It was late at night and my wife and I had retired and all of sudden she asked, “Did you close the garage door?” My, my, why did she have to ask me that question so late at night! I am positive that I closed the door but she has aroused my curiosity so I got out of bed and made the trip to prove that I had closed the garage door but much to my surprise, the door was still up! I was sure that I had closed that door and I felt as safe as you could be in believing that all the doors were locked leading to the inside of our house. But, I was wrong!
Now let me tell you about the latest concerning our feelings that we were safe in our house. This morning I took a birthday card to the mail box and when I returned to open the front door there was a set of keys in the lock. Someone had left them there over night. You see, I was in Montgomery all day. My wife used our truck to do her shopping. She entered the house through the front door. So, it was not me this time in not securing the house. But, you know, we slept soundly through the night feeling that we were safe as we possibly could be. But we were wrong!
My friends, feelings alone can be deceptive. This is true in the realm of religion as well in other areas. The reason is explained by the prophet Jeremiah: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (17:9). The wise man wrote in Proverbs 14:12: “There is a way that seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.” One biblical example of a person having deceptive feelings is that of Jacob who thought Joseph had been killed by a wild beast but later learned that he was alive in Egypt. How often have you heard someone say, “I feel that I am saved”? We must remember that salvation takes place in the mind of God and not according to how a person feels in his heart.
But its end is the way of death.” One biblical example of a person having deceptive feelings is that of Jacob who thought Joseph had been killed by a wild beast but later learned that he was alive in Egypt. How often have you heard someone say, “I feel that I am saved”? We must remember that salvation takes place in the mind of God and not according to how a person feels in his heart.
It is true that a saved person can have a clear conscience and a feeling of peace that passes all understanding in the Lord – when he complies with the directives of the Lord (1 Peter 3:21). This comes about when a person responds by faith to the grace of God (Romans 5:1, 2). This saving faith is one of obedience (Hebrews 5:8, 9). So, when a penitent believer is baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit he receives forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). He will know that his sins have been washed away by the precious blood of the Son of God (Acts 22:16; Ephesians 1:7).
“Is thy heart right with God, Washed in the crimson flood, Cleansed and made holy, Humble and lowly, Right in the sight of God?
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