Many
who claim the name of Christ show little or no
evidence of salvation by the way they live their
lives. Often it is almost impossible to
distinguish Christians from non Christians. Many
who say they are saved are outwardly blatant
sinners showing little or no concern for
spiritual things. For them Christianity like
putting on or taking off a piece of clothing.
They put on their Christian appearance when it
suits them. The question that naturally arises is:
"Are all who call themselves
Christians truly saved and going to heaven when
they die?" The answer is sadly,
no, many call themselves Christians are in truth
not saved. Jesus
said, "Not every one that saith
unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my
Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in
that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in
thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils?
and in thy name done many wonderful works? And
then will I profess unto them, I never knew you:
depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
( Matthew 7:21-23). He is saying it is not the
ones who just call Jesus, Lord who will enter
heaven or cast out demons and do wonderful works,
but those that do the will of God. In other words
the true believer is the one to whom Christ is in
fact Lord and who lives by the word of God.
Christ is teaching that true believers live for
the Lord and obey Him. In John 3:19, Jesus
explains that, ". . . this is the
condemnation, that light is come into the world,
and men loved darkness rather than light, because
their deeds were evil." An unsaved man loves
his sin and remains unsaved due in part because
he refuses to give his sin up. This love of sin
is the mark of a lost man.
The Bible clearly teaches that when a man is
saved his life is drastically changed, yet there
are so many who profess to be the children of God
whose lives remain virtually unaltered. They key
in determining who is truly a Christian and who
is not can revealed by the way they live their
lives and their attitude toward sin.
Probably the most confusing thing about many who
profess to be Christians is their lack of
conviction of sin. They seem perfectly content
with having habitual sin to rule their lives.
Their attitude seems to be based on their belief
that because at some time in their life they
professed to believe in Christ they are assured
of salvation. For others they claim to be
Christians because when they were a child they
were baptized and confirmed into some
denomination or at some time became a member of a
church. To them the way they live their lives has
no connection to whether they have a relationship
with God or the genuineness of their salvation.
Some claim the doctrine of the security of the
believer, "once saved always saved" and
go on living as if some professed belief in their
past guarantees them a place in heaven. The
question we want the Bible to answer is this: Is
the professing Christian who habitually sins
really saved? Can these people feel secure that
their salvation is assured based on their outward
act of having a religious experience, making a
profession of faith or being a member of some
Christian denomination?
The
Bible presents genuine salvation in an entirely
different light than what many accept as true
redemption. The Bible says that saving faith is
faith that is life changing. The Bible has some
profound and revealing things about the
relationship of the true believer to sin? II
Corinthians 5:17, says "Therefore
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:
old things are passed away; behold, all things
are become new." Note that the
Bible says "IF" a man is in Christ he
is a new creature. The genuine child of God is no
longer what he was before he was saved. He is
made different and because he has been changed
and he will live a much different life. Clearly
no one can honestly say that the Bible supports
the idea of a person being saved and still remain
as they were before. Nowhere does the Bible teach
that a child of God remains comfortably in a life
of sin and living a life that ignores the
presence of the Lord and his claims on their
lives. The truth this passages teaches is
conveniently ignored by many. It does not say
that the saved man might have his life changed or
that it would be nice if his life was to reflect
the righteousness that God expects of believers.
It emphatically says the person who is truly
saved will experience a new life. This new life
is one of "walking in the light" which
means living a life that recognizes the
destructiveness of sin. It means the new
Christian wants to bring honor and glory to
Christ by living a life that is pleasing to God.
Being
insensitive to sin legitimately brings a
professing Christian's salvation into question.
Why? Because a truly born again believer has a
different attitude toward sin than the unsaved.
The Bible clearly teaches that the lost man is a
slave to sin. "For they that are
after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh;
but they that are after the Spirit the things of
the Spirit" (Romans 8:5). God
goes on to say, ". . . the carnal
mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject
to the law of God, neither indeed can be"
(Romans 8:7). This different attitude toward sin
comes from the new nature that a true believer
receives when he becomes a child of God.
