HOW MUCH DO YOUR FEELINGS CONTRIBUTE TO YOUR SALVATION?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth,
no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
(John 3:3)

MEDITATION:
Have you ever heard someone say, “I’m saved, but I don’t feel saved”?
Maybe you have even said it yourself. We should remember that we
are saved by trusting in the finished work of Jesus on the cross, and
not by our feelings.

Does that mean there is no place for feelings in a ‘saving faith’? There
is always room for feelings in our faith, but we are not saved by them.
We may have feelings because that are a result of our saving faith, but
feelings have never saved anyone. We might have feelings of remorse
that drive us to the Lord with a desire to be saved, but we shouldn’t
think that the absence of feelings prevents us from receiving salvation.

Feelings may or may not lead to our salvation, but they are not the
ingredients of our salvation. Love is a feeling; joy is a feeling; inner
peace is a feeling; love for others is a feeling; concern for the lost is
a feeling; guilt is a feeling; being lost is a feeling, etc. But salvation
is not a feeling; however, our feelings might be impacted after we
have received salvation from the Lord.

Salvation is based on an experience – the experience of believing in
Jesus Christ, and choosing to follow Him in obedience. Satan would
love to try to convince us that if our feelings are not there, then we
have not been saved.

The scriptures don’t mention anything about feelings being a part of
salvation, so we should not let Satan succeed in causing us to doubt
our salvation. When we have followed God’s requirements for being
saved, He has promised us His gift of salvation, regardless of the
presence or absence of feelings.

With that said, we see many people in tears when they ‘come to the Lord’,
but we shouldn’t get the idea that tears are required as confirmation of
our salvation. God made each person unique, which means we may react
differently to any situation, including receiving salvation from the Lord.

ACTION:
Question to consider:
    – Have you followed God’s Word to receive His salvation?
       If you have, then don’t get discouraged if you don’t ’feel’
       like you think you should feel.

We should always remember that Satan will use whatever he can
in his attempts to cause us to doubt our salvation. When he attacks,
we need to turn to God’s Word and use the scripture as our weapon
against Satan.

Jesus recited scriptures as a way of turning away Satan. If it worked
for Jesus, then certainly it will work for us. If we have received God’s
salvation, then hopefully we are spending time each day reading and
meditating on God’s Word.

Meditation means we are not just reading words, but we are thinking
about how His words impact our lives. If we read the Bible on a regular
basis, it can create in us a type of inner peace and we will have a greater
capacity for loving Him, and others.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for giving me Your salvation. Help me to
resist and reject the negative thoughts Satan tries to create in my mind
which can cause me to doubt my salvation. Reveal to me the “fruits of
the Spirit” in my life as confirmation that I have been saved and the
Holy Spirit is living within me. Father, I thank You that Your gift of
redemption does not fluctuate like my feelings. Thank You, Jesus, for
making my salvation available!”

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