I’m just curious, I’ve had Christian faith for more than 15 years and I feel more trapped and Bound than I ever have. I have nothing that the blood of Jesus did for us. I am everything but free. I’ve prayed about it for years. I have bad spiritual attacks so bad that I can hardly function. I hear voices of the enemy very loudly. It’s so bad that I have to sleep sitting up . Ive been so down and out for such a long time now that I feel dead and miserable. Is God leaving me or what has happened to me?
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What about my freedom
- Thread starter Jkeyreed
- Start date
I will have to be leaving work soon, but to give you a response, have you sought to give yourself to studying the word and to seeking your calling?
Blessings in Christ, and welcome to Christian Forums.
You have to combine it with prayer, and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and reveal truth to you as your Teacher. Otherwise you are just reading, and without the help of the Author Himself to help you understand it.
What do you mean when you say, "I have nothing that the blood of Jesus did for us." What are you expecting?
You say you have been spiritually attacked. I was talking about this just yesterday with a friend and we concluded that the stronger one's faith becomes and the closer one gets to Jesus, the more aggressively Satan attacks. Satan isn't going to attack his followers. He doesn't have to but he puts his greatest effort into attacking those who are closer to Jesus.
Jesus said, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also." John 15:18-23 NKJV
I understand what you’re saying, I have been concerned about getting in the will of God though. A while back I use to try getting free of my sins and never could and then I read Galatians 3 and I started to realize maybe I wasn’t supposed to be trying so hard by myself and let the spirit change me. Well it’s been a while now that I was wanting the Holy Spirit to change me like scripture says and it’s just not feeling like the spirit is even with me to change me. I’m not giving up but it’s just been frustrating cause I know I’m not the best fruit.
electedbyhim
Member
Christianity is not based on feelings.
Feelings can be manipulated and also be sinful.
How do you know that you are truly saved?
Fastfredy0
2024 Supporter
Assurance of Salvation.
Test For Salvation (Marks Of A Born Again Christian)
1. Believing in Christ (Faith)
2. Repentance - Who Loves God will Obey God.
3. The Believer’s Salvation from the Love of Sin.
4. No Habitual Sinning, Strive to enter through the narrow gate.
5. Material possessions have little value and human issues are not particularly upsetting.
6. Humility.
7. Lose our own life to follow Him...
8. Love of the Brethren.
9. Internal Testimony Of The Spirit Overcoming the World. 382
10. Spiritual Growth.
11. Peace.
12. Perseverance.
13. Persecution
Who is the man whom Christ likened unto one who built his house upon the rock? Not merely him who “believes,” but “whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine and doeth them” (Matthew 7:24). Who are truly born again? “Everyone that doeth righteousness” (1 John 2:29); they who “love the brethren” with such a love as is described in 1 John 3:17-18. To whom does God experimentally reveal the eternal purpose of His grace? “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will show them his covenant” (Psalm 25:14). “To him that ordereth his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God” (Psalm 50:23). What are the identifying marks of a saving faith? One which “purifies the heart” (Act 15:9), “worketh by love” (Galatians 5:6), “overcometh the world” (1 John 5:4): only thus may I know that my faith is a living and spiritual one. John MacArthur
Test For Salvation (Marks Of A Born Again Christian)
