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Will I Lose My Salvation if I Keep Sinning?

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I’m just gonna say it: it is not God’s will for you to live in sin.

“Wait, Paul. I thought you were a grace preacher. Aren’t you supposed to accept people just as they are? Aren’t you supposed to be inclusive and forgiving like Jesus?”

Look, I get it. Grace attracts sinners. Why do you think tax collectors and prostitutes were drawn to Jesus?

He loved them. He accepted them. He also set them free.

Since I preach radical grace, I often hear from people who are fooling around with sin. Some are looking for help in overcoming sin, but most want an assurance that God will continue to love them despite their bad behavior.

Here are my responses to five commonly asked questions:

1. Will God love me if I keep sinning?

Yes, absolutely.

I know this is not what manmade religion has told you, but you need to know that God’s love for you is unaffected by your moral performance.

There are many variables in life but God’s love is the one constant you can bank on. You can be certain that God loves you.

A better question to ask is, “Do you know and enjoy his love?” The prodigal’s father loved him constantly but the prodigal did not know and benefit from his love for as long as his attention was elsewhere.

Every one of us has needs. These needs are meant to lead us to Jesus. If you’re not getting your needs met in Jesus, you will make inferior choices – and this is where the trouble starts.

2. Does God’s grace mean I can continue to live in sin?

No. Grace brings freedom and yes, that includes the freedom to make poor choices, but if you use your freedom to enslave yourself to sin or religion, you have missed the point of grace (Gal. 5:1).

A Christian who runs after sin is like a prisoner who has been released by a gracious king, who uses his freedom to re-offend and do all the things that got him imprisoned in the first place. Now our King is extremely gracious. He won’t send you back to prison. But you may send yourself there.

Jesus didn’t give his life as your ransom just so that you run back to the clay-pits of Egypt. Egypt is history. You’ve got places to go. Move on to the Promised Land of his love.

3. Will I lose my salvation if I keep sinning?

No. Jesus is your salvation and the Holy Spirit is your eternal guarantee (2 Cor. 1:22). If sinning caused us to lose our salvation, heaven would be empty.

But the question troubles me. Religion has got us so obsessed with making heaven and avoiding hell that we’ve put life on hold.

The earth is not a waiting room for eternity. This is where Real Life begins (John 17:3).

Don’t put your life on hold by living captive to the flesh. Salvation is not there and then, but here and now.

God’s will is for you to experience heaven-on-earth today. But choose the way of sin and you’ll experience hell-on-earth.

Religion would have us frame the questions of life in terms of good and evil. “Shouldn’t we do good and avoid evil?” This is fruit from the wrong tree. It’s not that the question above is inherently bad, it just won’t lead you to the right Answer.

Grace is the antidote to the poison of sin. Now that you’ve been saved from death, stop drinking the poison. Drink from the well of his life.

4. If my salvation is secure, why can’t I keep doing what I’m doing?

Because sinning is stupid. Like texting on the freeway. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

The world will tell you that “if it feels good, do it” and “as long as it’s harming no one, what’s the problem?” These are flawed mantras. Sin carries a hefty price tag. Live from your feelings and you’ll end up enslaved to your appetites. You will be a shadow of your real self.

Understand that I am not calling you to take a vow of chastity. Following Jesus is not about starving the flesh. Following Jesus is about reckoning yourself dead to the world and allowing him to live his life through you.

“As long as it’s harming no one…”

This line usually comes from those who are fooling around. How do you know it’s not harming no one? Do you have perfect knowledge of the future? Do you know for sure that the lady you’re keeping house with is going to be your wife and not the wife of another? Will she be the mother of your children or the mother of someone else’s children?

If you are certain that she will be your wife for life, marry her. If you’re uncertain, stop playing games and man up. People are too precious to fool around with.

5. I can’t help myself. I’m not sure that I could stop even if I wanted to.

That’s not a question but a declaration of unbelief in the liberating grace of God.

Perhaps you are enslaved to sin. You’re in so deep that you can’t see the sun. But that doesn’t mean you are without help and without options.

Your Maker is your Helper, and no one is beyond the reach of his transforming love and grace.

I’ve met countless people who have been changed by his grace. This happens all the time. But transformation rarely happens among those who don’t believe.

Stop playing the victim, and stop speaking lies over your life. Look to your Redeemer. Confess your true identity in Christ.

When you get up in the morning, look at yourself in the mirror and say, “I am my Father’s son and he loves me. I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. As he is in heaven, so am I in this world.”

The world will try and tell you that you are the product of your choices and behaviors, but God says you are his beloved child. Choose who you will listen to and be who you really are.

This is not the place where I talk about overcoming sin.

