A friend of mine, who’s name is “can.of.soup” asked me the following question.

If someone is unsure what to believe, like they have that little mustard seed of devotion to god but are still conflicted, would that count as sin despite just simply being confused?

 

Here is my answer to this, as shown below

Matthew 13:31-32 He presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree

 

Faith alone in Christ is the seed. Being saved is like when a gardener plants a seed, but when it’s in the ground, it can never be taken out.

 

This faith mustard seed must be both

1) Only in Christ

2) Only with faith

Thus, faith alone in Christ and faith alone by itself together

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Romans 3:28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

 

Someone could say “I believe everything will save me!” That everything could include Jesus, but it also incudes their own work. However, we are justified by faith alone, only belief.

 

Giving to charity, believing in other gods or lords, donating money to the poor, -> trying to use these as a basis for salvation does not save a person.

 

Someone who’s not saved yet, of course, can give to charity and donate money to the poor, those are good works. But they must realize that those things do not save them.

 

Someone who is saved can already, of course, give away money, which is good, but they realize that it doesn’t wash away sin.

 

Think of sin like mud. If I’m dirty, the only way to clean myself is to take a bath, by being washed by Christ’s blood as in belief in Jesus. Sure, I could do good works moving forward, but that doesn’t get rid of my dirtiness. Because all humans have sin from Adam as we’re all his descendants.

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

 

Even those who die young would still have that curse of sin they’re born with. Though, those who are young have the advantage of being like a child.

Luke 18:17 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

 

Matthew 18:1-5 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

If a child has a small amount of faith only in Christ and not of their works, they are saved.

 

For adults, this may be harder. Because they’ve lived longer, some people don’t want to think of themselves as bad people after all they’ve gone through, but they are. The truth is that I’m evil, everyone is evil. I’ve committed sins, I’m a sinner, I’m the bad guy in God’s story. Nothing I do on my own saves me. I trust in God, the only good guy in this story, to save me.

 

So in terms of confusion on who to believe in, whether to believe in Jesus or something else (works salvation, which is false), then that would be sin still inside the person. Specifically the curse of sin that comes from being born a descendant of Adam.

 

But if someone believes with faith alone in Christ then they are permanently saved. Even if they’re confused about what happens afterwards. Even if there’s confusion about whether or not they’re truly saved.

 

Even when I was saved permanently, I still had doubts lingering about whether I was “truly” saved or not. My faith used to be as small as a mustard seed, faith alone in Christ, and that’s what saved me. But as I read the Bible more and more, I began to grow in my faith.

 

… and I will add a continuation to this for this article.

Specifically, there can be times where believers don’t have an emotional feeling of “assurance of salvation”. Sometimes, believers can already be saved, by having had faith alone in Christ Jesus in the pass, but maybe something happens where they no longer “feel” saved. However, our salvation doesn’t depend on our feelings, it depends on God, the Holy Spirit. And the Lord promises that He will save all people, and promises that everybody who believes in Jesus Christ is saved.

Rom. 5:18 "Just as the result of one trespass was condemnation of ALL MEN, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for ALL MEN."

 

Whether or not someone who is already saved has the “emotion of assurance of salvation” that person is still saved, the Holy Spirit permanently resides and dwells inside of them, never to leave. That is guaranteed my friends. Even for me, there was times where I was younger where sometimes I didn’t have that emotional “assurance of salvation”. Of course, the Bible tells us specifically that those who have faith alone are saved, which can be assurance of salvation from a scriptural standpoint, but from an emotional perspective the mind can be quite finnicky. However, no matter how we feel, the Lord is the same then now and forever my friends :D

Psalm 2:7-8: "The Lord said to me, `You are my son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession."'

Psalms 22:27 All the ends of the earth and all the families of the nations will acknowledge God.