Struggles with my Christian position.

etexas · #1 (**permalink**) 11-04-2007, 03:00 PM

I have, as most of you know moved towards, a strong Reformed position, I have been going to an OPC Church. But I am having doubts, not in Christ, but where I stand....what I believe. Is this sinful? Has anyone else here ever ha "struggles" to find what the "true" faith is the "true" Gospel.

AV1611 · #2 (**permalink**) 11-04-2007, 03:01 PM

Would you be able to give more details?

JBaldwin · #3 (**permalink**) 11-04-2007, 03:11 PM

The longer I walk with the Lord, the less certain I am about some "details" and the more certain I am of Christ Himself. He is Truth. His Word is truth. I am seeking with all my heart to follow Him.

Since we are finite, sinful creatures we will never arrive at the "perfect" position theologically. There are some things that should never be questioned such as the deity of Christ, the infallibility of Scripture, God's character, His holiness, His righteousness, His justice, His love, etc. (I can't list them all here.). There are other things on which our position in Christ are not dependent; it is those things which often leave me wondering. I have come to understand and accept my human weakness, and I pray continually that God's Spirit will guide me into all truth. I pray, too, that may know my Lord and Savior more deeply with each passing day.

So is it wrong to question? If we are leaning on Christ and are saturating ourselves in His Word, He may be causing us to doubt in order to deepen our faith in Him.

py3ak · #4 (**permalink**) 11-04-2007, 03:15 PM

I think doubts are probably normal after a change of course. You still have the old mental habits, to some extent, and they thrash occasionally. Only the utterly firm ground of our faithful God and His covenant word can answer those sensations adequately.

etexas · #5 (**permalink**) 11-04-2007, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AV1611

Would you be able to give more details?

Richard, my Brother, it is not so much one thing....I do not know if I am in some "free float" from the High Chuch setting I was in....I wish I could say exactly what is...maybe it is just me..maybe the Devil sowing doubts. I am unsure.

etexas · #6 (**permalink**) 11-04-2007, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JBaldwin

The longer I walk with the Lord, the less certain I am about some "details" and the more certain I am of Christ Himself. He is Truth. His Word is truth. I am seeking with all my heart to follow Him.

Since we are finite, sinful creatures we will never arrive at the "perfect" position theologically. There are some things that should never be questioned such as the deity of Christ, the infallibility of Scripture, God's character, His holiness, His righteousness, His justice, His love, etc. (I can't list them all here.). There are other things on which our position in Christ are not dependent; it is those things which often leave me wondering. I have come to understand and accept my human weakness, and I pray continually that God's Spirit will guide me into all truth. I pray, too, that may know my Lord and Savior more deeply with each passing day.

So is it wrong to question? If we are leaning on Christ and are saturating ourselves in His Word, He may be causing us to doubt in order to deepen our faith in Him.

Thank you. Like I say, it is not things like the Virgin Birth, the Deity of Christ...things like that. Again maybe it is "hangover from" the high RITE 1 Service, kneel bow cross myself at the proper time......don't get me wrong, I LIKE being Reformed I Like the Westminster, I agree with RPW as a general scope of practice....then I get confused...you should not have a piano in the Church...and that is fine...whatever does not come from faith is sin.....but I ask myself about Christian liberty...both at the personal level and the corperate. I find myself asking...is a Baldwin in the church an issue of salvation? If you don't have one you are elect if you do it is a golden calf and anauthorised incsence? Look I am not trying to "pick a fight" with what I just said....really those are just a few things going through my head, since you are my Brethren I guess it is best to be honest about this.

Semper Fidelis · #7 (**permalink**) 11-04-2007, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by etexas

I have, as most of you know moved towards, a strong Reformed position, I have been going to an OPC Church. But I am having doubts, not in Christ, but where I stand....what I believe. Is this sinful? Has anyone else here ever ha "struggles" to find what the "true" faith is the "true" Gospel.

The true Gospel is something fairly simple - a trust upon the finished work of Christ and not your own works as your only hope in this life and the next.

I think what you're probably struggling with are the other truths contained in God's Word. I don't agree that we ought to grow less confident about those other things as time goes on contra a previous post. That you are struggling with them is OK so long as you remain teachable - a disciple.

It is Providential that we are discussing the Great Commission in another thread. When I visited Rev. Winzer a number of months ago he and I had many conversations but one conversation really stuck with me greatly over the past few months. He noted that many always want to distill the Christian walk into bare essentials and ask what the minimal belief set is - what is an acceptable level of ignorance or error on the part of a Christian and the person can be saved. By extension, some will then argue that it's OK that Churches are content to remain in error or immaturity in a position as long as "the big rocks" are taken care of.

While I will admit that I will extend fellowship to Christians that have the Gospel straight, I don't think any Church ever has warrant to teach disciples some of the things that Christ commanded or to teach anything that He commanded in error.

We all need to remind ourselves regularly that our justification is not founded upon the possession of a perfect understanding of all the doctrines found in the Scriptures. Whether a child of three that has been granted Grace and a faith that unites her to Christ or an esteemed Professor of Theology who likewise clings to Christ as his only hope, there is no such thing as too little faith if that faith clings to the Cross of Christ.

What troubles me, then, are those that claim to cling to Christ but then refuse the process of discipleship. Even though their knowledge of the Word is not the grounds of salvation it is surely a fruit of their conversion that they ought to hunger and thirst for righteousness and the things of God. They should never be content that they have "arrived" at knowledge for that would be to admit that discipleship is finished.

Thus, if you are frustrated that you are unsure about things because you hunger and thirst for the things of God and are yet unsatisfied then I would not tell you that there is a problem necessarily. I would worry more if you felt like you had arrived at a knowledge of all things and had conflated your confidence of doctrines with the grounds of your salvation.

I would encourage you to share these struggles with your Elders and seek counsel from them.

Joshua · #8 (**permalink**) 11-04-2007, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SemperFideles

I would encourage you to share these struggles with your Elders and seek counsel from them.

A hearty second to the best advice given thus far, Brother. I'll be praying that you'll be strengthened in the faith.

etexas · #9 (**permalink**) 11-04-2007, 04:29 PM

Thank you Rich.....I am glad you do think I am teachable...my movement from smells and bells was a big step. I do not really want to oversimplify what it means to express the true faith in the Church, I guess I feel in limbo a bit. Rich I think you said you were raised Catholic...so maybe you understand the issues I struggle with coming also from a Sacramental system....were you ever confused....or had questions about the the truly needful things.

Semper Fidelis · #10 (**permalink**) 11-04-2007, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by etexas

Thank you Rich.....I am glad you do think I am teachable...my movement from smells and bells was a big step. I do not really want to oversimplify what it means to express the true faith in the Church, I guess I feel in limbo a bit. Rich I think you said you were raised Catholic...so maybe you understand the issues I struggle with coming also from a Sacramental system....were you ever confused....or had questions about the the truly needful things.

I'm still confused and still have questions about truly needful things. What I'm not confused about is that I'm united to Christ and being transformed daily. I pray that God will help me love the things He loves every day. When I was a Roman Catholic, I had no peace at all.

turmeric · #11 (**permalink**) 11-04-2007, 08:52 PM

Praying for you, brother. This is a huge paradign shift, it may take a while. Please talk with your elders about this, they should be happy to help.