Should Do vs Actually Do Part II - Am I Really Saved?

Edit: Hello guys! I just want to let you know that this chapter is addressed specifically to Christian believers. I hope you enjoy the read :)

In the first part of this chapter, "Should Do vs Actually Do", I feel like I was a little rough against how humans behave as a whole. I implied that in many cases, we don't do what we should. Does that make us completely wicked people? No, and I don't want to impress upon you that we should feel guilty for being who we are.

That's actually a really important thing to understand for this chapter.

We shouldn't feel guilty for who we are.

Far too often, I would commit a sin that I don't want to commit. It's been something I struggled with, and recently, I've done it again. I don't want to disclose what it is, but if you want to pry for more, you have 613 guesses on what I've done wrong.

This got me thinking. A lot of times, I hear of people who accepted the Messiah as being transformed and doing great works with a humble heart. And, there's nothing wrong with that! In fact, praise God that these people are dedicating their lives to Him - that they're being led by the Holy Spirit!

Then I look at me. I haven't been too hot myself in doing what God wants me to do. A lot of times,  I struggle with it, and decide to ignore the shall's and do the shall-not's. I skip out on what God wants me to do, and would rather sin because it gratifies the flesh. Kinda like tonight.

Am I really saved?

The dangerous thought surfaced up. Surely if I'm not led by the Holy Spirit (because I live a pretty sinful life), that must mean I'm not saved, right?

Well, no.

I asked for advice from my friend and former youth leader about this. He pointed me to Romans 7.

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"For I do not understand what I am doing - for what I do not want, this I practice; but what I hate, this I do.

But if I do what I do not want to do, then I agree with the Torah - that it is good.

So now it is no longer I doing it, but sin dwelling in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me - that is, in my flesh. For to will is present in me, but to do the good is not.

For the good that I want, I do not do; but the evil that I do not want, this I practice.

But if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I doing it, but sin that dwells in me." (Romans 7: 15-20 TLV)

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What struck me was that Paul, the author of Romans, was struggling with this too! Paul was surely saved - he's gone from killing followers of Jesus to become a follower himself, after a divine encounter with the Messiah. Surely he is saved, but that doesn't mean that he led a completely righteous life afterwards! Paul says that "the evil that [he doesn't] want" (v.19), he does.

What these verses say is that it wasn't me doing wrong, but rather the sin inside me doing wrong. This is good news, because that means I can resist it!

Now, that's harder than it sounds. A lot of sins take a long time to be conquered, and I do believe that it'll take me years to fight my own one in particular.

But, as my friend has told me, don't be discouraged. Keep trying to fight back against the sin. If you fall, pick yourself up. A righteous man falls seven times and picks himself up seven times.

I just realized that the saying came from Proverbs:

"For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again, But the wicked stumble in time of calamity." (Proverbs 24: 16 NASB)

I want to close with what Paul had to say for the rest of his chapter. I think it contributes to how wonderful God and the Messiah is/are:

"Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin." (Romans 7: 24-25 TLV)