People who get to the point of being within a hair’s breadth of losing salvation will know soon that something is horribly wrong . Worse for those who really lose it all the way . Losing Holy Spirit will bring a Saint to a loss of status and the exact point of Hebrews 10: 27 – 28 . I want to point out that in my own situation, the real trauma happened after I read up on scripture and realized what I had done . There followed months of horrific spiritual and emotional distress . I had no assurance whatsoever that I would be restored . And yet, by the grace of God , it happened . I had left God only the most minimal room to restore me . I am still convinced over a year later that if I had died during this time, I would be in hell . The following are some pointers that helped me in restoring salvation :
1 ) Realize that any thought of suicide is demonic in origin and is to be disowned . Even though I was not restored yet , I spoke to God and told him I knew that suicide was not His will as it would hurt friends and family . Ask God to send angels to peel that demon away from you . That is exactly what I did , and it worked . The spirit of suicide was on me like a blanket one night . I had no power to rebuke the enemy as I used to . The Holy Spirit was not in me . But God still hears . You can pray silently inside if needed .
2 ) Realize that any compelling urge to bolt from church is just another demon trying to separate you out alone . Ask God to have angels remove that demon and kick him out the door . This is precisely what I did, and it worked . I had no power to dismiss the demon when I was in that condition . The Spirit of God was not in me . You must try hard to stay in a good, worshipful church.
3 ) Repent profusely, any way you can think to do . Particularly renounce and curse the sins of blasphemy , ingratitude , and any offendedness you may have harbored towards God . Do not turn to any form of sin for comfort .
4 ) Do not stop loving God, His people or His Church . Tell God you will serve Him even if He kills you . I did . Restoring salvation depends on maintaining a right heart as much as you can . Losing salvation is a heart sin . Try to have the best heart possible .
5 ) You must have some connections with mature , caring , spiritual Christians who will be understanding and not judgmental . One pastor literally turned his back on me after hearing my story . When he did that , he might as well have told the Father above to get out of His throne so the pastor could sit there long enough to judge . More properly, a shepherd will be in the spiritual trenches trying to help a repenting sheep who has become bound in barbed wire and fallen into a pit . It is not for the pastor to confer the status of ex – sheep for one trying hard to repent ! Rather , restore salvation if at all possible . Not trying to drive him into the wilderness where packs of demonic wolves can finish him off . Flee from judgmental shepherds . Restoration happens under the Sovereignty of God . Only God knows who has crossed the line all the way, with both feet .
6 ) Expect that many christians will not have a clue about the trouble you are in . I had several tell me that you cannot go by your feelings when I shared that I could no longer feel the presence of God . They meant well . Some will tell you wrongly that salvation cannot be lost . See the other articles on this site !
7 ) Keep talking to God . Let Him know that you love Him, adore Him, and wish to praise, serve, and worship Him forever . Beg Him to restore you so you can be used to warn and educate others . Tell Him you got where you are through ignorance if true , and that you would never have wanted to get there if you knew what ground you were treading on with Him . Above all , tell Him that you have a high degree of reverence in your esteem for the Blood of Christ . I tell Him regularly that The Blood is infinitely valuable and Holy, and one drop is in my opinion worth more than the whole world and every created thing in it . Let Him know that you never had any desire to offend the Holy Spirit if true. Restoring salvation depends on this .
8 ) Be sure to look for opportunity to bless and serve the people of God , especially the Jew and most especially the Messianic Jew . Contribute to a quality Messianic ministry that helps poor and sick Jews , such as Jewish Voice . Do it from the heart , and pray for them . This has nothing to do with a misguided effort to effect salvation by works . Help the poor, especially the Christian poor , from the heart . Restoring the poor and needy is akin to restoring salvation ! Do it because they are God’s , and you love the God in them . Why ? Because of Hebrews 6:10 :
10 For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
Also because of God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12 : 3 :
I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Help the Jew, especially the Messianic Jewish poor or sick or oppressed .
Consider 1 Samuel 16:7 :
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
See ? God is all about the heart . You want your heart to be right . God will see it !
Breakthrough : Restoring Salvation !
My own situation turned when I helped a partially disabled Christian man get into a residential Christian drug and alcohol rehab ministry . It was winter, and he had been beaten by a room mate where he had been. I had been helping the homeless . Let your heart break for another . Restoring salvation is in the balance ! He who gives to the poor, lends to God ! So, look at Psalm 41:1 :
Blessed is he who considers the poor;
The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.
And Proverbs 21:13 :
Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor
Will also cry himself and not be heard.
9 ) Read Isaiah chapter 58 . Consider the fast that God has chosen . Fasting food is not mentioned there . God’s idea of fasting is far more expansive than just food. It is more along the lines of sacrificing your own ease and comfort and convenience to effect the best and highest good of another who is powerless to effect it for himself . I will be writing a powerful devotional article about Is 58 . I cannot emphasize charity to God’s children enough . In tears , I helped my poor Christian friend . Then I called upon the Lord one more time , and God chose to restore me .
10 ) Realize that we are talking about more than back sliding here . Much more . Satan loves to get immature Christians to venture into carnality and luke – warmness , then tell them they have lost it all . Very common and not true . The believer who sincerely repents from such can be restored . See further articles on this site for more information .
Good afternoon. Im trying to get restored. So i can feel God’s presence. But the thing is. Im taking 3 psychotropic meds that i feel are stifling my ability to feel God’s presence. And i wanted to ask you what you thought about psych meds.