1. Believing in Christ (Faith)
2. Repentance - Who Loves God will Obey God.
3. The Believer’s Salvation from the Love of Sin.
4. No Habitual Sinning, Strive to enter through the narrow gate.
5. Material possessions have little value and human issues are not particularly upsetting.
6. Humility.
7. Lose our own life to follow Him...
8. Love of the Brethren.
9. Internal Testimony Of The Spirit Overcoming the World. 382
10. Spiritual Growth.
11. Peace.
12. Perseverance.
13. Persecution
Who is the man whom Christ likened unto one who built his house upon the rock? Not merely him who “believes,” but “whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine and doeth them” (Matthew 7:24). Who are truly born again? “Everyone that doeth righteousness” (1 John 2:29); they who “love the brethren” with such a love as is described in 1 John 3:17-18. To whom does God experimentally reveal the eternal purpose of His grace? “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will show them his covenant” (Psalm 25:14). “To him that ordereth his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God” (Psalm 50:23). What are the identifying marks of a saving faith? One which “purifies the heart” (Act 15:9), “worketh by love” (Galatians 5:6), “overcometh the world” (1 John 5:4): only thus may I know that my faith is a living and spiritual one. John MacArthur
Fastfredy0
2024 Supporter
I have a longer explanation that goes thru each point ..... it's not like it is my original thought ... I swiped it from J. MacArthur who is a Lordship Salvation guy (so am I)
Some persons think Jesus is like a magic pill.
The Spirit is not going to change you magically.
YOU have to change YOU.
The spirit of God helps you to do this.
HOW do you think God could help you to do this?
It's not like you go to bed one night and wake up transformed.
Romans tells us how to transform ourselves.
Following the rules of God is what transforms us.
Romans 12:1-2
1Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
2And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
The above explains HOW we are transformed.
You have the spirit of God in you.
This should have an affect on your mind,,,,your mind is part of your soul.
You need to change your soul using the power of God's spirit.
Why then not try to be subject?
Bible Gateway passage: Matthew 11:30 - King James Version
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Join the Roman Catholic Church.
Bible Gateway passage: Romans 13:1 - King James Version
Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
I came in from a "patriot" protestant past to find things are not as they appear
He bid us to pick up our cross and follow Him but what did He do?
Did He save His life?
Bible Gateway passage: Matthew 16:25 - King James Version
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
Or try to teach us something?
Bible Gateway passage: John 8:36 - King James Version
If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Bible Gateway passage: Jude 10 - King James Version
But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.
I think the question that needs to be clarified is what do you mean by free? This may help us answer your question.
I'm going to go with the assumption that you are speaking of freedom in Christ. What does it mean to be free in Christ? Here's something Jesus said about it.
31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”
34 Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.
35 And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.
36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed."
John 8:31-36 NKJV
The way I understand this. Abide in His word means to receive it, believe it, and trust it. A disciple is a follower so to be a disciple of Jesus means to be a follower of Him. When we follow Him we repent of our sins, all of them, meaning we turn away from them and seek His righteousness. When we truly repent we break the bonds (hold) that sin has on us. In Paul's words, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled (reunited) us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing (crediting) their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 17-19 NKJV) Meaning through trust and faith in Jesus Christ we are set free and no longer slaves to sin for our relationship with God has been restored. Thank God for our Savior, the Christ, Jesus!
Not sure who this answer was directed to, Jkeyreed, but my response is simply this. The Lord Jesus Christ does not simply call us to stop sinning, and when that is your focus you will get the cart before the horse and nothing is going to operate properly. He calls you to receive Him by grace, and then to abide in Him and give yourself increasingly to His service. In seeking to do these things, you will increasingly drive out sinful activities and replace them with godly ones. But even if sin persists, you keep drawing closer to God, not drift farther away because that is what you are focusing on. You focus on that which is of good report, and the fact that you are seeking Him through the word more, praying more for wisdom and for Him to teach you, going to services, and seeking to understand him by watching more sermons you like, or interacting with believers more. Just a simple thing like being brave enough to air your concerns like this on a Christian forum can be considered as seeking to find ways to please God more, and can count as well.
Seek to abide in Him through prayer, study, and worship. The only way to holiness is by abiding increasingly in the Holy Spirit. There is no way any human being can be "holy" on His own.
If you would like me to send you a private conversation and discuss things on a more personal level, please feel free to ask.
Hidden In Him
Jkeyreed, there is much presented in the above post by Hidden in Him. I would like to add to that some of Paul's struggles and eventually his conclusion starting in Romans 7:13 and ending at the end of Romans 8. I'd post it here but it would be rather long so I would urge you to take the time to read it for yourself. I hope you can find it helpful.