But beware any message that doesn’t empower you to overcome sin. Don’t listen to those who insist on “being tough on sin” and “laying down the law.” Appeals to try harder, do better, and keep your promises never lead to lasting change because they call you to rely on the flesh. Failure, guilt and condemnation are the inevitable result.

Grace is so much better. Grace is not a set of rules to follow or a whip to keep you in line.

Grace is a victorious Overcomer living his overcoming life through you.

—

Escape to Reality is your roadmap to Real Life. Whether you’re in a church, can’t find a church, or have quit church and ain’t ever going back, E2R is your guide to walking in the grace of God. Sign up today and we’ll send you a four-book Grace Pack totally free.

More articles on your eternal security. Get a sneak peek at Paul’s next book!

Will I Lose My Salvation if I Keep Sinning?

by

I’m just gonna say it: it is not God’s will for you to live in sin.

“Wait, Paul. I thought you were a grace preacher. Aren’t you supposed to accept people just as they are? Aren’t you supposed to be inclusive and forgiving like Jesus?”

Look, I get it. Grace attracts sinners. Why do you think tax collectors and prostitutes were drawn to Jesus?

He loved them. He accepted them. He also set them free.

Since I preach radical grace, I often hear from people who are fooling around with sin. Some are looking for help in overcoming sin, but most want an assurance that God will continue to love them despite their bad behavior.

Here are my responses to five commonly asked questions:

1. Will God love me if I keep sinning?

Yes, absolutely.

I know this is not what manmade religion has told you, but you need to know that God’s love for you is unaffected by your moral performance.

There are many variables in life but God’s love is the one constant you can bank on. You can be certain that God loves you.

A better question to ask is, “Do you know and enjoy his love?” The prodigal’s father loved him constantly but the prodigal did not know and benefit from his love for as long as his attention was elsewhere.

Every one of us has needs. These needs are meant to lead us to Jesus. If you’re not getting your needs met in Jesus, you will make inferior choices – and this is where the trouble starts.

2. Does God’s grace mean I can continue to live in sin?

No. Grace brings freedom and yes, that includes the freedom to make poor choices, but if you use your freedom to enslave yourself to sin or religion, you have missed the point of grace (Gal. 5:1).

A Christian who runs after sin is like a prisoner who has been released by a gracious king, who uses his freedom to re-offend and do all the things that got him imprisoned in the first place. Now our King is extremely gracious. He won’t send you back to prison. But you may send yourself there.

Jesus didn’t give his life as your ransom just so that you run back to the clay-pits of Egypt. Egypt is history. You’ve got places to go. Move on to the Promised Land of his love.

3. Will I lose my salvation if I keep sinning?

No. Jesus is your salvation and the Holy Spirit is your eternal guarantee (2 Cor. 1:22). If sinning caused us to lose our salvation, heaven would be empty.

But the question troubles me. Religion has got us so obsessed with making heaven and avoiding hell that we’ve put life on hold.

The earth is not a waiting room for eternity. This is where Real Life begins (John 17:3).

Don’t put your life on hold by living captive to the flesh. Salvation is not there and then, but here and now.

God’s will is for you to experience heaven-on-earth today. But choose the way of sin and you’ll experience hell-on-earth.

Religion would have us frame the questions of life in terms of good and evil. “Shouldn’t we do good and avoid evil?” This is fruit from the wrong tree. It’s not that the question above is inherently bad, it just won’t lead you to the right Answer.

Grace is the antidote to the poison of sin. Now that you’ve been saved from death, stop drinking the poison. Drink from the well of his life.

4. If my salvation is secure, why can’t I keep doing what I’m doing?

Because sinning is stupid. Like texting on the freeway. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

The world will tell you that “if it feels good, do it” and “as long as it’s harming no one, what’s the problem?” These are flawed mantras. Sin carries a hefty price tag. Live from your feelings and you’ll end up enslaved to your appetites. You will be a shadow of your real self.

Understand that I am not calling you to take a vow of chastity. Following Jesus is not about starving the flesh. Following Jesus is about reckoning yourself dead to the world and allowing him to live his life through you.

“As long as it’s harming no one…”

This line usually comes from those who are fooling around. How do you know it’s not harming no one? Do you have perfect knowledge of the future? Do you know for sure that the lady you’re keeping house with is going to be your wife and not the wife of another? Will she be the mother of your children or the mother of someone else’s children?

If you are certain that she will be your wife for life, marry her. If you’re uncertain, stop playing games and man up. People too precious to fool around with.

5. I can’t help myself. I’m not sure that I could stop even if I wanted to.

That’s not a question but a declaration of unbelief in the liberating grace of God.

Perhaps you are enslaved to sin. You’re in so deep that you can’t see the sun. But that doesn’t mean you are without help and without options.

Your Maker is your Helper, and no one is beyond the reach of his transforming love and grace.

