Romans 5:20, "Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:"
Romans 6:1, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?"
The truth is that EVERY born-again child of God still continues living a life of sin. Oh, yes you do, you handsome devil!!! Some saints may sin more than others (what people commonly like to call "deep sin"), but we ALL sin in many ways every day. All sin is deep sin!!! There is no such thing as trifle sins, or white sins. Humans categorize which sins are worse than others, but God does not. James 2:10, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”
It is a sin not to pray for others as we ought. 1st Samuel 12:23, "Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way:" No one prays enough! There are both sins of commission (doing wrong) and omission (not doing right). There are sins of thought (Proverbs 24:12), words (Matthew 12:36) and deeds (Ecclesiastes 12:14). There are no sinless saints who can be elevated as a shining example of what the rest of us should emulate. The only perfect person is JESUS CHRIST (Hebrews 4:15), and Jesus is the only one whom we should be trying to emulate in our life (Romans 8:29).
What saith the Scripture? Here are our text Scriptures again:
It matters not how much you sin as a child of God, you CANNOT forfeit, lose or jeopardize God's free gift of eternal life. That doesn't make it okay to live in willful rebellion against God. Hebrews 12:6-8 warns that God will scourge and chastise all of His children when we disobey. God has taken some believers home to Heaven prematurely because of sin. Some Christians are serving life sentences in prison for crimes they've committed. God has ordained human courts to punish evil. Judges and court magistrates are servants of God. That doesn't mean men are always fair, they certainly are not. Justice is very human! However, the court system itself was ordained by God, so that we could live safe and peaceable lives on earth (Romans 13:1-10).
In short, you cannot lose God's salvation. It is not our salvation, it is God's. The Bible says in Matthew 6:33 to "seek HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS," not our own self righteousness. Philippians 3:9, "And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:" I love the Epistle of Galatians, which our pastor is teaching on right now in church.
What saith the Scripture? Here are our text Scriptures again:
Romans 5:20, "Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:"Every believer falls IN GRACE, never FROM GRACE. Only the unsaved Christ-rejecter has fallen from grace (Galatians 5:4). That is, they have missed their only ticket to Heaven. Apart from faith in Jesus, the Christ, the only begotten Son of God, there is no salvation (Acts 4:10-12).
Romans 6:1, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?"
It matters not how much you sin as a child of God, you CANNOT forfeit, lose or jeopardize God's free gift of eternal life. That doesn't make it okay to live in willful rebellion against God. Hebrews 12:6-8 warns that God will scourge and chastise all of His children when we disobey. God has taken some believers home to Heaven prematurely because of sin. Some Christians are serving life sentences in prison for crimes they've committed. God has ordained human courts to punish evil. Judges and court magistrates are servants of God. That doesn't mean men are always fair, they certainly are not. Justice is very human! However, the court system itself was ordained by God, so that we could live safe and peaceable lives on earth (Romans 13:1-10).
In short, you cannot lose God's salvation. It is not our salvation, it is God's. The Bible says in Matthew 6:33 to "seek HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS," not our own self righteousness. Philippians 3:9, "And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:" I love the Epistle of Galatians, which our pastor is teaching on right now in church.
Many of the New Testament Jews were hung up on the Old Testament covenant. They were trying to keep the law to get to Heaven, which is works (Romans 3:19-20). Romans 3:20 teaches that the purpose of God's law is to give mankind THE KNOWLEDGE OF SIN. Thus, realizing our sinful condition and need for redemption, the law points us to CHRIST to be saved by grace (Galatians 3:24-26). LAW and CHRIST; or respectively, OLD TESTAMENT and NEW TESTAMENT. God made two great divisions in His Word, to teach humanity THE GOSPEL (the Good News of Christ's death on the cross, burial and bodily resurrection three days later from the dead). We are saved by believing the Gospel, adding nothing else to it. No one is saved who trusts in more than Jesus Christ and what he did through Calvary's cross.
No matter how you choose to live, it doesn't affect God's free gift of eternal life. My favorite preacher, Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) preached a helpful sermon titled: "How To Be Right With God," in which he explains the believer's POSITION in Christ, versus our CONDITION in Christ. I think you'll find this sermon helpful.
The reason why we cannot lose God's gift of salvation is because our redemption depends upon God's faithfulness to keep His promise, and not our faithfulness to obediently obey Him. Our life on earth as a Christian determines our rewards in Heaven. I like to compare the two future judgments between criminal versus civil court:
No matter how you choose to live, it doesn't affect God's free gift of eternal life. My favorite preacher, Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) preached a helpful sermon titled: "How To Be Right With God," in which he explains the believer's POSITION in Christ, versus our CONDITION in Christ. I think you'll find this sermon helpful.
