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Don Stewart :: If a Believer Cannot Lose Their Salvation Then Does It Mean They Are Free to Sin?

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Don Stewart
No. Though the Bible teaches that a person cannot lose their salvation, this does not provide the believer with a license to sin. The Apostle Paul wrote:

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Certainly not! (Romans 6:15).

New Nature
The reason that a genuine believer cannot continue in sin is because they have a new nature. The Bible says:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Cannot Enjoy Sin For Long
They cannot enjoy sin because the Spirit of God will convict their heart. Sin is pleasurable, but only for a short while. The writer to the Hebrews, speaking of Moses, remarked:

He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time (Hebrews 11:25).

The pleasures of sin do not last very long.

The Father Is Displeased
God, who is our Father, is displeased when we sin. Fortunately we have an advocate with God the Father when we sin.

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense - Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:1,2).

Jesus speaks in our defense.

The Believer Will Be Corrected
The Bible is clear that a child of God will be chastised for his sin. Sin does cost.

For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every child who He receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as children; for what child is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not children (Hebrews 12:6-8).

God may use some type of sorrow or suffering to bring us back to him. A biblical example of this would be the person Jesus spoke about in the parable of the wayward son (Luke 15).

The Genuine From The Counterfeit
There are also those who claim to be believers but who have never had a genuine experience with Christ. If a person continues in sin without any type of correction by God then it is a sign that they are not His child. God will discipline those that are His.

Premature Death
The continual sin of a true believer can cause their premature death. The Apostle Paul commanded the church at Corinth to do the following with a man who had sinned:

Hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord (1 Corinthians 5:5).

Summary
Though the believer who has trusted Christ is secure, this is not a license to live a sinful life. A person who has been born again has a new nature and cannot enjoy the type of sins they formerly practiced.

Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription:

The Lord knows those who are his, and, Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness (2 Timothy 2:19)


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