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Ephesians 1:13 - In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. 
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God designed it so I would one day be in a position to have God introduce Himself, invite me to follow Him, Who gave me the [faith] to even "Believe" in Him, and {Purposed} it so I would accept Him. And from that moment on, God has never released me, let me go, but even in my ungodly sinful nature God has continually "restored" me. He educates me by making me understand there is nothing I've done, can ever do, to make Him leave me. Including, there's nothing I have done, or could ever do, to keep Him by earning His Salvation. I am His because He has [gifted] it to me.
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Brothers and Sisters.
We all go through this as other have stated, I myself being very close to God didn’t get for a long time that the day I was saved I should have died also to myself and being worldly. Well, I was supposed to anyway. I didn’t, there is a lesson here which all on the journey through the valley of sin have walked. I want you to notice in Exodus as they were in the desert why? How did they move? When did they move?
If you are seeking him they you have found your self thirsty and the thing in this world are losing its flavor. This is good, it is a refinement process so that you realize what salvation means and walking with God means. You are learning nothing in this world compared to the nearness or God. Fast and prayer are also strong allies. Also you must feed your spirit, ask for God to guide you in what Scripture to read. To talk to you and teach you in the Bible.
If one does not lose sometimes what he has found, one cannot grow in the knowledge of what he lost to seek it all the more. If you have something you find very dear and precious and lose it. Will you not frantically seek to find it. When you do, will you be so careless as you were before? Or be mindful of where and how you keep it? God also quickens the heart.
Your brother in Christ
We all go through this as other have stated, I myself being very close to God didn’t get for a long time that the day I was saved I should have died also to myself and being worldly. Well, I was supposed to anyway. I didn’t, there is a lesson here which all on the journey through the valley of sin have walked. I want you to notice in Exodus as they were in the desert why? How did they move? When did they move?
If you are seeking him they you have found your self thirsty and the thing in this world are losing its flavor. This is good, it is a refinement process so that you realize what salvation means and walking with God means. You are learning nothing in this world compared to the nearness or God. Fast and prayer are also strong allies. Also you must feed your spirit, ask for God to guide you in what Scripture to read. To talk to you and teach you in the Bible.
If one does not lose sometimes what he has found, one cannot grow in the knowledge of what he lost to seek it all the more. If you have something you find very dear and precious and lose it. Will you not frantically seek to find it. When you do, will you be so careless as you were before? Or be mindful of where and how you keep it? God also quickens the heart.
Your brother in Christ
Matthew 22:14
For many [Christians] are called [to spend eternal life with Christ], but FEW are chosen.
Luke 21:36
WATCH ye therefore, and PRAY ALWAYS, that ye may be ACCOUNTED WORTHY to escape all these things that shall come to pass [in the Tribulation], and to stand before the Son of man [AFTER the Rapture].
For many [Christians] are called [to spend eternal life with Christ], but FEW are chosen.
Luke 21:36
WATCH ye therefore, and PRAY ALWAYS, that ye may be ACCOUNTED WORTHY to escape all these things that shall come to pass [in the Tribulation], and to stand before the Son of man [AFTER the Rapture].
It is true that scripture tells us in the gospels to be perfect, as God is perfect. We must be perfect to have eternal life. The Lord took care of that for our imperfect selves, we have only to want to be perfect (repent) and Christ makes it so.
You are living in a state of repentance, you are trying your best to live in righteousness. That is what the Lord asks of you, please accept what the Lord has given you. You can have absolute faith in what the Lord tells us. Men can be unfaithful, but it is not in the character of the Lord to be unfaithful. Rest in the Lord.
You are living in a state of repentance, you are trying your best to live in righteousness. That is what the Lord asks of you, please accept what the Lord has given you. You can have absolute faith in what the Lord tells us. Men can be unfaithful, but it is not in the character of the Lord to be unfaithful. Rest in the Lord.
Answer:
I placed the word "Christian" there because it identifies the group that are "called".
In the following passage, Jesus warns "Christians" that there are TWO ways they can choose to go - via the Narrow Way that leads to eternal life (via faith in God and the scriptures ONLY) - or the Broad Way that invoves a religious belief that leads to destruction.
Matthew 7:13
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and MANY [Christians] there be which go in thereat:
Just as Alexander and Hymenaeus had "blasphemed" God and had therefore made their faith appear to God as a shipwreck, so God examines Christians to determine whether their faith is "shipwrecked" or not.
1 Timothy 1:19-20
Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:
20 Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.
Blessings!
I placed the word "Christian" there because it identifies the group that are "called".
In the following passage, Jesus warns "Christians" that there are TWO ways they can choose to go - via the Narrow Way that leads to eternal life (via faith in God and the scriptures ONLY) - or the Broad Way that invoves a religious belief that leads to destruction.
Matthew 7:13
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and MANY [Christians] there be which go in thereat:
Just as Alexander and Hymenaeus had "blasphemed" God and had therefore made their faith appear to God as a shipwreck, so God examines Christians to determine whether their faith is "shipwrecked" or not.
1 Timothy 1:19-20
Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:
20 Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.
Blessings!
