"But I Just Feel Like...."
Isn't it amazing that most people have more confidence in their feelings than they do the Word of God? It is also amazing that most folks own a Bible and yet they do not have a clue as to what the Bible says. Is it not strange that many people will acknowledge the Deity of Christ and yet question His commands?
Jesus teaches that if one loves Him, he will keep His commandments (John 14:15). The majority of people who profess to be religious allow themselves to become convinced that keeping the Lord's commands is Legalism. Where in the Bible does it state that one is legalistic who obeys the Lord? The Scriptures again declare, "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous" (1 John 5:3). [All quotes are from the ASV.]
Friends, those who love the Lord will obey Him. The writer of Hebrews states it best in saying, "though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became unto all them that obey him the author of eternal salvation" (Heb. 5:8-9). One will not be saved just because he feels like he is saved, but because he trusts and obeys the Lord's will.
Jesus teaches that all people must obey the gospel to be saved. It is understood that small children incapable of believing and adults who are not mentally competent are excluded from this command. The Bible warns that those who "know not God" and those that "obey not the gospel...shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might" (2 Thess. 1:8-9). Obeying the gospel is not thinking and saying that you accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. Where in the Bible can anyone find that this is what one must do to obey the gospel?
Faith does come by hearing the Word of God (Rom. 10:17). Belief in Christ as the Son of God is necessary or one will die in his sins (John 8:24). Repentance from one's sins (turning from and ceasing to participate in the sin) is required before one becomes a New Testament Christian. A willingness to confess Christ as God's only begotten Son is a part of the gospel plan of salvation. Baptism (immersion, not sprinkling) is the final act of obedience that puts one into Christ (Gal. 3:27). Baptism, thought by so many to have nothing to do with one's salvation, washes away sins confessed and repented of (Acts 22:16) and allows one to be raised to "walk in newness of life" (Rom. 6:4).
One who refuses to obey the gospel is not saved just because he feels he is saved. Remember Solomon's wise statement: "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man; But the end thereof are the ways of death" (Prov. 14:12).
Jesus teaches that one cannot live in sin. The apostle Paul warns the Colossian brethren, "Put to death therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry; for which things' sake cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience: wherein ye also once walked, when ye lived in these things" (Col. 3:5-7). The Bible anticipates the arguments of those today who contend that one can "live in sin." One lives in sin who continues to commit a sin that he will not give up. A person living in sin may say, "I just feel like the Lord has forgiven me," but where in the Bible does it say that any sin is made right in the eyes of God? And where is the Scripture that states one will be forgiven who refuses to repent (cease) of his sins (cf. Luke 13:3)?
Jesus teaches that a child of God must continue to walk in the light as He is in the light (1 John 1:7). Some do not believe that "going to church" is required to go to Heaven, but the Bible warns that Christians are not to forsake assembling together (Heb. 10:25). The "give me Christ but not the church" concept is false! One cannot separate the head from the body (Eph. 1:22-23)!
Worship must be "in spirit and truth" (John 4:24) and not according to what makes people feel good! Some say that they just know that God is happy and pleased with the worship they are offering Him. Is what you do in worship authorized by New Testament Scriptures, or do you just feel that what you do in worship is okay? Better to trust in a "thus saith the Lord" than in a "this is how I feel!"
One cannot love the Lord and love the world (1 John 2:15-17). A choice must be made as to whom one is going to follow—Satan or Christ (cf. Matt. 6:24). Have you truly set your sights on things above (Col. 3:2)? Have you died to self and the ways of the world, and is your life "hid with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3)?
Friends, in the Day of Judgment, it will be of no avail to say, "But I just felt like I was forgiven, that my soul was okay, and that I was going to Heaven." Be like the noble Bereans who searched the Scriptures to see whether or not what they were taught was true (Acts 17:11). Obey God's Word instead of following your feelings!
[This article was first published in the Bonham Street Beacon on March 29, 2009. Nothing much has changed since then. People still think their feelings are reliable.]