I thought I was saved, spiritually born again at age 11. I now know that I was not saved back then. I only truly became a follower of Jesus Christ about three years ago. How can I be so sure that I was a false convert when I was 11 years old?
Because about three years ago I started reading the Bible every day and some of the verses started jumping out at me. There were many Bible verses that convinced me of my horrible predicament, but Romans 8:1 really convicted me.
You see when I was 11 years old, I thought I had been saved because I had said the sinners prayer (and thought I really meant it at that time). When I read Romans 8:1 those many years ago I zeroed in on the part that said there was no more condemnation against people who were saved. I thought I had found a “get out of Hell free card”. All I was hearing was that I would no longer be condemned for any past, present or future sins because I had been saved.
Now, let’s look at the verse that so overwhelmed me a few years ago. Romans 8:1 says there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. You see, I had honed in on the first part of that verse years ago, but now the second part jumped out at me. The part that says who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
For over 30 years I had been exercising what I thought was a get out of Hell free card, but the whole time I was chasing my selfish desires, fleshly, natural, sinful desires. But Romans 8:1 says that if we are truly saved, we no longer walk (or chase after) fleshly or sinful desires, instead we walk after the Spirit. This means we desire, strive, care about the things of God.
Oops! My get out of Hell free card really wasn’t a get out of Hell free card after all. I thought I was basically a good person, one who went to church and served God in many capacities at church. But then I realized that when I stood before Jesus Christ on Judgment Day, He was going to say to me depart from me you worker of lawlessness. I could never fully explain the shock and bewilderment that came over me when I realized that all of these years I had been fooling myself. That I came very close to spending eternity in Hell for the pleasures of sin. Thanks be to God that He opened my eyes and showed me the true, horrible, shocking state that I was really in.
If you are truly a Christian who has repented (turned away from ) your sins; then I congratulate you my fellow laborer in Christ that you truly have no more condemnation in you. I encourage you to grow in your spiritual walk with God. I encourage you to practice spiritual disciplines: read your Bible daily, set aside time to pray to God each day, talk to God throughout the day, fellowship with other believers, find a mentor and find someone you can mentor, fast, spend time alone with God, learn how to effectively share your faith with others (go to wayofthemaster.com), etc. Truly put Christ first in your life, above everything else.
But if you are not a follower of Jesus Christ, you are condemned already (John 3:18). Please ask God right now to forgive you of your sins, then repent by turning away from your fleshly desires and turn toward God and seek after his Spiritual desires and put your faith and trust in our Lord Jesus Christ. Surrender your will completely to Him. Please go to How to Be Saved for more information on salvation.