Assurance that I am walking with Jesus not deceiving myself

Hello brothers and sisters. I am excited to have joined this group of believers in Jesus. I am seeking to live my life in full surrender to Him and His Holy Spirit. I want so much to fulfill my destiny in God. His divine plan for my life, not my own. For many years I thought I was a Christian because I believed Jesus was the Son of God and that He died and rose again on the third day. I wanted Him to be my Savior but didn't know anything of truly walking with Him as the Lord of my life. I never counted any cost. I took forgiveness for granted.
I would definitely say I am still a babe in Christ. What terrifies me is the thought that "what if I am not "in Christ" at all?" If any of you have any comments or thoughts, I would love to hear them. Thank you.

Sister, the inner witness of the Spirit is one Biblical way to discern whether one is in Christ. Jesus said that those who do the will of God are those He knows as His own. 1
John is a tremendous source of guidance for whether we are a child of God and was expressly written so that we might know that we know and are known by God.

Sarah,
You are seeking a good thing,.. to desire to know is a great blessing that you are being blessed with.
*the fear of God,... (who is The Spirit / Word, He who speaketh to us),...is the beginning of wisdom.”

Wise,.. not foolish

Wisdom, is in knowing Him,.. and to know Him is Eternal Life

””””””””””

Rev. :9,
"And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, WHICH DECEIVETH THE WHOLE WORLD:’ he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”
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So, ..it really sounds like there is a real danger of one being deceived.
But how can we avoid being in this deception?

..by seeking the kingdom of God, AND His righteousness.,... The Light of God,.(as He fills us with His Word,.. His Word is Light.
..that our eyes will be able to See,..we will not become blinded by the works of darkness.

””””””””””
Jesus says to "put my yoke upon you, and learn of me”
(Yoke and learn).... (wisdom,.. to know Him)
””””””””””””

What are we called to do? ..to be FILLED w/ The Spirit of God, and to be led by The Spirit of God.

””””””””””-
Sarah, may I email u something?
””””””””-
In His love,
elizabeth

Hi Elibeth. I appreciate your response very much 😊. And yes of course you can email me.

radiantlight76@gmail.com is my email address.

Thank you, Sarah
Just sent u something

””””””””””””
elizabeth

Thank you for your response. When the Word talks about the inner witness of the Holy Spirit, is it the fact that the Holy Spirit is present with me, convicting me of sin and leading me to know Christ? Period
Or the inner witness that I am indeed saved?
Meaning, there should not be any doubt? I hope I am wording the question well.

Also, I have been praying for fellowship. There is a group of believers in my area who go to Bethel church. Do you think Bethel church is a deception? Should I stay away from there?

Sarah,
You ask:
Re: "When the Word talks about the inner witness of the Holy Spirit, is it the fact that the Holy Spirit is present with me, convicting me of sin and leading me to know Christ? Period
Or the inner witness that I am indeed saved?”
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My response is,..
Yes,... yes,
When we come to Jesus, at the drawing,.. the beckoning of His Grace,..He forgives us , through His Blood sacrifice, of our ‘SINS THAT ARE PAST’,...
From the time we were born into sin, until, now,..‘AT THIS TIME’ ,..
(I am quoting Scripture w/emphasis)... Scripture follows >>>>

Rom.3:25-26,
"Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins ‘SINS THAT ARE PAST’, through the forbearance of God;..(up until this time in our life)

26 To declare, I say, ‘AT THIS TIME’ his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”....( Paul then make
distinct , that it is, ‘at this time’, in our life)

Now that we are born again of His Spirit ,and have His Spirit Living/ dwelling within us, .. He has come for a purpose,.. a work,.to draw,...to do
... being led by His Spirit.,.. to follow,..to walk,.. yes, so we can learn His Ways,.. so we can learn of Him and know Him.

So He originally saves us,.. but He is there always to continually save us from our sins.

I think of it as being an affront to God to believe that I can originality be saved , and continue to be saved no matter how I live.
....so, yes,The Lord continually convicts us as we veer, to turn / guide us into all truths,..... unto His Way.
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As to going to Bethel Church,.. ??

Can I possibly be very honest/ blunt ,... which I really do not like to do..
I would not recommend.
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Speaking all that I say, Sarah, in love and care to you,
””””””””””
elizabeth

I would not go to Bethel. Too much nonsense.

The fact that you are asking the question in your original post indicates you are in the faith.

If you weren’t you wouldn’t care enough to ask.

Hey Sara,

The witness of the Spirit is the assurance of salvation. And the Holy Spirit lives in every child of God, He leads us to Christ and He leads us to repentance and He, after we are born again leads us into all truth.

"And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ." - Romans 8:9

"But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth." John 16:13

This assurance only God can give to you, not a pastor, or a brother or a sister. But I will pray for you that God opens your eyes and understanding for what you are in him.

As far as my understanding goes (please mature believers correct me if Im wrong) - I think that this assurance is something continuous. i.e. It is not "Because I had this assurance 5 days ago, I know I am today saved". It is rather "Even right now the Spirit gives witness to me that I beling to God". (Romans 8:16) And the devil attacks God's children on this front very often. So it is very important to have firm foundation - the Word of God and the witness of the Spirit.

As for Bethel church, I would not recommend anybody to go there. I do not know which other options are around you, but I am pretty sure there is at least one congregation where you can go and grow.

May the Lord lead you to his house of prayer!

Thank you all so much. So, these answers brought another question to mind.

Once you receive Christ as your Savior does the process of sanctification lead to becoming a regenerated man/woman? And then, after a process you become born again OR am I born again and being sanctified to become more like my Savior Jesus, from Grace to Grace each day?

I heard a sermon the other day and the pastor was speaking of people who are unregenerate getting baptized and how those sheparding these folks will be held accountable to God for allowing these people to think they are saved when they are not.
It made me question if that could be my case? How and when do we know we are regenerate?

I know I have alot of questions and I appreciate all of your time and help. The Word tells me to work out my salvation with fear and trembling and I just know there are so many false teachings and deception. Especially in the church it seems.

I believe the Lord led me to this forum because I have no leadership to be under currently. I want true discipleship.

You are save by faith, not works. But you are not saved unless your faith works!

Always liked that pithy little saying.