They tell us in no uncertain terms that salvation is an act of God, not of man. Put another way, God is completely sovereign over who is and is not saved.
Romans 9:16-18:
So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH." So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.
Ephesians 1:3-5:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
Ephesians 2:8-9:
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
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Again, there are many more Scriptures that testify to God’s sovereignty in salvation, but these make the point very explicitly and clearly. Furthermore, Scripture makes clear that Jesus did two things for Christians. First, in His death on the cross, Jesus took God’s wrath upon Himself, the wrath that every Christian deserved because all mankind sins. By His death, all of our sins (past, present and future) have been forgiven. Second, Christ’s own righteousness is imputed, or credited, to the Christian by faith. The following Scriptures make this clear:
Romans 5:8-11:
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
Romans 4:1-8:
What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? "ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS." Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: "BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, AND WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED. "BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT.”
Romans 4:22-25:
Therefore IT WAS ALSO CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.
Romans 5:19:
For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.
Hebrews 10:10-14:
By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; 12but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.
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So, summarizing, we see that we are
saved by God’s grace, not our own will or works. In addition, our salvation is not contingent on what we do even after we have been saved because we are counted righteous by what Jesus did. Finally, all of our sins have been forgiven by Christ’s death and resurrection. In this sense, we have already been “perfected” (Hebrews 10:14) in that God has already punished our sin in Christ on the cross, and we are made perfect by Christ’s obedience, with His righteousness credited to the believer.
Clearly, this means that if we have truly been saved, we cannot lose our salvation. Remember, Ephesians 2:8 says that salvation is the gift of God. Romans 11:29 says,
“for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” Therefore, if
God has saved us, we are saved forevermore.
Now, let’s apply all of this to your question. f a person has truly received God’s gracious gift of faith, then that person will go to heaven. His actions after becoming a believer do not determine his salvation because, as we’ve shown,
salvation is totally due to actions taken on God’s part, not man’s. Scripture also gives us examples of believers who sinned in major ways. Consider the following:
- Peter, when he denied he even knew Christ (Luke 22:55-62). Of course, Jesus restored and forgave Peter.
- Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-10).
- The unnamed believer in 1 Corinthians 5:1-5.
Having said that,
our actions as Christians do have consequences, both here and in eternity in heaven. As the examples above attest, God requires that we discipline those in the church who continue in a life of sin. Matthew 18:15-20 gives clear instructions as to how sinning believers are to be handled. Ultimately, if they refuse to stop sinning, we are to put them out of the church. This is for the destruction of their flesh, not that they would lose their salvation (see 1 Cor. 5:1-5), with the ultimate goal of restoring them to fellowship (as Jesus did with Peter). Sadly, this is rarely done in today’s church.
The Lord makes clear that He will discipline those He loves. Therefore, if we continue in sin, we can expect to be put out of fellowship with the church, as well as God’s chastisement. Hebrews 12:4-7 makes this clear:
You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES." It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
We also face consequences in heaven in eternity for what we do here on earth as believers. Again, our salvation is not in question, but the level of rewards we will receive in heaven depend on how we serve God while on earth. This is made most clear in 1 Corinthians 3:9-17:
For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.
Note that in this passage, believers are compared to a building. The foundation of our salvation is Jesus Christ. What we do in this life to serve God (the building) will be tested when we go to heaven. If we have not served God, which would include a believer continuing in sin, then our works will not pass the test. They will be like wood and straw, useless and burned up in the testing fire.
With nothing to show for our lives in service to God, we will still be saved (v. 15), but we will lose any potential rewards. If we have lived a life in service to God, bearing fruit that lasts, our work will be like gold and precious stones, surviving God’s testing fire. This will lead to rewards in heaven.
One final point...a person who claims to be a Christian but yet never bears fruit and continues in a habitual life of sin, may not, in fact, be a Christian. (Indeed, Scripture says fornicators will not enter the kingdom of God, refering to those who live a lifestyle marked by this pattern of sin (1 Cor. 6:9).) Obviously, all Christians sin while here on earth, but the issue is one of continuing to practice sin in such a way that it suggests an unchanged (unsaved) heart.
John 3:7-9 puts it this way:
Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
Obviously, some Christians will practice righteousness better than others. Ultimately, however, only God knows who is truly a believer and who is not.
Therefore, we must be careful that we don’t go make subjective judgments as to who is and is not a Christian based on their works. Still, we may have reason to doubt the confession of one who by his works appears to be unchanged. Ideally, of course, we’d expect to see some evidence of a changed life in the behavior of a true believer. While there are degrees of change from believer to believer, Scripture tells us that God has prepared us for good works, so this should be our expectation as well.
Can someone continue in sin and still be saved? | Verse By Verse Ministry International
