Questions about when people get "saved"

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Tis_Bearself said:
That’s good to know. When evangelicals would ask me if I was “saved” I would always say yes, and I didn’t feel I was lying at all, but I wouldn’t want to be misleading them. It sounds like I wasn’t misleading them though.
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No you weren’t misleading them. They are asking if you trust in Christ and live for Him. If you answer yes to those questions, then in evangelical language, you are “saved”. If you answer anything else (I was baptized, I am a member of the Holy Rollers Congregational Church, I’m Spiritual, I Love God and He loves me so we are good…) then they will ask more question to try and ascertain if you have faith (trust in Christ) or religion (the works of the law) or some sort of new age spiritualism.
 
Yes. Even though I had that “event” in the Baptist church many moons ago I have always known the Lord and don’t really look back to a specific time when I wasn’t a Christian. I know that I was guided by the Holy Spirit to my church now to hear the Good News from a not-so-legalistic perspective. My baptism and confirmation (both the same day) is a day I can look back on where my faith was solidified and became very real to me. Everybody has their own unique time and timing as to when they come to faith in Christ (saved) and some have that specific moment that they can look back on. My brother’s was when he was driving a dump truck and had to pull over the side of the road. He was convicted, cried and asked God to be with him.
 
lanman87 said:
if you have faith (trust in Christ) or religion (the works of the law)
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Exactly when did Christianity stop being a religion? The phrase “works of the law” is referring to the ceremonial laws like washings, animal sacrifice etc…not good works or works of mercy.
 
lanman87 said:
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Tis_Bearself:
That’s good to know. When evangelicals would ask me if I was “saved” I would always say yes, and I didn’t feel I was lying at all, but I wouldn’t want to be misleading them. It sounds like I wasn’t misleading them though.
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No you weren’t misleading them. They are asking if you trust in Christ and live for Him. If you answer yes to those questions, then in evangelical language, you are “saved”. If you answer anything else (I was baptized, I am a member of the Holy Rollers Congregational Church, I’m Spiritual, I Love God and He loves me so we are good…) then they will ask more question to try and ascertain if you have faith (trust in Christ) or religion (the works of the law) or some sort of new age spiritualism.
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Thanks for the clarification that “saved” to mean ‘trusting in Christ and live for Him’. Essentailly that is what a Christian is being called for. No problem, except for Catholics they don’t call that being ‘saved’.

In the Catholic language, saved can be entirely different thing - essentially being in heaven. Thus they may be quite perplexed if you ask whether they are saved because it is something they only know after death and which they have to work for during their life.

The closest they can know that they are saved is after Baptism or after going for a good Sacrament of Confession when they would be in a ‘state of grace’.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
Let’s say Joe Sinner gets “saved” at the megachurch meeting.
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This doesn’t just happen in megachurches but is common in churches of all sizes.
Tis_Bearself said:
What happens after that? Does he just go off to work on his internal resolution to be good from now on or is he supposed to take some additional steps like join a particular church, contact some outreach person, etc.
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What evangelicals mean by “getting saved” is having a conscious conversion experience and becoming a spiritually born again Christian. It is not making an “internal resolution,” but rather receiving faith in Christ accompanied by a turning from sin.

If this takes place at a church service, the person would be welcomed and invited to become a member of that particular church if they don’t currently attend a church. Many churches have small groups, new members classes, or other discipleship programs oriented to helping new converts grow in their faith.
Tis_Bearself said:
Is getting “saved” a commitment to join or believe in a particular faith (e.g. the one that the preacher espouses) or does it just mean you’re putting yourself in the hands of Jesus and letting him wash away your sin and committing to sin no more?
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If someone has truly given their life to Christ (another term for “getting saved”), then they have joined the invisible church already. They are a follower of Christ, not any man. Of course, as a follower of Christ, they would be expected to join a local church for teaching, worship, fellowship, and for pastoral care.
Tis_Bearself said:
Do people normally only come down the aisle and get “saved” once?
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The answer to this would depend on whether you believe in Once Saved Always Saved. I don’t. What I believe is that it is possible to reject Christ through disobedience or unbelief. In such a situation, one could conceivably “get saved” more than once if they backslide and then later return to Christ.
Tis_Bearself said:
Or do some make a regular practice of doing it frequently to show their commitment? Is there some unspoken etiquette to this, like you’re only supposed to come get “saved” if you are in a state of sin, or have never gotten “saved” before? Or do people just feel free to come down and get “saved” if they feel moved by the spirit to do it, regardless of whether they got saved five times at the last five meetings?
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The altar call is used for more than just “invitations to receive Christ.” Not everyone who walks down the aisle is “getting saved.” Many are mature Christians who want to repent of sin or just want prayer for healing or some other issue. Sometimes, people go to the altar to just meet with God.

Just an example of what going to an altar could mean from a Pentecostal perspective:
At the altar we experience: (1) Confession; (2) Change; (3) Consecration/Closeness to God; (4) Communion of the saints; (5) Commissioning into the world.
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Dr Anders on EWTN, a convert from Presbyterian church, indicates that people often did it more than once, because they have no real confirmation other than their own feelings
 
ltwin said:
If someone has truly given their life to Christ (another term for “getting saved”), then they have joined the invisible church already. They are a follower of Christ, not any man. Of course, as a follower of Christ, they would be expected to join a local church for teaching, worship, fellowship, and for pastoral care.
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Hi Itwin,

Many non-Catholic Christians talk about the invisible church. What do you mean by the invisible church?

I don’t want to go off-topic with this question or start a debate. If the answer is complicated, I’ll start a different thread.

Thank you!
 
