hi. just wanted to introduce myself and give my testimony. i am 23 and live in canada. I have been a "christian" my whole life (i was raised to be a christian) but i never really felt like i was one. i have always tried to find God. i've always thought that if i put in enough effort looking for God, He would eventually show himself to me. I have recently found that to be a half-truth. i dont know if anyone has read a book called, "God's way of peace" by horatius bonar but i read it recently and it was exactly what i needed to hear. this book showed me that the grace of God is not something that needs to be earned by doing any work. the grace of God is a gift from God to us that does not need to be bought with a price. to try to earn this gift is to say that what Jesus did was not quite enough to redeem us and is an unfinished work. if we need to earnestly search for God or become righteous of our own means than that nullifies the work of Christ. so i say that it is a half-truth because i think that if you search for God hard enough it can lead you to find out that searching for God hard enough is exactly what is stopping you from finding God. i was searching for God in such a way that i made it to be the work that i had to perform to make myself worthy to accept God's grace. and that was nothing other than self-righteousness and was exactly what was cutting me off from God. God's grace is mine for the taking right NOW. it is not something that i have to earnestly search for for such and such a time period to show God that i deserve to be a child of God. faith is not a 'work'. He is the author and the finisher of our faith. i simply must accept God at his word. Christ died for my sins. Christ died for your sins. i am righteous through Christ Jesus.
so i am now a true believer. i accept the righteousness of God by grace through Christ Jesus. (and NOT through my good deeds).
i wanted to share this because i know there are probably a lot of people that are just like me out there that grew up in a christian home and were assumed to be christian by everyone they knew but never really were christian and were just 'trying' to be christian because they felt it to be truth but couldnt seem to have any real chirstian experience. i almost wish that i grew up a non-believer and was converted in a dramatic way because i think it is a lot easier for the non-believer to grasp how truly GOOD the good news is
but anyways, im new to this site. im looking forward to learning and growing in my faith and hopefully one day ill be able to help others grow in their faith also. i'm here to learn.
so i am now a true believer. i accept the righteousness of God by grace through Christ Jesus. (and NOT through my good deeds).
i wanted to share this because i know there are probably a lot of people that are just like me out there that grew up in a christian home and were assumed to be christian by everyone they knew but never really were christian and were just 'trying' to be christian because they felt it to be truth but couldnt seem to have any real chirstian experience. i almost wish that i grew up a non-believer and was converted in a dramatic way because i think it is a lot easier for the non-believer to grasp how truly GOOD the good news is
but anyways, im new to this site. im looking forward to learning and growing in my faith and hopefully one day ill be able to help others grow in their faith also. i'm here to learn.