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In chapter 1, “The Early Years,” John Bunyan describes his life as unbeliever. “Without God in the world, did he really live, according to the course of this world?and subject to the influences of?spirit who now acts in children of disobedience?(Eph 2. 2). Sin became natural to him (20).
- As a result.
- In his childhood.
- He had terrible dreams and horrific visions of the torments of hell.
- But then the pleasures of the world quickly freed my memory of those dreams.
- As if they had never been part of [his] life.
- ? (20).
- However.
- Even in this abandonment of sin.
- God had not abandoned him.
- Had God not granted the conviction of sins.
- But sent judgments mixed with mercy?Punishments and deliveries.
- However.
- None of them awakened Bunyan’s soul to any sense of justice.
- And he continued to sin and become increasingly rebellious against God and neglected for his own salvation.
In chapter 2, Awakened from an interest in religion, Bunyan describes how, from disbelief, he became interested in religion, to the point of singing and accompanying worship with as much dedication as others, yet he continued his bad life (25). It was an external religion, after a time a sermon accused his conscience, but instead of forsakeing his sins and becoming Christ, he thought that he could never be saved and that it was better then to try to continue to sin and try to find his satisfaction in sin (27)?but couldn’t find him (28). After being rebuked by a woman for her language, Bunyan continued her quest for “external reform, both speaking and living” (29). He even changed his behavior a lot, receiving praise from people and rejoicing in them, but he did not know Christ, nor was he truly saved (30).
In chapter 3, “The First Concerns of the Soul,” Bunyan recounts how he continued in his attempt to consider himself a good person through his own works. He tried to establish his own justice. One day, however, she heard the conversation of two Christian women, a conversation “full of beauty and delight of Scripture,” on various topics, but mainly on that “new birth” (34); and that raised the question of whether he was really born again.
He noticed that his interest in eternal things was growing; however, the devil was not inert and sought to make him embrace a sect; Bunyan, aware of his ignorance of the Bible, prayed that God would preserve it; and God responded, leading Bunyan to distrust his own wisdom and consider the Bible more and more valuable. He began to read the Word more and was faced with a question that deeply distressed him: did he have faith? How do i know
In these early chapters, we see John Bunyan in tension with a conscience accusing him, he knew he was doing it wrong. But the big question is, how did you react when your conscience accused you?Some people try to compensate for evil deeds with good deeds, and others give up thinking they can never be saved.
Many people, when their conscience accuses them, seek their own righteousness in religion or good deeds; they go to services more, they seek to read more from the Bible or another religious book, they seek to do more good deeds to make up for the bad ones, but none of this really saves. The big question is, were you born again?
Do others think, when they contemplate the magnitude of their sins and feel suffocated, that they can never be saved?And that it is better then to surrender to a life of sin, thus trying to find comfort. Kill your soul This is what Bunyan says, reflecting on his own experience:
“I am convinced that this temptation of the devil, of conquering the mind with a burnt heart and insensitive consciousness, is more common among people than most people think. The devil, silently and stealthily, nourishes the hearts and minds of people with such despair that, although they do not feel guilty, they believe that there is no hope for themselves, for they have loved their sins, so they follow them (Jr 2:25; 18:12). (28)
However, as Bunyan realized, sin does not satisfy. However, Christ offers water of life and rest to all who are tired and overwhelmed by the burden of sin. “Can you definitively save those who, through him, approach God?(Heb 7. 25).
The first thing you must understand is that this heavy consciousness comes from God, in Romans 2. 15 we see that God has engraved his law in our hearts in such a way that our conscience accuses us or defends us (even imperfectly) when we act incorrectly. or, so don’t ignore this cry of your soul.
Second, his true problem is not his conscience, but the fact that he has sinned against a good and holy God; a God who has blessed you in so many ways and yet you have sinned without grace against him (lying, coveting, using the name of God in vain, and in many other ways). So the question isn’t just what I do with my conscience. , but how can I have peace with God?
Third, you cannot have peace with God in your own efforts, after all, you are just the transgressor. Your sin against God is so great and so great that you can never make up for it with good deeds.
Fourth, then what, God did it! He sent to earth his Son, Jesus, who became incarnate and revealed himself to God. Jesus Christ is the envoy of Dieu. God sent Jesus to live a perfect life, die on the cross, pay the price of sins, and be resurrected. for our justification before God.
Fifth, the only way to find peace with God is if Christ’s perfect righteousness is considered his, and the only way to do so is to repent of his sins and believe in Christ, confess his sins, and trust that Christ has done on the cross can save you.
The blood of Christ, which through the Eternal Spirit has been offered without cross to God, can purify our awareness of dead works to serve the living God (He 9:14).
Believe and be saved
One of the most remarkable experiences in John Bunyan’s life was listening to the conversation of two Christians, talking about the struggles against temptations and the new birth, this leads me to wonder what kind of conversation we have with our brothers and sisters. Let’s talk about the things above, or just things that are below (Colossses 3:2). Does our language declare the wonders of the gospel or are we more interested in the passing things in this life?
Bunyan gives us a great prayer before we begin to study any doctrine:
“Sir, I am stupid and incapable of distinguishing truth from error. Lord, do not leave me to my blindness, nor to approve or condemn this doctrine. If it’s yours, don’t let him despise it; If it’s the devil’s, don’t let it hug you. Lord, in this matter, I give my soul only to your feet; don’t let me fool you I beg you humbly!?(36)
It’s your turn
1) How was his conversion process?Did you identify with John Bunyan?
2) What struck you most when reading?
By Vinecius Musselman Pimentel © 2014 Back to the Gospel. Original: 2 Fake and 1 Good Ways to Deal With Heavy Conscience
Authorizations: You are authorized and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format, provided that the author, his ministry and translator are no longer no longer modified and not used for commercial purposes.