I’m glad you’ve found peace for yourself.
Your story of how you came to know Christ is touching; I particularly liked this statement:
~”How great it was - what a relief - to hear
how I could know I would have eternal life through
what Christ did on my behalf. I stewed over it for
a while and one night I decided I wanted to know
God and I wanted to have eternal life. I talked to
God, telling Him exactly that, confessing my own
sin and thanking Him for His gift of forgiveness
and eternal life.”~
I wish there were a way I could convince you just how nearly identical our beliefs are in these regards. Your description is very close to the way I have come to know Jesus.
We are unprofitable servants; the scales you cite will always tip against us. I am eternally grateful for Christ, and for what He has done for me. I would fall at His feet and bathe them with my tears if I could; for the Gift is precious indeed.
We have Christ in common; all else is of little importance, as far as I can see.
My FRiend, you have found the reason why there are so many denominations and sects in Christianity. The doctrines of men are mere minor distractions when considered with the ONLY important point, Christ IS The Savior. [Many are called but few are chosen; faithful is He that calleth you for He will also do it; of the many called, so few will let Him do it.]
“I wish there were a way I could convince you just how nearly identical our beliefs are in these regards”
tant, I have never said a mormon or jehovah’s witness, or
whatever, could not come to completely put their faith
in Christ, apart from what their group teaches.
On the other hand, if Christ alone is what is necessary
for salvation, then the added things of mormonism and the
other groups are simply what falls into an outhouse.
And at worst, keep many from knowing the Real Christ.
best,
ampu
PS - So how does God sort out someone who professes to believe
in Christ, but doesn’t know who the Christ of the Bible
is, or who the God of the Bible is? Or the Biblical teaching
of original sin? Or any of a hundred other teachings
of mormonism? When he makes a profession, yet professes
another Christ, what does that mean?? How can you believe
the truth about one thing and disbelieve the foundational
truths of scripture that it is built upon? And more importantly,
why make the simple and beautiful Gospel of Christ more
complicated by adding to it? Everything you need for salvation
is given in the Bible. Nothing is missing. Which means that
the entire smith story is non-essential and distracts from
the truth of what God has done.
“Your description is very close to the way I have come to know Jesus.”
Tant, last night when I finished posting, I made sure all
my chickadees were in before their 12am curfew, then I
headed upstairs to bed. As I was brushing my teeth, I was
replaying your words in my head and I stopped to jot down
a thought so I wouldn’t forget it.
Here it is...
You say your experience was “very close” to mine. Yet in
the final analysis, placing faith in Christ is not an
experience - meaning, it is not the experience that saves. It is entrusting ourselves to Him fully that saves.
And what I specifically wrote was, “Ask Tant if his “experience”
resulted in the 100% assurance that, if he were to die
tonight, he would spend eternity in the presence of God.”
So, you can PM me or post here or skip answering as you like,
but I wondered as a follower of the doctrines of young Smith,
did you “experience” result in the certainty that you will
spend eternity in God’s presence?
Here’s why I ask...
The Bible teaches, that for those who have placed their trust
in Christ’s finished work on the cross for them, to be
absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. We step
out of this life and step into eternity, in the presence of
God. And this is not based on anything we did, added to or
contributed by way of good deeds or works or any ritual
whatsoever.
To you now...
best,
ampu