Post by Richard on Oct 2, 2005 9:02:04 GMT -5
Question: "If I am saved and all of my sins are forgiven, why not continue to sin?"
Answer: The Apostle Paul answered a very similar question in Romans 6:1-2, "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" The idea that a person could trust in Jesus Christ for salvation and then go on living just as he/she lived before - is absolutely foreign to the Bible. Believers in Christ are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). The Holy Spirit changes us from producing the acts of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21), to producing the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). The Christian life is a changed life.
What differentiates Christianity from every other world religion is this - Christianity is based on what God has done for us through Jesus Christ. Every other world religion is based on what we must do to earn God's favor and forgiveness. Every other world religion teaches that we must do certain things, and stop doing certain things - in order to earn God's love and mercy. Christianity, faith in Christ, teaches that we do certain things and stop doing certain things BECAUSE of what Christ has done for us.
How could anyone, having been delivered from sin's penalty, Hell, go back to living the same life that had them on the path to Hell?
How could anyone, having been cleansed from the defilement of sin, desire to go back to the same cesspool of depravity?
How could anyone, knowing what Jesus Christ did on our behalf, go on living as if Jesus Christ is not important?
How could anyone, realizing how much Christ suffered for our sins, continue sinning as if Jesus' sufferings were meaningless?
Romans 6:11-18 declares, "In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey — whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness."
Recommended Resource: Who Gives a R. I. P. About Sin?: Breaking Sin's Death Grip on Your Life by Norm Wakefield.
Answer: The Apostle Paul answered a very similar question in Romans 6:1-2, "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" The idea that a person could trust in Jesus Christ for salvation and then go on living just as he/she lived before - is absolutely foreign to the Bible. Believers in Christ are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). The Holy Spirit changes us from producing the acts of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21), to producing the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). The Christian life is a changed life.
What differentiates Christianity from every other world religion is this - Christianity is based on what God has done for us through Jesus Christ. Every other world religion is based on what we must do to earn God's favor and forgiveness. Every other world religion teaches that we must do certain things, and stop doing certain things - in order to earn God's love and mercy. Christianity, faith in Christ, teaches that we do certain things and stop doing certain things BECAUSE of what Christ has done for us.
How could anyone, having been delivered from sin's penalty, Hell, go back to living the same life that had them on the path to Hell?
How could anyone, having been cleansed from the defilement of sin, desire to go back to the same cesspool of depravity?
How could anyone, knowing what Jesus Christ did on our behalf, go on living as if Jesus Christ is not important?
How could anyone, realizing how much Christ suffered for our sins, continue sinning as if Jesus' sufferings were meaningless?
Romans 6:11-18 declares, "In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey — whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness."
Recommended Resource: Who Gives a R. I. P. About Sin?: Breaking Sin's Death Grip on Your Life by Norm Wakefield.