The
reason that the unsaved commits sin is because
they only have a carnal mind and the carnal mind
can do nothing but sin. "There is
no fear of God before their eyes." (Romans
3:18) These verses picture the man whose life is
dominated by sin as being lost. It reveals that
the unsaved will live a life of sin. The Bible is
saying that a person who professed to be saved,
but whose life remains unchanged has not
experienced the new birth (John 3:3) and is not a
Christian.
Please
understand that this is not saying that a
believer will never sin. The child of God
receives a new nature which is the very nature of
God, but the old carnal nature also remains.
Because the Christian still has the old nature he
will sin, but because he has received a new
nature the pattern of his life will not be one of
being controlled by sin (Romans 7). More will be
said later on this matter.
The
way the saved child of God lives is always
presented in stark contrast as to how the lost
live. Concerning the saved person the Bible says,
"Therefore we are buried with him
by baptism into death: that like as Christ was
raised up from the dead by the glory of the
Father, even so we also should walk in newness of
life." (Romans 6:4) Note that the
verse says those who experience the new birth
"should walk in the newness of life."
Romans 6:6, says, "Knowing this,
that our old man is crucified with him, that the
body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth
we should not serve sin." The
child of God is saved in order that he might
overcome sin. Paul states the fact of this new
relationship toward sin in the genuine Christian's
life. "For sin shall not have
dominion over you: for ye are not under the law,
but under grace." (Romans 6:14)
To
those who claim the name of Jesus and yet remain
unchanged and live sin dominated lives God says,
"God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to
sin, live any longer therein?" (Romans
6:2) Living a life of separation from sin is not
arbitrary for the believer. It is not a matter in
which God has given us a choice. When the Lord
says, we "should" walk in the newness
of life, He is not saying the issue is subjective.
It can be illustrated this way. What does the
following sentence mean? "If a man is pilot
he should fly airplanes!" The sentence is
not saying that an airplane pilot may or may not
fly airplane. What it is saying is that if a man
is a pilot he will fly airplanes. To be a pilot
is to be a flyer! To be a born again child of God
means that one does not live a life of glaring
sin.
It
is not normal for a saved man to allow sin to go
unchallenged in his life. The true believer will
hate sin in his life and fight it. How could a
man who has the spirit of God indwelling him,
think nothing of allowing blatant sin to remain
unopposed. Jesus said, "No man can
serve two masters: for either he will hate the
one, and love the other; or else he will hold to
the one, and despise the other."
(Matthew 6:24) Paul explains further, "Know
ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants
to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey;
whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto
righteousness? (Romans 6:16)
The
Bible is quite clear on the matter. The
genuineness of a person's profession of faith is
seen in how they live their lives. Just because a
person says he believes does not assure that his
faith is real. The Bible says, "Thou
believest that there is one God; thou doest well:
the devils also believe, and tremble" (James
2:19). James used this statement in making the
point that true faith produces works or fruit in
the life of a believer. The devils have a head
knowledge of who is Christ. But they rebelled
against God and do not accept that he is Christ
and Lord and they do not live for Christ! Their
works are evil. Genuine faith is a faith that
works a change in a persons life and produces
Godly living in a persons life.
Many
take comfort in the fact they have a head
knowledge of Christ. They believe in the
historical Jesus Christ, but their belief does
not produce a commitment to living their lives
for him. The Bible gives them no assurance of
salvation. Nothing is further from the truth than
to say that because a person accepts the "fact"
that there is a God then he is saved. Salvation
is a matter of a changed heart. God says, "For
with the heart man believeth unto righteousness;
and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation." (Romans 10:10) True
salvation is a "heart" salvation. The
profession made with the mouth is invalid unless
it comes from a changed heart that has committed
itself to living for God.