What Protestants mean by the invisible church is, in the words of the Westminster Confession:
I. The catholic or universal Church, which is invisible, consists of the whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ the Head thereof; and is the spouse, the body, the fulness of Him that fills all in all.[1]
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This is distinguished from the visible church, which is defined as:
II. The visible Church, which is also catholic or universal under the Gospel (not confined to one nation, as before under the law), consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion;[2] and of their children:[3] and is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ,[4] the house and family of God,[5] out of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation.[6]

III. Unto this catholic visible Church Christ has given the ministry, oracles, and ordinances of God, for the gathering and perfecting of the saints, in this life, to the end of the world: and does, by His own presence and Spirit, according to His promise, make them effectual thereunto.[7]
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The visible church is the church that we can see. It is the people who profess Christianity (whether or not they are truly saved). The invisible church, however, consists of all those who have ever lived who are truly members of Christ’s body. Hope that helps.
 
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Thank you for taking the time to reply.

So, there’s a visible church that includes everyone who professes belief in Christ. The wheat and tares so to speak. But not everyone is saved. The invisible church consists of the saved throughout the past, present and future of the visible church. Is that correct?

The visible church is the Kingdom of God and the Family of God? The Kingdom is the visible church on earth? This confuses me a little . . .

The saved members of the invisible church who are deceased are now saints in heaven?

Just trying to wrap my mind around this teaching about the church. 😄
 
TigerLily-1 said:
So, there’s a visible church that includes everyone who professes belief in Christ. The wheat and tares so to speak. But not everyone is saved. The invisible church consists of the saved throughout the past, present and future of the visible church. Is that correct?
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Yes.
TigerLily-1 said:
The visible church is the Kingdom of God and the Family of God? The Kingdom is the visible church on earth? This confuses me a little . . .
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Yes, the church is the visible expression of Christ’s reign on the earth. Christ is King and we, the church, are his people, carrying out his will upon the earth not through force or violence but through truth and love. The church is also the family of God, since God is our father and we are all brothers and sisters in Christ.
TigerLily-1 said:
The saved members of the invisible church who are deceased are now saints in heaven?
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Yes, essentially. They are with Christ.
 
ltwin said:
This doesn’t just happen in megachurches but is common in churches of all sizes.
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Yes, I’m aware of this, but if you are attending a small church in your local area there would seem to be a reasonable expectation that if you are attending there, and get “saved” there, you will continue to be a member there.

If you are at a megachurch meeting or a big revival or something, there are usually people in attendance from all over the place who may not be local residents planning to return to that church, or the revival may be a temporary event so there is no “church” to attend, or either the megachurch or revival may involve multiple churches, maybe even different denominations. Hence my hypothesis being framed as I did.
 
mattp0625 said:
Dr Anders on EWTN, a convert from Presbyterian church, indicates that people often did it more than once, because they have no real confirmation other than their own feelings
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Maybe he means they do so because they have “salvation anxiety”, although it is odd that a Presbyterian would be thinking about that, because the Presbyterians I know seem to have the least concern about their eventual fate that I’ve ever seen. It’s like if you basically live a responsible life, vote, pay taxes, join the Kiwanis etc you’re automatically going to heaven, now pass the potatoes and change the subject.
 
It seems better for questions to be more about “how much can I do for God?” rather than “how little can I do and still get by with being ‘saved’ in the end for eternity?”. The first is more loving but the second is more focused on self (selfishness).

Faith works by love (Galatians 5:6) and loveless “faith” would be fruitless and not endure. Jesus in John 15:16: “I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain”.

In “Sola Scriptura” systems, the authority of the Bible is emphasized. The authority of “one, holy, catholic, apostolic church” is ignored or denied. In “Sola Scriptura” systems, each person is their own private interpreter of the Bible and therefore, each person is their own authority. It’s difficult to say what “evangelicals” or “protestants” believe when each person is their own authority and can be their own splinter group.
 
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Yes, if you are in Purgatory you are saved. You still have to suffer but you know you will go to heaven in the end, you can’t go to Hell.
 
The personal judgment decides. I use the gates of heaven as the sure sign, and something that ‘purgatory deniers’ will identify with. A point to make here is that following Jesus is difficult, while following this world is easy. Getting into heaven is difficult while getting into hell is easy - the narrow and wide paths. Purgatory is part of the difficulty with which we enter heaven - “Nothing impure will enter it” - Revelation 21:27.
 
The megachurch mentality is one extreme of Protestantism. The populist wing if you will - anything goes. I am not sure they even call themselves Protestants anymore they are so far from any form of classic Protestantism. My sense is, yes, they actually believe they are saved then and there and that is it. If you pushed them on it, they would concede that they continue to sin and seek God’s forgiveness. I don’t think they have any hard and fast rules about this stuff. They are not into dogma that much. Whatever feels right.

It is unfair to paint all Protestants with this megachurch brush. I think most Protestants do believe you are saved at the time of accepting Christ through faith (justified) but it is a work in progress for Lutherans, Anglicans, Methodists, Baptists. If you fall into sin without repentance, you go to hell. With faith or without it.

Catholics actually believe you are saved by faith and then works from it in the sense that you merit your salvation - but God gave you the grace at the time you responded affirmatively to Him in faith. And it is through grace that you are transformed and can perform the works and merit salvation.

A Lutheran would say if you don’t do good works you never had authentic faith - the two go hand in hand. You are saved by your authentic faith through which you are justified. Your works witness your faith. You do not, however, boast of your good works to yourself, God or anyone else. You don’t get anything out of them. It is thanksgiving, acts of love. I personally think this is really beautiful. I’d rather boast in Christ than myself - I doubt he’ll be displeased when I stand there, even if I am wrong. Not saying there won’t be other questions…🙂 just talking about this issue.
 
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