The reason why we cannot lose God's gift of salvation is because our redemption depends upon God's faithfulness to keep His promise, and not our faithfulness to obediently obey Him. Our life on earth as a Christian determines our rewards in Heaven. I like to compare the two future judgments between criminal versus civil court:
- The first judgment will be The Judgment Seat Of Christ (1st Corinthians 3:11-15; 2nd Corinthians 5:9-11). ONLY believers will stand in appearance at this judgment, which I believe will happen immediately after the Pretribulation Rapture of the Church. All saints will be judged by Jesus Christ Himself, who will also be our attorney (1st John 2:2). That's a pretty sweet deal, having Jesus as both our Judge and Attorney at the Judgment Seat of Christ. This can happen only because Jesus paid our debt of sin upon the cross. The moment that we relied upon Him as our Savior, accepting His sacrifice on the cross as payment for our sins, God the Father declared us justified (JUST-IF-I'D never sinned at all). But God did more than that, He also took and imputed Christ's righteousness to me by faith (Romans 4:6).
- The second (or last) judgment will be The Great White Throne Of Judgment (Revelation 20;11-15; 21:8). This horrifying judgment will happen after the 1,000 year Millennial reign of Christ over the whole earth, from Jerusalem. ONLY the unsaved dead throughout human civilization will appear at this frightening judgment of the unsaved. The Bible says that the great and the small, rich and poor, famous and unknown, both the living dead and the buried dead from beneath the ocean and earth, will all appear before God the Father. Jesus will not be their Judge, God the Father will, since they reject Christ and died in their sins (John 8:24).
Those who are judged at the Great White Throne Of Judgment will be sentenced for their crimes against God, to burn in the Lake of Fire forever and ever, without hope or rest day and night (Revelation 14:11). This will be a criminal court!
But those who "die in the Lord" (Revelation 14:13), and are judged at The Judgement Seat Of Christ, will NOT be condemned to Hell with the lost. There is NO condemnation for the Christian (Romans 8:1; John 3:18). That is because Jesus paid for our sins with His precious blood (1st Peter 1:18-19). Believers will only risk losing monetary rewards (1st Corinthians 3:15). This will be a civil court, not a criminal court. Many believers will weep bitter tears or regret for their wasted lives, never having led anyone to the Lord. This is what "The Parable Of The Sower And The Seeds" is about, saints maturing to bear fruit(Luke 8:11-15).
John Lennon of The Beatles professed to be a Christian at one point in his life. I believe that John did get saved. But due to persecution from the world because of his fame and fortune (Luke 8:13), he had shallow roots and fell away (not from salvation, but from maturing in the Lord to become a soulwinner, which is God's goal for every believer). Some false prophets, like Ray Comfort, errantly teach that the people in Luke 8:13 lost their salvation. That is WRONG! The Bible clearly says that they germinated and the seeds began to grow, which signified that there was a new birth (born again). But they never matured, which is what the parable is about. Kindly said, Evangelist Ray Comfort is woefully ignorant and unlearned of the Scripture.
Again, the Bible teaches in Romans 6:1, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" If you choose to continue living in gross immorality and rebellion against God, you will do so as a child of God. Many saints do live like the Devil. Another one of my favorite preachers is Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold, who made this profound statement:
But those who "die in the Lord" (Revelation 14:13), and are judged at The Judgement Seat Of Christ, will NOT be condemned to Hell with the lost. There is NO condemnation for the Christian (Romans 8:1; John 3:18). That is because Jesus paid for our sins with His precious blood (1st Peter 1:18-19). Believers will only risk losing monetary rewards (1st Corinthians 3:15). This will be a civil court, not a criminal court. Many believers will weep bitter tears or regret for their wasted lives, never having led anyone to the Lord. This is what "The Parable Of The Sower And The Seeds" is about, saints maturing to bear fruit(Luke 8:11-15).
John Lennon of The Beatles professed to be a Christian at one point in his life. I believe that John did get saved. But due to persecution from the world because of his fame and fortune (Luke 8:13), he had shallow roots and fell away (not from salvation, but from maturing in the Lord to become a soulwinner, which is God's goal for every believer). Some false prophets, like Ray Comfort, errantly teach that the people in Luke 8:13 lost their salvation. That is WRONG! The Bible clearly says that they germinated and the seeds began to grow, which signified that there was a new birth (born again). But they never matured, which is what the parable is about. Kindly said, Evangelist Ray Comfort is woefully ignorant and unlearned of the Scripture.
Again, the Bible teaches in Romans 6:1, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" If you choose to continue living in gross immorality and rebellion against God, you will do so as a child of God. Many saints do live like the Devil. Another one of my favorite preachers is Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold, who made this profound statement:
“'You can't tell me you can trust Christ as Savior, and then go out here and live like the Devil, and still go to Heaven!' Yes, I can tell you that! That's what the Bible says. If you don't come to the conclusion, that—Yes, you can trust Christ as your Savior and live like the Devil, and still go to Heaven when you die—you don't get grace, because that is the exact truth! That is the truth! I do not have to change my life! I don't have to stop one sin! You say, 'I've never heard a preacher say that.' You just heard one! And you listen to me—I want to live as holy and as godly as I possibly can. I am now 70 years old. I've been saved for 52 years. ... the only reason I'm going to Heaven is because, 52 years ago in a little living room, I accepted Christ as my Savior.” —Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold, a great quote from the awesome sermon, “Calvinism And Grace Are NOT Compatible | MP3”
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