need to pray.....
There are two kinds of faith. One is faith given by God, planted in our hearts. When God give us this faith, this is irresistible grace such that one can never resist God and will truly believe. And then once saved, always saved.
The other faith would be what is called 'faithful living'. Therefore, you may have faith in God, but not faithful living, since they are two different things. That is when some people after believing in God still persist in their old ways. They do have faith, but just that they don't have faithful living. This second faith is what is mentioned in James, when he talked about faith without deeds is dead.
Whereas the first faith, you don't have to do anything. Because it is grace freely given by God. When we say "freely given", we really mean FREE. Nothing needs to be done. You just need to believe and that faith when you believe is given by God! So, you really no need to do anything. Nope, no need water baptism.
Next, on predestination and free will. Take this analogy, man A is going to shoot another guy. Man B hates this other guy too. Man B knows that man A is going to shoot this guy, but he also planted this chip in man A so that if man A decides not to kill at the last min, man B can trigger the thing in man A's head so that man A will still shoot the guy. What happened was, man A killed the guy on his own accord. But think about this, even if man A didn't want to kill at the last min, the result will still be the same, because man B will still trigger the thing in man A's head such that man A will be the one to shoot the guy. Whatever you do, the result will still be the same.
Everything that happened is God's will. It is 100% God's will and 100% man's will.
Once saved, always saved. You can't lose your salvation. It may be that you never had it in the first place. Maybe you didn't bear fruits. but they are just for rewards in heaven, whether your reward will be big or small in heaven, depending on the fruits you bear. But, onced saved, always saved.
AAAHHHH. my head is gonna explode. I still can't think through these concepts that my friend brought up, and to come up with the right doctrines to correct them. I was overconfident. I thought I had the Truth and the Holy Spirit, and that was enough for my words to hold power and authority such that he can't not believe. I never thought it was going to be so hard. It was like my first time discussing doctrines with christian friends and yet, I failed terribly, didn't I? I really don't know. I felt ashamed. I feel weak. I feel that I have nothing. No wisdom. No words. No power in my preaching. Is God with me? Did I do something wrong such that God wasn't with me? Or was it a test to teach me humility? But I just wanted to win souls over to the Truth. If I have the Truth, why couldn't it do so?
I feel scared now to preach. I feel that I have no capability to do so. I thought I could. But I couldn't. I felt so down yesterday that I desperately wanted to go church and pray.
But somehow, I know that I do have the Truth. It's just that I am not trained to use it. I do have the sword of the Spirit but I have not been practising with it. So it couldn't pierce through the heart to convince the other party. Through prayers, I am even more convinced that I have the Holy Spirit and that this is the Truth that I believe in. Just that now, I am a little weak... I am a little shakened... but as long as I pray more, I am sure I will recover from this, and be strengthened through this incident.
Im worried that I will fall away. Other doctrines really do seem easier to believe in. They also can explain everything I argued about, until I have nothing to say.
Bonne reminded me that when you preached until you have nothing to say le, just say three words, "Come and see." How true, and how sweet. I actually forgot.. or I actually didn't have the confidence...
I don't want to fall away. I like the Holy Spirit. I like how it reassures me when I pray. I have confidence in what I believe in. But I have no confidence in myself.
Cheer up!!!! I need to pray....
The other faith would be what is called 'faithful living'. Therefore, you may have faith in God, but not faithful living, since they are two different things. That is when some people after believing in God still persist in their old ways. They do have faith, but just that they don't have faithful living. This second faith is what is mentioned in James, when he talked about faith without deeds is dead.
Whereas the first faith, you don't have to do anything. Because it is grace freely given by God. When we say "freely given", we really mean FREE. Nothing needs to be done. You just need to believe and that faith when you believe is given by God! So, you really no need to do anything. Nope, no need water baptism.
Next, on predestination and free will. Take this analogy, man A is going to shoot another guy. Man B hates this other guy too. Man B knows that man A is going to shoot this guy, but he also planted this chip in man A so that if man A decides not to kill at the last min, man B can trigger the thing in man A's head so that man A will still shoot the guy. What happened was, man A killed the guy on his own accord. But think about this, even if man A didn't want to kill at the last min, the result will still be the same, because man B will still trigger the thing in man A's head such that man A will be the one to shoot the guy. Whatever you do, the result will still be the same.
Everything that happened is God's will. It is 100% God's will and 100% man's will.
Once saved, always saved. You can't lose your salvation. It may be that you never had it in the first place. Maybe you didn't bear fruits. but they are just for rewards in heaven, whether your reward will be big or small in heaven, depending on the fruits you bear. But, onced saved, always saved.
AAAHHHH. my head is gonna explode. I still can't think through these concepts that my friend brought up, and to come up with the right doctrines to correct them. I was overconfident. I thought I had the Truth and the Holy Spirit, and that was enough for my words to hold power and authority such that he can't not believe. I never thought it was going to be so hard. It was like my first time discussing doctrines with christian friends and yet, I failed terribly, didn't I? I really don't know. I felt ashamed. I feel weak. I feel that I have nothing. No wisdom. No words. No power in my preaching. Is God with me? Did I do something wrong such that God wasn't with me? Or was it a test to teach me humility? But I just wanted to win souls over to the Truth. If I have the Truth, why couldn't it do so?
I feel scared now to preach. I feel that I have no capability to do so. I thought I could. But I couldn't. I felt so down yesterday that I desperately wanted to go church and pray.
But somehow, I know that I do have the Truth. It's just that I am not trained to use it. I do have the sword of the Spirit but I have not been practising with it. So it couldn't pierce through the heart to convince the other party. Through prayers, I am even more convinced that I have the Holy Spirit and that this is the Truth that I believe in. Just that now, I am a little weak... I am a little shakened... but as long as I pray more, I am sure I will recover from this, and be strengthened through this incident.
Im worried that I will fall away. Other doctrines really do seem easier to believe in. They also can explain everything I argued about, until I have nothing to say.
Bonne reminded me that when you preached until you have nothing to say le, just say three words, "Come and see." How true, and how sweet. I actually forgot.. or I actually didn't have the confidence...
I don't want to fall away. I like the Holy Spirit. I like how it reassures me when I pray. I have confidence in what I believe in. But I have no confidence in myself.
Cheer up!!!! I need to pray....
