Westminster Confession Of Faith And Pilgrims Progress
The word backslide is not a word commonly used today, many Christians believe that they can backslide. Others believe that no matter what they do they cannot lose their salvation; both of these ideas are partially correct. Veriest pieces of old literature talk about the theory of backsliding such as, The Bible, Westminster Confession of Faith and Pilgrims Progress. Backsliding can be defined in many different ways, however the definition most commonly used is “Turning away from God to pursue their desire” (Wikipedia.org). It is important to note that turning away from God is different from losing your salvation. Devoted Christians in no way can lose their salvation which God has given them through his love. A devoted Christian is a believer
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Christians should not give into the world when times get tough or reject the true God like Mr. By-Ends and his friends in Pilgrim’s Progress did. Believers that are non-devoted and fall into the worldly ways were never fully saved in the first place. If a Christian truly puts their faith in Christ, then they would want to change. When a believer gets saved God casts a more aware conviction on your conscience. Many Christians believe that if they repent once when you convert than they are good to go, sadly this theory is indeed wrong. Repentance is an ongoing task for a believer’s life, which God gifted us with through free grace. The beloved book Westminster Confession of Faith stats “The act of God’s free grace in Christ; yet it is of such necessity to all sinners, that none may except pardon without it.” (Chap. XV Sect. 3). All humans are born with this sinful nature, which we cannot escape unless we repent to God. It is very important to note that emotional breakdowns are not repentance. Repentance is motivation by conviction to turn away from sin. If you keep rejecting the motivation by conviction that God gives you, you will become hard hearted. Since the dawn of time Christians have hated the way guilt feels from God, most of the time they will quit believing the Truth because of this. In Pilgrim’s Progress Hope talks about the dangers of this type of backsliding saying “Guilt, and to meditate Terror, are grievous to them; they like not to see their misery before they come into it…” (Pg.
Christians should not give into the world when times get tough or reject the true God like Mr. By-Ends and his friends in Pilgrim’s Progress did. Believers that are non-devoted and fall into the worldly ways were never fully saved in the first place. If a Christian truly puts their faith in Christ, then they would want to change. When a believer gets saved God casts a more aware conviction on your conscience. Many Christians believe that if they repent once when you convert than they are good to go, sadly this theory is indeed wrong. Repentance is an ongoing task for a believer’s life, which God gifted us with through free grace. The beloved book Westminster Confession of Faith stats “The act of God’s free grace in Christ; yet it is of such necessity to all sinners, that none may except pardon without it.” (Chap. XV Sect. 3). All humans are born with this sinful nature, which we cannot escape unless we repent to God. It is very important to note that emotional breakdowns are not repentance. Repentance is motivation by conviction to turn away from sin. If you keep rejecting the motivation by conviction that God gives you, you will become hard hearted. Since the dawn of time Christians have hated the way guilt feels from God, most of the time they will quit believing the Truth because of this. In Pilgrim’s Progress Hope talks about the dangers of this type of backsliding saying “Guilt, and to meditate Terror, are grievous to them; they like not to see their misery before they come into it…” (Pg.