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Struggles by Non-Christians
Can a skeptic on the fence have a personal encounter with God?
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<blockquote data-quote="The Righterzpen" data-source="post: 77180490" data-attributes="member: 417122"><p>Whether or not one believes a skeptic can be redeemed; depends on what one believes about God. </p><p></p><p>My conviction of what the Bible says is that: before the foundation of the world, the members of the Godhead decided what the salvation plan would be and who Christ would atone for. And by God's omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence; He caused by His own will; the redemption of those individuals to happen. He didn't choose them out of any thing they did or any good they possessed. He chose them out of HIs goodness for reasons embodied in His own nature that can only be described to us as self-sacrificial love. </p><p></p><p>So yes, due to sin everyone starts as either "a skeptic on the fence" to one who has fallen off the cliff into the cess pit. </p><p></p><p>What would that encounter look like? It would be an awakening where God "cuts the lights on" and sinner recognizes his state of death. He recognizes his worthiness of God's wrath and cries for mercy. </p><p></p><p>The personal relationship with God would look like: "How do I obey You?" </p><p></p><p>No, you can't "elicit" or "prompt" anything of your own power from God. Matter of fact, you would only become genuinely interested in knowing the truth if God sends His Spirit to bring you to spiritual life. And the thing(s) you would notice of that is both overwhelming joy and profound terror. And the outcropping of that awakening is the desire to repent of your sin. </p><p></p><p>As time passes and you grapple with the state of being spiritually awake; you will gain assurance by seeing your life change. You will become honest and truthful to God, yourself and other people. You will want to walk the steps God places in front of you. And that path will not be an easy road to walk. But you walk it because you feel a certain compulsion of conscience to do so. </p><p></p><p>The internal compulsion to walk the road isn't something that can be easily explained. It just "is". It comes to be recognized by self as a part of your reality and is something that you can't and don't want to walk away from; though it frustrates you at times. The presence of the One who both guides and pushes you along the path will be a part of the existence of your being who ever you're around, what ever you do, where ever you go for the rest of your life. That Presence is both comforting and terrifying; yet as "perfect love casts out fear" the terror will subside. You'll pray for a lot of help and wisdom along the way. </p><p></p><p>When the terror subsides and you come to walk in peaceful obedience; you will realize you are not deceiving yourself into "believing you're in a personal relationship." Because when the awakening comes; it's far to profound to ignore. </p><p></p><p>If what you experienced you can eventually "fall away from". That would be evidence that you were never awakened in the first place. </p><p></p><p>And yes, you will recognize God's presence "beyond a reasonable doubt" though it will not be "materially obvious". Your circumstances may not change; but you will. </p><p></p><p>Yes, God can reveal Himself to you; a skeptic on the fence in a powerful and life changing way.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="The Righterzpen, post: 77180490, member: 417122"] Whether or not one believes a skeptic can be redeemed; depends on what one believes about God. My conviction of what the Bible says is that: before the foundation of the world, the members of the Godhead decided what the salvation plan would be and who Christ would atone for. And by God's omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence; He caused by His own will; the redemption of those individuals to happen. He didn't choose them out of any thing they did or any good they possessed. He chose them out of HIs goodness for reasons embodied in His own nature that can only be described to us as self-sacrificial love. So yes, due to sin everyone starts as either "a skeptic on the fence" to one who has fallen off the cliff into the cess pit. What would that encounter look like? It would be an awakening where God "cuts the lights on" and sinner recognizes his state of death. He recognizes his worthiness of God's wrath and cries for mercy. The personal relationship with God would look like: "How do I obey You?" No, you can't "elicit" or "prompt" anything of your own power from God. Matter of fact, you would only become genuinely interested in knowing the truth if God sends His Spirit to bring you to spiritual life. And the thing(s) you would notice of that is both overwhelming joy and profound terror. And the outcropping of that awakening is the desire to repent of your sin. As time passes and you grapple with the state of being spiritually awake; you will gain assurance by seeing your life change. You will become honest and truthful to God, yourself and other people. You will want to walk the steps God places in front of you. And that path will not be an easy road to walk. But you walk it because you feel a certain compulsion of conscience to do so. The internal compulsion to walk the road isn't something that can be easily explained. It just "is". It comes to be recognized by self as a part of your reality and is something that you can't and don't want to walk away from; though it frustrates you at times. The presence of the One who both guides and pushes you along the path will be a part of the existence of your being who ever you're around, what ever you do, where ever you go for the rest of your life. That Presence is both comforting and terrifying; yet as "perfect love casts out fear" the terror will subside. You'll pray for a lot of help and wisdom along the way. When the terror subsides and you come to walk in peaceful obedience; you will realize you are not deceiving yourself into "believing you're in a personal relationship." Because when the awakening comes; it's far to profound to ignore. If what you experienced you can eventually "fall away from". That would be evidence that you were never awakened in the first place. And yes, you will recognize God's presence "beyond a reasonable doubt" though it will not be "materially obvious". Your circumstances may not change; but you will. Yes, God can reveal Himself to you; a skeptic on the fence in a powerful and life changing way. [/QUOTE]
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