Do I Know God? Part 2

Deception 2: "I Remember the time I made a decision for Christ. Isn't that enough?"

I will quote Tullian's book again.

A lot of people think they have a relationship with Jesus because they can remember a time when they decided to follow Jesus. Perhaps you remember a youth conference or a church service when you walked forward. Or maybe you remember a conversation with a Christian friend or one of your parents in which you invited Jesus into your heart. And you've been told that as long as you can recall an event, you can know for certain your relationship with God is genuine. Regardless of what your life has looked like from that moment until now, if you can remember a time when you made a choice for Jesus, you can know you are eternally saved.

Theologians have a name for this erroneous view: decisional regeneration. But the Bible never says that remembering a time in your life when you made a decison for Christ guarantees you a relationship with God-- never!

To be sure, remembering God's activity in our past is beautiful and important. My point is this: we can't assume that our relationsip with God is real if our only basis for this assumption is a past event, whatever it might have been. instead, we need to ask ourselves, How am I living? and What am I loving? None of us enters into a relationship with God merely by raising a hand, praying a sinner's prayer, walking an aisle, or remembering a decision made years ago, especially if our lives show no evidence that our prayer or decision made any difference.
End Quote

Martin Luther said, "Faith alone saves, but the faith that saves is never alone."

Paul said, "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!" 2 Corinthians 13:5

Peter said, "Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." 2Peter 1:10-11

Do you know God?