My Born-Again Experience

By Merle Hertzler

Scott Ellard wrote a series of comments at my blog questioning my born-again experience. The discussion has become too complex for blog-comments, so I move it here.

I have included selected quotes from Ellard's comments below. His whole responses are at my blog.

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Scott,

You and I agree that my experience does not prove that I was regenerated by God. You write:

I am not challenging your belief that you put your faith in Christ alone, but is it possible that the kind of faith you put in him is not the kind of faith necessary for him to impart spiritual life? Is it possible that you weren't born again?

Yes, exactly. I do not now believe that Jesus was actually in my heart back then. But I did think so at the time. I felt a wonderful peace in Jesus, an assurance of salvation, and a sense of an intimate relationship with Jesus in my heart. But I now see that those were simply feelings in my mind that were based on how I understood the world at that time. The feeling of assurance of salvation did not prove I was saved.

Could the same be said for much of Christian experience? The fact that one experiences a sense of a personal contact with God does not prove that one was touched by God, does it? Humans can be deceived by feelings, can't they? You apparently agree. You even say "the [Christian] model" predicts "that there would be people who considered themselves true believers but were not". Exactly! They feel a peace, they feel assurance of salvation, but it could be that nothing really happened. The experience does not prove one was touched by God.

You also write:

I have encountered many "Christians" who believe that since they did what they understood God to be requiring, that by definition they must be born again. And thus they consider themselves to be and act like they are. But can you see that doesn't make it so?

Yes! Yes! I see it! Some people read the Bible, they do what they understand the Bible to teach, and they have an experience, but that doesn't prove that anything miraculous happened. I agree.

Okay, so many are deceived by their experiences. Is it possible that you were also deceived by your experience? You seems to acknowledge even this, writing, "One possibility is that I could simply be the victim of self-deception." Indeed! Nobody can simply look at the experiences of his mind and determine whether he has been saved by God or not. So the born-again experience is irrelevant to establishing whether one has been regenerated.

You seem to say it is not the experience that counts, but the claims of "the model:"

But I don't ask anyone to believe based on my inner witness. Rather I ask them to consider the claims of the model.

Ah yes, "the model". What exactly is "the model" you keep referring to? You tell us "the model" is a particular view of Christian teaching--which you claim is the only correct Christian view--and you tell us that all "Christian" teachings that disagree with "the model" are false doctrines taught by false teachers. But what exactly is "the model"? You are very vague about it. Supposedly "the model"--not to be confused with "the matrix"--makes claims regarding salvation. What are those salvation claims of "the model"?.

"The model" also seems to be your way of expressing your views of the Bible. And you seem to turn to the Bible as proof that some people--including yourself--were saved by God. But if "the model" is based on the Bible, than it seems to me that "the model" is based on a contradictory book.

In Acts 17 we are told of the Bereans who searched the scripture daily to see if what *Paul* said was true.

Well perhaps those Bereans didn't search the scriptures very hard. I think if they had tried, they would have seen the problems. I have searched the scriptures that the Bereans would have had--the Old Testament--and I haven't found there what Paul says is there. Again and again, Paul quotes from the Old Testament, and takes it totally out of context. Take, for instance,  "The just shall live by faith" (Romans 1:17). This is a quote of Habakkuk 2:4. Paul uses that verse in reference to the gospel of Christ and salvation, but Habakkuk's book has nothing to do with eternal salvation or the story of Jesus. Rather, Habakkuk deals with faithfulness in living for God in spite of the Babylonian captivity. (The word translated "faith" is commonly translated "faithfulness", and this appears to be the meaning even in Habakkuk.) Habakkuk doesn't ever hint that he is speaking of saving faith in a dying Son of God for eternal life. He is speaking of the just remaining faithful in spite of adversity. Paul quotes Habakkuk, but Habakkuk does not mean what Paul uses the phrase to mean. This is just one example of Paul's perversion of the Old Testament.

You also write:

So follow the logic. Paul is using the Old Testament to declare that Jesus is the Messiah. Unless he is a total fool, then there must be support for the messianic claims of Jesus in the Old Testament.

Paul preached to the Diaspora, which was a blend of uprooted Jews and Gentiles spread throughout the Roman Empire. Paul's gospel of a dying savior was very similar to the gospels taught by the Gentiles, but Paul claimed that his gospel had the support of the Old Testament. What a great way to reach the Diaspora! His gospel appealed to the Gentile mentality, and was supported by the sacred book of the Jews (or so we are told). Paul's audience didn't have easy access to the scriptures to verify what Paul said. Paul fooled uneducated peoples. That does not prove he was right. I think if you would look up the verses that Paul quotes, you would find that Paul's claims do not stand up under scrutiny.

You have to judge for yourself whether the Bible is giving clear guidance or not based on your own personal study.

How can the Bible be giving clear guidance, when some verses say one must keep the commandments to go to heaven, and other verses say there is no need to keep the commandments for salvation? Those verses contradict, don't they? So how can I trust this book for clear guidance?

Logically then the question needs to be asked what else is God looking for from you. What is true saving faith, where does it come from and what is your part in it.

That is a good question. I have given my answer: The Bible contradicts, and it is not clear about what is needed for salvation. I don't know how you--or "The model"--would answer. You asked the question. So why not tell us? What, in your opinion, is true saving faith?