The Doctor Is In

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Here within his top-secret underground command center, The Doctor busily spends each day in service to you, the Christian Internet Youth Community. Yes, whenever he isn't eating, sleeping, breathing, talking on the phone, texting his friends, playing video games, listening to mp3's, watching old television reruns, or working on his air guitar licks, The Doctor labors tirelessly to respond to email questions like the one we have below...

Hello- I have a problem! I know that I am saved and everything, but I feel like I don't have a close relationship with God and peace with him. Does this mean that I'm not saved?

Well before we answer this question, let's talk about what the word salvation means when it's used in a spiritual sense. In its most basic terms, the word "salvation" simply means deliverance. Salvation has to do with God's liberation of humanity from the problem of separation from Him (you can find out how people got into this situation and why it's a problem by taking a look over here).

Anyway, the Scriptures tell us that human beings can be saved from this separation from God through faith in Jesus Christ. For example, we get the following information from Romans 10:9...

"...if you tell others with your own mouth that Jesus Christ is your Lord and believe in your own heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

We also told this from John 5:24...

"(Jesus said) 'I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life'" (NIV).

Then there's this passage from John 3:17...

"There is no eternal doom awaiting those who trust (God's Son) to save them. But those who don't trust him have already been tried and condemned for not believing in the only Son of God."

So answer this question for yourself, just ask this: "Is my salvation based on what I feel or is it based on something else?" Well, the answer is that your salvation doesn't depend on how you feel at all- it comes by God's grace through faith in what Jesus did for you on the cross. Ephesians 2:8-9 explains it this way...

"You were saved by faith in God, who treats us much better than we deserve. This is God's gift to you, and not anything you have done on your own. It isn't something you have earned, so there is nothing you can brag about" (CEV).

If you have accepted Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, then you are definitely saved. The fact that we don't always "feel saved" doesn't affect the reality of our salvation at all. To explain a little further, check out these Bible verses...

"I give them eternal life and they shall never perish. No one shall snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else, so no one can kidnap them from me" (Jesus, speaking in John 10:28-29)

"He is able to save completely all who come to God through him. Since he will live forever, he will always be there to remind God that he has paid for their sins with his blood" (Hebrews 7:25).

"And he is able to keep you from slipping and falling away, and to bring you, sinless and perfect, into his glorious presence with mighty shouts of everlasting joy. Amen" (Jude 1:24b).

"For I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can't, and life can't. The angels won't, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God's love away. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, or where we are-- high above the sky, or in the deepest ocean-- nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when he died for us" (Roman 8:38-39).

Remember, our feelings change but God's Word doesn't- and God's Word tells us this: "For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things" (1 John 3:20 NKJV). If you have accepted Jesus as Savior then you can totally trust in the fact that God says that you are saved, even if you don't always feel like it.

I know that the Bible says that once your saved your always saved and will never lose that privilege, but it just feels like I'm not with God

Well, everyone has days when they feel spiritually great and other times when they may feel "down" spiritually. For instance, you can read about the experience of the great prophet Elijah in the Old Testament book of 1 Kings, The Scriptures tell us that this great man of God reached a low point in his life when he actually said this...

"Elijah walked a whole day into the wilderness. He stopped and sat down in the shade of a tree and wished he would die. 'It's too much, LORD,' he prayed. 'Take away my life; I might as well be dead!'" (1 Kings 19:4 GNB).

So you can see that there may be times when God's people can struggle with feelings like this. So what can you do to help feel like you're more with God? Well, one of the very best things that you can do to help yourself in this area is to spend time in God's Word each day. Start at the beginning of a Biblical book (say, Matthew, Esther, Acts, Psalms, etc.) and then read a certain amount (perhaps 1 to 3 chapters) each day until you finish the book. Then go to another book and read through it until you finish that one. Then start another. Doing this every day will help you feel a lot more connected to God and it usually takes less than 15 minutes a day!

Before you start reading, ask God in prayer to help you to understand his Word. Then set aside a time to read it every day. If you do this, it will go a long way in helping you feel closer to God. Also, don't forget to make time for youth fellowship (if you have one at your church) and definitely make plans to attend church every week. Some people often skip church on Sunday and then wonder why their spiritual lives aren't so great- but this is something that the Bible specifically warns us against...

" Let us not neglect our church meetings, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near" (Hebrews 10:25).

Related Topic: Why Is "Salvation" Necessary?

Do you have a question for The Doctor? Just send it to the email address below- you'll get a personal reply and you just might see it answered here.

The Doctor is not a real doctor but he plays one on the Internet. E-Mail prescriptions are also available on an individual basis.

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