Do you think they should be taken? Or do you think they stifle the holy spirit?
I need help. And im wondering if i should just wait. If im in a furnace of affliction or what.
Either way. Im thinking it would be a good idea if i started to set up my life to be able to be restored by the heavenly father.
Thanks for reading.
Dear friend , My heart goes out to you ; It is unsettling not to feel the presence of God once you become accustomed to Him . As I do not know you , I assume that you are a Christian and have formerly known yourself to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit . In that case , certain drugs certainly CAN affect feelings . And feelings do not tell either way if one is Spirit filled . I’m sure you are taking these drugs under professional supervision . It may be of benefit to get a second opinion from a decidedly Christian professional in the correct field as to the appropriateness of these prescriptions . Also , I hope that you are in fellowship with other committed Christians in a good , Bible believing church that preaches the truth in love . A church that does not just preach ” ear candy ” , but tells the truth about sin without getting into condemnation or any other spiritual abuses . A proper therapeutic relationship with a good Christian counselor would likely be a good benefit , too . Again , since I do not know you , and on the chance that perhaps you may have had religion in the past without both believing AND receiving Christ , I suggest praying the following to the Lord in all sincerity and with faith , for He wants ALL to be saved :
Dear God : I confess that I am a sinner . I know that you sent your only begotten Son Jesus , born of a virgin , to come to this world to bear my sins on the cross and pay my sin debt . I know that Jesus is Divine , and He lived a holy life representing humanity in human flesh . I believe that after dying for my sins on the cross , that Christ rose again the third day following , and has now ascended to Glory . I know he is coming again to earth to rule and reign . Jesus , I accept your payment for my sins . I believe you are God the Savior , and I receive you . I commit to be yours forever . Please come into my heart ; forgive me for my sins and iniquities . I repent from them . I curse and renounce my every sin and iniquity . Cleanse me with your Holy Blood that you gave for me . Give me the Holy Spirit to live in me forever to help me be more and more like you . I give you my heart ! I make you my Lord ; I make you the Head of me . Help me to live more and more for you , and never quit you ! In Jesus’ Name I pray , Amen !
I hope that as you pursue God that you will realize the blessing of His Presence with great regularity and continuity ! Blessings , Author .
Dear Author,
I am profoundly grateful for your posts here and this website. I came across your Twitter feed just recently earlier this afternoon and read the pieces in your post about helping the needy and on Isaiah 58. I had just read that Scripture just before logging on to Twitter and seeing your profile.
I have been scared for my own salvation recently, as I know I have not felt The Holy Spirit’s indwelling Presence for a few months. I am trying to honor my parents, make restitution, and visit the needy- doing all I can to get my heart right. May I ask that you pray for me as I look to possibly switch churches from a Presbyterian church to a local Spirit-filled Church of GOD?
I also believe GOD wants ALL to come to repentance and to be saved. Please pray for me as I continue to work to get my heart and mind right before The LORD.
May GOD bless you tremendously in your testimony and work!
With Thanks, The Best,
Seth (@ROARinJESUS2)
Hi , Seth . Thanks for writing in ! First , let me say that Holy Spirit was very Present on my drive home today , as He is now . Now , I see why . He is thinking about YOU ! He is excited to reach out to YOU . Your foray into Is 58 just before reading the blog post about the same is NO accident ; Your steps are ordered by God , who is surely calling you to come close and STAY that way ! I don’t know you and know not if you owe restitution to any . However , if you have not felt God’s Presence for several months , repentance may well be needed . But there is no way to ” pay restitution ” back into His Presence . God wants BOTH your head AND heart ! You have thus far NOT portrayed to me any frank rejection of Christ from the heart for any reason , NOR direct blasphemy of the Spirit ; NOR have you taken defiant unforgivness beyond the grave . God ALONE is Judge ; however , I see no sin unto death from what you say . Be sure to get in a good , Bible believing church that preaches truth about issues of eternal security without condemnation ( it is CONDITIONAL security ) . Avoid churches that are worldly , cold , rigid , legalistic or dead ! Personally , I like a church where God SHOWS UP ! Rule and reign Holy Spirit ! But some churches just do NOT have much Presence !
We must die to self if we are to live unto Christ ; deny self , pick up our cross and follow Christ ! Not legalistic obligation , but being willing and obedient from a grateful heart ! Have a healthy praise and prayer life . The Judge laid aside his Judges robes and INSISTED on coming down , incarnating into DUST , getting up on the CROSS to pay the price for our sin as He is SO unwilling that any perish . The very DUST was unworthy to receive His Blood ; that same dust we are MADE OF ! Hallelujah ! There is ALWAYS much to praise God for !
Just to be extra sure that all the bases are covered , I suggest reading the blog post ” Scalper’s Tickets … ” I am happy to pray for you ; I hope to hear good news from you soon as you draw close to HIM .
I think the enemy has gotten you fearing like this ; examine your ways and repent from the heart if needed . But we live in a DARK world , and it takes DELIBERATE intent and action to make our calling and election sure ! ( 2 Pet 1:10-11 ) Many a pastor has talked about maintaining what you obtain . No need for a spirit of fear or condemnation ; abide in Christ , remain in His love ( John 15 ). Keep the doctrine ; you will save YOURSELF as in 1 Tim 4 :16 NOT salvation by works ; rather , we must overcome the potential for unforgivable sin . The worldly church thinks you can pay lip service to Christ , sin like hell , and go to heaven . This church largely vomited out by Christ as in Laodicea / Rev 3 .
Blessings , Author .