We understand getting saved out of a bad relationship, out of a bad job, out of a bad deal, etc. And we don't suppose we keep on living with the reality of these things once we get saved out of them. It's clear what we get saved from.
But when it comes to the salvation that Jesus came into the world to bring, most preachers don't get as precise as they should about what that salvation is about. It's not some magical thing that we need to believe that we have received because we have been told some true facts about Jesus and have believed them. It's practical, as much as salvation from a bad relationship, a bad job or a bad deal. It's even all of those things! We get saved from something and that thing is sin.
Matthew 1:21
And she [Mary] shall bring forth a son, and you shall call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
It's only with craftiness that false teachers can get away with leading people to understand that sin goes on in the life of the saved believer as much as the person who is not saved. And things like the following are standard ways of thinking among believers who are "saved by grace" under the deception of false teachers:
-we are all sinners
-there is no one righteous, no, not one
-we sin every day, in thought, word and deed
-nobody can stop sinning
-if we say we have no sin, we are liars (implying that we are sinners on active duty and should be honest and admit that)
-we are "saved sinners" (in contrast to "lost sinners")
And these mindsets are reinforced by preaching that "our past, present and future sins are forgiven at the cross." Although that can be found nowhere in the Bible, it's a smooth line for a salesperson to use when he is trying to make you "buy" something. And that something is bad news, not the Gospel (Good News) of Jesus that saves (sets free) from sin. The bad news passes as good news and everyone is left with the understanding that sin continues to have power over the saved person as much as the unsaved (lost) person. But that is totally a contradiction to what God gives his grace for:
Titus 2:11-14
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people, 12 instructing us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly desires, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age; 13 looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ; 14 who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all lawlessness, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works.
Romans 6:12-14
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 Neither present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin will not have dominion over you. For you are not under the law, but under grace.
So, when we understand that we are saved by grace through faith, not of ourselves - it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9), let's also understand how that grace of God is supposed to work and what effect it should produce in the life of someone who has received it. It's an empowerment from God that brings salvation from sin (Titus 2:11).
Now sin should be properly understood as disobedience to God, and sinning presumptuously is an expression of not loving God (being in rebellion against God, not being fully surrendered to Him), because Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15). We also know that the wages of sin is death and that's the bad news in relation to the Good News of God's gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23). So, being saved and continuing to sin can only go together if the grace of God has first been twisted to be understood as something that it is not. See the warning in Jude 1:4 about those who pervert the grace of God. Don't be ignorant that such people exist and are called great men and women of God by many. Don't be deceived by them, the Bible warns. Denying that Jesus saves a person from a life of ongoing sin (that's what his salvation is about) is denying Jesus and having no faith to be saved in fact.
Basically, sin is a death trap and we would do well to see it that way. If we see it that way, then it's very hard to realize that we are on a path of practicing sin like that's what we were born to do and think that we are saved somehow. If we are born with such a problem, then Jesus says we must be born again (John 3:3)! We cannot entertain either what is also sold as "eternal security" right inside the death trap of sin! Anyone who commits sin is a slave of sin as Jesus taught (sin has power over that person to keep him/her as a slave):
John 8:34-36
34 Jesus answered them, “Truly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. 35 A slave does not live in the house forever. A son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
The salvation Jesus brought into the world is freedom from sin. It's freedom from a relationship with the devil (that's a bad relationship); it's freedom from being a slave of the devil and working for him/being his servant/doing his will on earth (that's a bad job); it's freedom from a deal that promises the ability to enjoy the "pleasures" of sin and not die like the devil had deceived Eve to believe (that's a bad deal).
Jesus' salvation removes a person from the broad road that leads to destruction and places that person on the narrow/constricted path that leads to eternal life. It's a walk that begins and eternal life is the end of it.
Matthew 7:13-14
13 Enter in by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter in by it. 14 But narrow is the gate, and narrow/constricted is the way that leads to [eternal] life and few are those who find it.
But the false ministers of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:13-15) along with those who follow them will just disregard Jesus' teaching here and jump to another teaching that's supposed to make that one disappear. Ex: "Truly, truly, I say to you, He that believes in me has eternal life" (John 6:47). So, that's taken to mean that there is no need to walk the walk on the narrow/constricted way to eternal life (Matthew 7:14). No need to heed that word that says, "Strive to enter in by the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter in, and will not be able" (Luke 13:24). But that is not so. These words of the Lord must be heeded!
Two points need to be highlighted:
1. Believing implies being a disciple of the Lord Jesus who hears his voice and follows Him as his sheep (John 10:27, Acts 11:26, John 8:31-32); He leads his sheep in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake (Psalm 23:3), never the paths of sin that leads to death. See: Faith Implies Obedience.
2. Eternal life is a gift we can now receive by faith as it is a promise to those who are abiding in Jesus (faithfully obeying Him). See: Eternal Life - By Faith Now.
God's will is for people to be saved out of the snare of the devil that keeps them bound as his slaves to do his works of unrighteousness / iniquity (lawlessness) in their own lives to destroy themselves as well as to be used as accessories to make other people sin and miss eternal life (to put it mildly).
1 John 3:6-8
6 Whoever abides in Him [Jesus] does not sin. Whoever sins hasn’t seen Him, neither known Him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. The one who does righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous. 8 The one who sins is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. To this end the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil.
Acts 20:15-21
“Then I [Paul] asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. That is why some Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me.
2 Timothy 2:24-26
24 The Lord’s servant must not quarrel, but be gentle towards all, able to teach, patient, 25 in gentleness correcting those who oppose him: perhaps God may give them repentance leading to a full knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may recover themselves out of the devil’s snare, having been taken captive by him to his will.
See also:
Are You an Ex-Sinner Calling yourself a Sinner?
Insulting the Spirit of Grace
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