Jesus
warned that there are those who think they are
saved but will not go to heaven. "Not
every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall
enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that
doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven"
(Matthew 7:21). In Matthew 7:23 Christ
says he rejects these people and calls them
"workers of iniquity". "And
then will I profess unto them, I never knew you:
depart from me, ye that work iniquity " (Matthew
7:23). Jesus said those that live as God commands
are those that are saved and the mark of the
unsaved is that they do not obey God. Jesus
Himself qualifies a man's belief as to whether it
is real or false. Those that follow Christ,
living by Him and for Him are the ones who are
saved. To not live for the Lord is evidence that
one is lost and not a child of God!
This
brings up the question, "Does the Christian
sin?" God says,"Yes!" "If
we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,
and the truth is not in us" (1
John 1:8). This verse is addressed to the saved.
Christians will sin, but they will not like it
and will fight it. Paul in Romans Chapter 7
expresses the conflict that the genuine Christian
faces. He says, "I find then a law,
that, when I would do good, evil is present with
me. For I delight in the law of God after the
inward man: But I see another law in my members,
warring against the law of my mind, and bringing
me into captivity to the law of sin which is in
my members (Romans 7:21-23).
Paul
is describing the warfare that the child of God
experiences. God's children want to do right, yet
still have the old carnal nature that draws them
to sin. The battle within the believer's life is
one of determining to whom he yields the control
of his life. The unsaved knows nothing of this
internal warfare.
God
says that saving faith is faith that overcomes
the world. "For whatsoever is born
of God overcometh the world: and this is the
victory that overcometh the world, even our faith"
(1 John 5:4). Because a person is
truly saved he will be in the process of
overcoming the world which means overcoming sin.
The genuine child of God will not be a habitual
sinner. That means that his life will not be
ruled on a continual basis by sin. The pattern of
a believers life will be one marked by degrees of
growing righteousness and does not mean the
believer will not sin or at times fall or
backslide. It is possible and even likely that
every believer will fail in his faith at times.
But he will not remain there! God will not let
him go on indefinitely in sin without intervening.
God
said of David, that he was a man after God's own
heart. Yet, David fell in to gross sin. He even
murdered and commuted adultery. But David did not
remain in sin. Sin caused him heart wrenching
agony and with great remorse he repented and
began once more to serve the Lord. God forgave
him of his sin, yet this period of sin grossly
effected him the rest of his life. God would not
allow him to be used as he could have been. He
was not allowed to build the temple and his sin
caused him great heartache throughout the
remainder of his life.
Though
God says we will sin at times, he does not say
that we will be dominated by sin. God helps us by
actively helping the believer in fighting sin in
his life. He does it in two ways.
First,
when we are tempted God gives us a way out. He
gives us an alternative to sin. The Bible
explains, "There hath no
temptation taken you but such as is common to man:
but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to
be tempted above that ye are able; but will with
the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye
may be able to bear it." (1
Corinthians 10:13) James says we are drawn away
and tempted by our old nature. But though we
still have the old nature it has no hold on us.
Paul explained it this way, "Knowing
this, that our old man is crucified with him,
that the body of sin might be destroyed, that
henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that
is dead is freed from sin." (Romans
6:6-7) Christ's death broke the hold of sin and
death on the world. When we truly believe on
Christ Jesus the hold of sin on us is broken - we
no longer have to sin.
Second,
God helps us overcome sin by chastening us when
we drift away into willful sin. God in the Book
of Hebrews explains His actions. "Wherefore
seeing we also are compassed about with so great
a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every
weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us,
and let us run with patience the race that is set
before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and
finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was
set before him endured the cross, despising the
shame, and is set down at the right hand of the
throne of God. For consider him that endured such
contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye
be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not
yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
And ye have forgotten the exhortation which
speaketh unto you as unto children, My son,
despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor
faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the
Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every
son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening,
God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son
is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye
be without chastisement, whereof all are
partakers, then are ye bastards, and no sons.
Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh
which corrected us, and we gave then reverence:
shall we not much rather be in subjection unto
the Father of spirits, and live: For they verily
for a few days chastened us after their own
pleasure; but he for our profit, the we might be
partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for
the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous:
nevertheless afterward it yietheth the peaceable
fruit of righteousness unto them which are
exercised thereby" (Hebrews 12:1-12).
