Recently I read that end times prophecy turned you from life long churchgoer to born again believer. Can you explain what you meant? Wouldn’t your going to church faithfully mean that you believed in God and subsequently Jesus? After all, isn’t it simply a belief in Jesus and that he died for us enough?
There are many lifelong churchgoers who aren’t saved and I was one of them. Sure, I “believed” in Jesus in the intellectual sense, and I believed He died on a cross. But I didn’t believe He died for my sins. I didn’t think I was a sinner, so I didn’t think I needed a Savior. Therefore I never asked Him to save me.
The church I had attended for most of my life didn’t teach the need for that. We were taught that becoming a member of the church and trying to live a good life is all that’s necessary to guarantee a place in heaven when we die.
When I was forty years old, a friend gave me some recorded teachings on Bible prophecy—past, present, and future. After doing some homework, I became convinced that God is everything He claims to be, and that He sent His son to die for me so I could live forever with Him. I finally asked Him to save me, and that’s when I was born again as one of His children (John 1:12-13).
Now I know that no matter how much time we spend in church, we aren’t saved until we admit we are sinners, believe the Lord died for our sins and rose again, and ask Him to save us (Romans 10:9-10,13).