Is the conviction of 'being saved' the same emotion as the liberation of 'free thinking'?

Question

It seems to me that the liberation that people experience when they are convicted that they are 'saved' is similar to the liberation that people experience when they decide there is no god.

My question is about the power of belief, through decision, on ones mind, and on their life.

Answer 1

I have had both experiences in my lifetime: the conviction--when I was young--that I was saved, and the liberation of thought from the idea of God. The experiences are, in my opinion, in no way similar.

When I was "saved", the experience was one of guilt, and the fear of losing the "salvation". It was a discipline that carried all manner of preconceived notions of responsibility, all to fit within the framework of man-made religious conformity. It was a burden.

When I relinquished the idea of God, I became far more self-sufficient, realized my own potential, and accepted the idea of my own interpretation of myself. I no longer felt the need to conform.

At this stage in my life all potentials, I'm afraid, are played out, and I have no great depth of comfort from any belief. I am, once again, searching. I am waiting for an answer and hope I shall recognize it when it comes my way.

This, however, is only my experience.

Answer 2

As a teenager, I considered myself a 'free-thinker' and enjoyed life without the constraints of 'organized religion'. But I cannot say that I was an atheist because I did not 'know' about the existence of a god one way or the other. I investigated several religions and beliefs and didn't find any that I could believe in 100%, particularly after having served three tours of SE Asia in the early 1970's. I eventually ended up in Alcoholics Anonymous where I was told I could choose my own conception of god and I had no other option besides suicide, which I had also tried. I became open to the possibility of a god and all things spiritual. Today I do believe in the existence of a 'Higher Power', but I vehemently deny any person or group of mortals the authority to tell me how to pray or worship. To answer the question, the release brought about by sobriety (my salvation) is not the same emotion I felt as a 'free-thinker' when I was muddling about in the unknown. But then again, "Who needs God when you have a six-pack."

Answer 3

I guess what it really comes down to is setting yourself up to follow a law vs setting yourself up to have the ability to disobay law at any given moment. The law being what ever conviction in your faith you choose to set vs the law of the convictions other people set for you. As a believer I'd have to say that the times in my life when I was not trying very hard to follow my own rules/law are the times when I was most likely to be hurt by outside forces. Of course these times were great learning experiences I dont think I would take them back. But I have learned that I do not need to break my own law or the laws of others if I am smart inorder to learn about my world and such altho I do have to try and bend them...

Being a "free thinker" in a world that wants you to play nice can be a risk for both you and others in the sense that the way you engage people will be different then from the norm. Thus possibly leaving you with a feeling of living outside looking in. I think you can be saved person by what ever belief you may follow and yet also retain/get free thinker status.

I guess if I had to choose to be either saved or free I would either stall the question as long as possible or answer both even if it wasnt a given option of course this is all done with insight into my past. When it comes right down to it at any given moment I hardly have a clue as to what im gona pick untill iv picked it. But one thing seems true I'm still alive and have been for a long time hopefully my situation in this respect does not change...

I think inorder to exist a part of you gives up some free will and this to me seems like something worth doing. To exist with a perfect freedom and only know self imo is worse then existing without perfect freedom and getting to know others. Even tho the others may someday try to harm you... It is better to have loved and lost love then to never have loved at all imo.

Answer 4

There is the liberation of 'free thinking' within the framework of the fact someone is 'saved'. Legalism kills, the grace of God gives one a free will to choose, to think. The Old Testament people were held to a different standard than the New. It was Law, this is grace by the Holy Spirit and there is nothing but freedom in this dispensation.

Answer 5

interesting thinking a very observant question to some extent i would feel that in the conviction of being saved one becomes a different kind of love and thought perhaps the thought of a particular belief which is Honourable i feel as the the liberation of free thinking opens a way of seeing through doubt and directly to a understanding of the human soul all as ONE

Answer 6

I believe it is, Before I became a christian I could only think about being angry, jealous, how to get more, if i had the right close, hair etc, I was very opinionated weather it was right or wrong, BUT when I became Born Again, I had a huge weight lift off from my shoulders, and like the nasty claw was removed from my mind. I began to think more clearly, and I wasn't locked into just one mindset, the mindset of this world, It's an experience that one has to feel for themselves because words just don't describe it well

Answer 7

Not really. The term "being saved" means to be rescued from or delivered from or redeemed (like a diamond ring in a pawn shop is redeemed by the owner).

What are we saved from? sin and it's eternal consequences. if we confess our sins and repent and turn to God and Jesus.

To decide there is no God does not free oneself from the bondage and slavery to sin. It does not remove the sin-nature that we all have.

These are two totally different concepts. Forgiveness for breaking God's Law comes only from God. Saying there is no God does not remove our guilt, as we still have a conscience, that tells us when we've done wrong. Without God to forgive, we remain steeped in the guilt of breaking God's Laws, and there's no way you can get around that.

What I mean is, well, if you've ever told a lie, you're a liar, period. You are guilty of telling a lie. God can forgive you, but if you say there is no God, then you remain a liar till your dying breath! One can not absolve one's own guilt.

That is to say, if I hurt you, I can not say, "I forgive me"!!! Likewise, if I break one of God's Laws (refer to the list of the 10 Commandments), you can not say, "Me, I forgive you." You remain guilty until you ask God to forgive you, period.

One last comment, to illustrate the point:

If you drive your car through a signal light that is clearly red, you don't stop, and as a result there is a 3-car collision behind you, with 3 injured and 2 dead, tell me, how many red lights must you stop at before you are no longer guilty of not stopping at THAT one? Since you must stop at EACH red light, you can't use any one of them to compensate for the one you did NOT stop at. You remain guilty. That law was broken! You are guilty, and NOTHING you can do short of going back in time and undoing it, will undo it. It is done and can not be undone, and you remain guilty, period.

Answer 8

I've never had more freedom then I've had since allowing God to take control of my life. I don't have to worry about anything 'cause God's in control and having God in control of my life is much better then having me in control of my life. God makes much better decisions for me then I do. And He promises to make all things work out for my good. I have much more freedom now that I can take my hands off things and let God be God.

Answer 9

I can only speak of my own unique experience, of course...
I know that, for me, knowing that I am special to the Supreme Being, loved and cherished by God to the extreme that He is willing to enter His Creation to defeat death on my behalf...that He has forgiven me unconditionally...this produces a freedom to follow my own heart in ways that being constricted by the world could never do.
There is no burden in following Jesus. I am who I am because He loves me...and my natural response to that love is love.
I am who I am, because I love Him, Who first loved me.

Damn, there really are no words that don't come out sounding sanctimonious, are there?
Once again, I learn that what is trite and cliche becomes so because it is true...

Answer 10

well .. for a person saved theyre also feeling spiritual things like love and peace and joy in the mix .. we could argue it but theres no way to know unless a person experiences both ...