This
Scripture teaches that if a person is truly a
child of God, blatantly sins, and continues in
sin God chastens him. Paul explained to the
Corinthians that God had caused some in that
church to become sick because of sin in their
lives. "For this cause many are
weak and sickly among you, and many sleep" (1
Corinthians 11:30). John taught that there was
sin that leads to dead for a believer. "If
any man see his brother sin a sin which is not
unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him
life for them that sin not unto death. There is a
sin leading to death: I do not say that he shall
pray about that" (1 John 5:16).
Hebrews
Chapter Twelve tells us that if a man professes
to be saved and shamelessly sins and God does not
chasten him it is evidence that the person does
not know God. "But if ye be
without chastisement, whereof all are partakers,
then are ye bastards, and not sons"
(Hebrews 12:8). God promises that he "will"
chasten His own, but He will not chasten the
unsaved man who serves Satan. The absence of
chastening of a person who professes to be a
Christian, yet who lives in sin is good evidence
that the person is not saved. The opposite is
also true because a child of God who will not
confess his sin will soon find himself under the
chastening hand of his loving God.
Nothing delights the Devil and serves his
purposes more than to have people confused as to
what is a true Christian or having a lost man
think that he will go to heaven. The true
believer will be a person who abhors sins and
daily fights temptation. He claims the promise of
God that "If we confess our sins,
He is faithful and just o forgive our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1
John 1:9). The genuine Christian admits he is a
sinner and openly confesses it to God. Jesus
taught his disciples what the attitude is of a
truly born-again person toward sin. In the
parable of the self-righteous Pharisee and the
tax collector Jesus said, " And
the tax collector, standing afar off, would not
so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his
breast, saying, 'God be merciful to me a sinner' (Luke
8:13)."
God
says to the believer that as His child we are to
confess our sins and He will cleanse us from all
unrighteousness. We should understand this verse
is to be used only in case of failure. It should
not be used as an excuse to indulge in sin and
then callously call on God to forgive us. The
pilot of an aircraft wears a parachute and is
thankful that it is there, however he does not
plan to use it! It is to be used only in the rare
occasions of failure. A pilot does not take
chances and fly irresponsibility risking a crash
because he has a parachute to fall back on. Never
should the child of God toy with sin resting on
the promise of God to forgive and bail him out.
The true believer hates sin the same way that God
does.
The
believers in 1 Corinthians 11, were chastened
because they did not "discern" the body
of Christ. "For he that eateth and
drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh
damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's
body. For this cause many are weak and sickly
among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge
ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we
are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we
should not be condemned with the world" (1
Corinthians 11:29-32). They did not "discern"
the Lord's body in that they brazenly sinned
without any regard for Christ's suffering for
each sin they committed. Their insensitive acts
of sin in truth mocked Jesus's suffering on the
Cross. It is obvious that this was not only their
attitude when they took the Lord's Supper but was
also the way they lived their lives. God strongly
rebuked them and caused some to be sick and some
died because of their callous sin against God.
How insensitive they were to Jesus's suffering.
Each of us must examine our own attitude towards
sin least we too belittle Christ's sacrifice for
us.
Every
sin that a person commits caused the Lord Jesus
Christ great suffering there at Calvary. When we
callously sin we caused Christ more suffering on
that cruel old Cross. How can a child of God,
with little or no compassion, flagrantly and
knowingly sin causing Christ more suffering? One
could understand that a child of God will
occasionally slip and sin but God has made
provision for us. However, no one who understands
the simplest teachings of the Word of God could
understand how a saved person could allow sin to
rule his life and go unchecked.
The
saved man knows he is a sinner and begs God for
mercy. However, the religious unsaved man will
enjoy his sin and will be greatly offended if it
is suggested that he is a sinner. The religious
lost are masters of justifying their sin.