This video may help you. Here's a transcript of a portion of it with approximate times.
(3:47) We lose or keep possessions, but salvation is not a possession. It’s an event, not a possession. It’s an event where you were saved from something. Okay? The Bible talks about all kinds of different salvations. Saved from shipwreck, etc. It’s an event. It’s not a possession. It’s not a thing you get. It’s a thing you experience, like your graduation day in High School. It’s an event. Or like your last birthday, where you’re celebrating every year your birthday. Your last birthday was an event. You don’t lose or keep your last birthday. It’s an event. And the salvation is the same. Events are not things you lose or keep. So it …, you know, if I said to you, “Did you lose your last birthday?”, you’d look at me like I was nuts. And then after you looked at me like I was nuts I’d go, “Well, did you keep it?” And you’d look at me like I was more nuts, because no one speaks that way about events. Oddly enough, there’s Christians all over the place speaking about their salvation event as if it’s a possession they lose or keep. It doesn’t make any sense. It’s like speaking about a four-sided triangle. It’s just nonsense talk. It’s not …. you don’t keep or lose events.
(5:36) So the important question is, is not whether you lose or keep an Ephesians 2:8 salvation. You can’t keep it or lose it. It’s just something that happened to you. It’s an event. Just like you can’t keep or lose your last birthday. It’s gone. It’s behind you. So the important question is not whether you lose your Ephesians 2:8 salvation event or whether you will keep it, either. The important question is whether a believer will be saved. Okay, you’ve already had your Ephesians 2:8 event. The important question now is whether you will be saved when Jesus comes again or whether you will fall short of being saved. That’s the important question. And when people are talking about losing or keeping their Ephesians 2:8 event [laughs], they’re just talking nonsense. It’s like talking about the fourth side of a triangle. It’s just silly talk. We don’t keep or lose events. The question is whether you will be saved on Judgment Day when Jesus comes again.
(7:06) And here’s that event. And this salvation event is mentioned several times in the Bible. This is just one example. “And just as it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin”—this time—"but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” To save them! Okay? It’s in noun form in the Greek. This is, I think, the RSV. For salvation, it says. So the Ephesians 2:8 salvation event is in the past. It’s behind believers, but the Hebrews 9:28 salvation event is ahead of these believers. And as I said before, this Hebrews 9:28 event is mentioned in several other verses. So if you’re a Christian—a true Christian—Ephesians 2:8 is past history. It’s behind you. But Hebrews 9:28, that’s ahead of you. That future event hasn’t arrived yet. For believers, this is a FUTURE EVENT. A future salvation event on Judgment Day. Okay?
(3:47) We lose or keep possessions, but salvation is not a possession. It’s an event, not a possession. It’s an event where you were saved from something. Okay? The Bible talks about all kinds of different salvations. Saved from shipwreck, etc. It’s an event. It’s not a possession. It’s not a thing you get. It’s a thing you experience, like your graduation day in High School. It’s an event. Or like your last birthday, where you’re celebrating every year your birthday. Your last birthday was an event. You don’t lose or keep your last birthday. It’s an event. And the salvation is the same. Events are not things you lose or keep. So it …, you know, if I said to you, “Did you lose your last birthday?”, you’d look at me like I was nuts. And then after you looked at me like I was nuts I’d go, “Well, did you keep it?” And you’d look at me like I was more nuts, because no one speaks that way about events. Oddly enough, there’s Christians all over the place speaking about their salvation event as if it’s a possession they lose or keep. It doesn’t make any sense. It’s like speaking about a four-sided triangle. It’s just nonsense talk. It’s not …. you don’t keep or lose events.
(5:36) So the important question is, is not whether you lose or keep an Ephesians 2:8 salvation. You can’t keep it or lose it. It’s just something that happened to you. It’s an event. Just like you can’t keep or lose your last birthday. It’s gone. It’s behind you. So the important question is not whether you lose your Ephesians 2:8 salvation event or whether you will keep it, either. The important question is whether a believer will be saved. Okay, you’ve already had your Ephesians 2:8 event. The important question now is whether you will be saved when Jesus comes again or whether you will fall short of being saved. That’s the important question. And when people are talking about losing or keeping their Ephesians 2:8 event [laughs], they’re just talking nonsense. It’s like talking about the fourth side of a triangle. It’s just silly talk. We don’t keep or lose events. The question is whether you will be saved on Judgment Day when Jesus comes again.
(7:06) And here’s that event. And this salvation event is mentioned several times in the Bible. This is just one example. “And just as it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin”—this time—"but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” To save them! Okay? It’s in noun form in the Greek. This is, I think, the RSV. For salvation, it says. So the Ephesians 2:8 salvation event is in the past. It’s behind believers, but the Hebrews 9:28 salvation event is ahead of these believers. And as I said before, this Hebrews 9:28 event is mentioned in several other verses. So if you’re a Christian—a true Christian—Ephesians 2:8 is past history. It’s behind you. But Hebrews 9:28, that’s ahead of you. That future event hasn’t arrived yet. For believers, this is a FUTURE EVENT. A future salvation event on Judgment Day. Okay?