How do I know for sure that I am a Christian?

25 Responses

WayneDawg, on May 29, 2008 at 11:38 am said:

Ummm……..

Was that someone’s reponse to you?

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theoldadam, on May 29, 2008 at 12:05 pm said:

Wayne,

No. Just a reminder that Christ actually does make us a promise in baptism. That He promises to be our God and never leave us nor forsake us.

And that because of His promise to us, we can have the assurance that we so often need.

As a Christian, I am often faithless and doubting. And when I am, I return to my baptism, to the place where God acted for me…actually did something…for me. And I recieve His Supper (another form of pure gospel) that I may be strengthened and have the assurance that God wants me to have.

If I don’t trust in these objective (outside of myself) means of grace, then I naturally curve inward to my own feelings , emotions, and behavior to prove that I am a Christian. Those things are great , but they cannot be trusted, and they place the focus back on ‘me’, instead of Christ.

That’s it Wayne. Just a reminder. I need it… and I need it often!

Thanks for asking!

– Steve M.

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LutheranLucciola, on May 29, 2008 at 3:05 pm said:

Hey, I hear the new pirate radio has a donation base in San Clemente!

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theoldadam, on May 29, 2008 at 3:43 pm said:

Lucciola,

Yeah, I’m pretty sure I know the guys that are behind it.

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LutheranLucciola, on May 29, 2008 at 4:42 pm said:

LOL!!!

Arrggg! (flipping eye patch…)

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theoldadam, on May 29, 2008 at 5:06 pm said:

Me thinks they’ve got a parrot or two perched upon them Lutheran shoulders…arrgg matie…

I’m going to walk around town with my radio tracking device that looks like a diving rod connected to headphones and find out what shack they are broadcasting from.

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theoldadam, on May 29, 2008 at 5:07 pm said:

that’s divining…

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catechismatic95, on May 29, 2008 at 9:22 pm said:

The “I am” says it all. We don’t say “I was baptized”, we say “I am baptized”. It’s a past action with a living present reality. It works the same way with marriage, if a married couple has been together for a while they don’t say, “We were married”. No, the say “We ARE married”. One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism

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theoldadam, on May 29, 2008 at 9:33 pm said:

Cat95,

I love that one…”We ARE married.” Terrific! I will use that one, and often!

Thanks!

– Steve

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theoldadam, on May 29, 2008 at 10:02 pm said:

Cat95,

If you have an extra 20 minutes tucked away somewhere, try and give a listen to the sermon title ‘Two Christian Paradigms’ . Give it at least 5 minutes (that’s where it starts to get good)

It is a recent post. I’d love to hear your opinion of it.
It is a good one to send to folks that go to the ‘how to’ churches.

– Steve

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catechismatic95, on May 30, 2008 at 4:59 am said:

By the way, if you can find it, there is an excellent hymn called “God’s Own Child I gladly Say it”, it is chocked full of encouragement as the whole song is about Baptism.

Have you read any articles by Philip Cary? He is an Anglican theologian who holds high regard to Luther, and he has a great article about Luther’s understanding of Faith Alone being intrinsically tied to Baptism.

In the meantime I have an old German poem for you that can be found in the Hershey museum in Pennsylvania.

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catechismatic95, on May 30, 2008 at 5:13 am said:

Here is the link to the poem: And yes, I could have put the poem here, but I have to make sure I get traffic over at the Planet! 🙂

http://planetaugsburg.wordpress.com/2008/03/08/i-have-been-baptized/

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DannyO, on May 30, 2008 at 9:47 am said:

interesting how Ole Abe asked the very same thing:

But he said, “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” (Genesis 15:8)

2 ways:

1) And He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then He said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” (Genesis 15:5)

2) Gen 15:13 Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain…

Summary: Hebrews 6:17-18
(17) So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath,
(18) so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.

PROMISE & OATH!

here, as Luther said time & time again, faith hears/sees promise/oath…
faith and nothing else…sola fide!

Soli Deo Gloria!
danny

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DannyO, on May 30, 2008 at 9:48 am said:

how did the smiley get in there?

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theoldadam, on May 30, 2008 at 2:44 pm said:

Cat95,

Great poem on baptism!
Thanks for the link to Planet Augsburg so I could see it.

I think I’m going to print it out and have it framed and placed in a prominent place in my home.

Thanks Cat95!

– Steve M.

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theoldadam, on May 30, 2008 at 2:58 pm said:

DannyO,

Once again you are right on the money about God’s promises to us being what is true. And that these promises are grasped by faith and faith alone.

Are we to come up with this promise grasping faith after we have sized everything up and decided that this is a pretty good deal?

Heavens No! Faith is a gift of God!

God knows that we would never choose Him on our own, so even the faith we need to believe these great promises is a gift to us from outside of ourselves.

And one of the ways that God has chosen to give us this faith is in baptism. (1st Peter 3:21)

DannyO, you are a blessing!

Grace and Peace, my Brother!

– Steve

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Magdalene, on May 30, 2008 at 7:06 pm said:

God’s Word and His Promises give us assurance:

Jesus said, “The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned.” Mark 16:16

This applies to the Martin Luther thread quote too… re: good works.

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theoldadam, on May 30, 2008 at 7:21 pm said:

Magdalen,

If we can’t get all our asurance from God…then where will we get it from?

Nice commments..great scripture verse!

Thanks Magdalene!

– Steve

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HannahJ, on May 30, 2008 at 11:55 pm said:

Got around to linking to Pirate Christian Radio yet? 🙂

I have a strong suspicion that you are my pastor’s alter ego, for his favorite quote is (when someone asks him how he is): “No one stole my Baptism.”

DannyO – certain combos of symbols and parentheses (in my case, a colon and a closed parenthesis) lead to the widespread Internet phenomenon known only as emoticons. (sorry, a touch sarcastic. But it’s true.)

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theoldadam, on May 31, 2008 at 12:06 am said:

They are taking donations from a location in my fair city of San Clemente.

I’m going to use all the latest gear(two sticks and some wire connected to headphones) to see if I can flush out their secret transmitting station.

I’ll keep you posted!

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theoldadam, on May 31, 2008 at 2:55 am said:

Hannah,

I love that quote from your Pastor.

” No one stole my Baptism.”

Very good! I’m gonna use that one!

Thanks Hannah!

– Steve

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joel, on June 3, 2008 at 9:13 pm said:

“Truth is brief; all the rest is commentary.”

Umberto Eco in Foucault’s Pendulum (quoting from memory).

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theoldadam, on June 3, 2008 at 9:18 pm said:

Is that ever true!

Thanks Joel!

– Steve M.

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Haylee, on June 5, 2008 at 5:19 am said:

Ok, that was cool! I like it already, chat with ya soon…. Haylee

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theoldadam, on June 5, 2008 at 5:27 am said:

Haylee,

Welcome to the old Adam!

Good to hear from you today…yes, we’ll talk soon.

– Steve

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