It
is very interesting that in many cases the world
accepts a better standard of conduct for the
Christian than many who profess to be the
children of God. If you ask the average man on
the street if Christians should drink, smoke, use
profanity, be immoral, lie, cheat, gamble or
steal they will respond with a resounding, NO!
Yet, many who call themselves Christians think
nothing of doing these things. If appears the
lost world in some cases has a better
understanding of what God meant when He said, "Flee
fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is
without the body; but he that committeth
fornication sinneth against his own body. What?
know ye not that your body is the temple of the
Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God,
and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a
price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in
your spirit, which are God's" (1
Corinthians 6:18-20).
Some
have the philosophy that if the Bible does not
make specific references to some questionable act
then it can not be called a sin. The Bible does
not specifically mention many individual sins,
but condemns all immoral acts in principle. The
Word of God does not say that smoking cocaine is
sin, but would any sane person conclude that it
is not sin? The Bible is a book of principles. We
are to examine all things by biblical principles
to determine if it is right or wrong. Does
smoking crack harm the body? The answer is
clearly, yes! Then if it harms the body it is
wrong and sin. God says he lives in our bodies (indwells)
and He commands that we live pure lives and keep
our physical bodies pure.
There
is also a further commandment of God that effects
the actions of a Christian. The Bible says that
the child of God should, "Abstain
from all appearance of evil." (1
Thessalonians 5:22) Just because the Bible does
not specifically mention something does not mean
it is not sin. If an act even appears to be
sinful, then the child of God is commanded to
avoid it. God's standard is one of purity. The
genuine Christian can accept no other standard.
The
religious lost are comfortable with sin. They
claim salvation but reject the Savior's claims on
their lives! They profess to believe the Word of
God but refuse to live by it. Jesus speaking to
the religious but lost Jews responded to them by
asking them, "But why do you call
Me "Lord, Lord," and do not do the
things which I say?" (Luke 6:46)
Every
man should examine himself in light of God's Word.
If a man is truly saved, Christ will be evident
in his life. If he is lost, sin will be the
pattern of his lives. The unsaved man is a rebel.
He defies God's claims on his life. The born
again Christian humbly submits himself to Christ.
There is a drastic difference between the two.
The true Christian is at peace with God, whereas
the lost man is in rebellion. The saved, blood
washed, sinner will always stand out in stark
contrast to the world. God's children thank Him
for saving them FROM sin!
Jesus
said, "And when he putteth forth
his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the
sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a
stranger will they not follow, but will flee from
him: for they know not the voice of strangers."
(John 10:5) Jesus was clearly teaching that His
sheep will follow Him, they will not habitually
follow after Satan. God's call to the lost sinner
is clear; He is, ". . . not
willing that any should perish but that all
should come to repentance." (2
Peter 3:9)
God
says, that saving faith is faith that one lives
and trusts. Anything else is counterfeit. The
true child of God will love the Word of God. He
will love God's church and be faithful in
attending its services. He will love the souls of
the lost around him and seek to win them to
Christ. He will be greatly concern about his
testimony before others. He will support God's
work with all his resources in giving tithes and
offerings to the Lord. He will seek to find his
God given talent and use it as Christ directs.
This is the picture of the true born again child
of God as he grows and matures in the Lord.
Anything less is abnormal and the evidence of a
unfaithful servant or false professor in Christ.
My
friend, the question is this: "What does God
say about sin and His saints?" Is the
pattern of your life one of following Christ? If
you sin, do you repent of it and return to
faithfulness? Is it your heart's deep desire that
Christ have all of you completely? Do you abhor
sin and fight temptation continually? When the
Bible condemns your sin it does offend you or
cause you to renew your commitment to overcome
even the appearance of sin? If your answer is no
then you have a very serious spiritual problem.
Would you now turn away from sin and all it
destructive effects in your life and receive God's
promised forgiveness for sin. Why don't you seek
the counsel of your pastor in helping you
understand God's truth and His plan for your life.?
"For the wages of
sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life
in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Roman
6:23)
Thank
God! Jesus Saves!!