I’ve met countless people who have been changed by his grace. This happens all the time. But transformation rarely happens among those who don’t believe.

Stop playing the victim, and stop speaking lies over your life. Look to your Redeemer. Confess your true identity in Christ.

When you get up in the morning, look at yourself in the mirror and say, “I am my Father’s son and he loves me. I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. As he is in heaven, so am I in this world.”

The world will try and tell you that you are the product of your choices and behaviors, but God says you are his beloved child. Choose who you will listen to and be who you really are.

This is not the place where I talk about overcoming sin.

But beware any message that doesn’t empower you to overcome sin. Don’t listen to those who insist on “being tough on sin” and “laying down the law.” Appeals to try harder, do better, and keep your promises never lead to lasting change because they call you to rely on the flesh. Failure, guilt and condemnation are the inevitable result.

Grace is so much better. Grace is not a set of rules to follow or a whip to keep you in line.

Grace is a victorious Overcomer living his overcoming life through you.

—

More articles on your eternal security.

Get a sneak peek at my next book!

Check out our recent articles, FAQs or our useful Scripture Index.

Are All Sins Forgiven – Past, Present and Future?

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Are all your sins forgiven, past, present and future? This is one of those questions that sounds hard but is easy to answer, provided you have the right definition. What does forgive mean?

Biblical forgiveness

To forgive means to send away or dismiss. It means you are no longer holding onto an offense or a hurt.

In the New Testament two verbs are translated as forgive:

  1. aphiēmi means to send away (e.g., Matt. 6:12)
  2. charizomai means to show favor or kindness (e.g., Gal. 3:18) and can imply the forgiveness of debts (e.g., Luke 7:42)

The noun that is translated as forgiveness (aphesis) is sometimes translated as remission. It means a dismissal, pardon or release (e.g., Luke 24:47).

Capiche?

What did Jesus say about forgiveness?

Prior to the cross, Jesus preached conditional forgiveness to people living under the old covenant. “If you forgive, God will forgive” (Matt. 6:14, Mark 11:25). This was law for those under law.

But as the messenger of the new covenant, Jesus also proclaimed and demonstrated unconditional forgiveness (see Matt. 9:2, 18:22, 27, Luke 7:42, 47, 11:4, 15:22-24, 23:34, John 8:11).

In Christ’s ministry, we see TWO types of forgiveness:

  • old covenant forgiveness (for those under law)
  • new covenant forgiveness (for those under grace)

Which type do you prefer? Obviously we all want the second kind, unconditional forgiveness. And this is what God gives us. The cross is the proof.

How the cross proves God’s forgiveness

John the Baptist said of Jesus, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

When did Jesus take away sin? On the cross.

Whose sin did he take? The sin of the whole world (see also 2 John 2:2).

Did Jesus miss any sins? He carried them all, every last one .

How can we be sure?

On the night he rose from the dead, Jesus told the disciples to start preaching the remission of sins or the good news of unconditional forgiveness (Luke 24:47).

Do you see? Before the cross Jesus preached a promise: “All sins will be forgiven” (Mark 3:28). But after the cross, Jesus preached the promise fulfilled:

Did the apostles get the message? They sure did. They travelled the world encouraging people to receive the gift of God’s forgiveness:

Peter said that “everyone who believes in Jesus receives forgiveness of sins” (Act 10:43).

John said the blood of Jesus “cleanses us from all sin”—past, present, and future (1 John 1:7). Then he adds, “your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake” (1 John 2:12).

Paul preached so that people “may receive forgiveness of sins” (Act 26:18). See also Acts 2:38, 5:31, 13:38-39, Rom. 4:7, 2 Cor. 5:19, Eph. 1:7, 4:32, Col. 1:14, 2:13, 3:13, Heb. 9:22, 10:18, 1 John 2:12.

What about these scriptures?

Preach the unconditional forgiveness of God and you will be hit with four “What about…?” scriptures. How do we read these scriptures through the lens of grace? Relevant responses are linked below:

  1. the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 6:15)
  2. the unforgivable sin (Matt. 12:31)
  3. confession of sins (1 John 1:9)
  4. the sin that leads to death (1 John 5:16)

Let’s recap. To forgive is to pardon or remit. It is not merely ceasing to be angry or resentful, but a deliberate letting go or dismissal of a debt or sin.

Are all your sins forgiven? Let me answer that question with another: Will Jesus ever come and die on the cross again? No. Once was enough. On the cross, all your sins were carried away by the Lamb of God.

His perfect sacrifice dealt with all sin including unconfessed sin, unrepented sin, and all the sins yet to be done.

As far as the east is from the west, So far has he removed our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:12)

At Calvary, all your sins, PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE, were forgiven or carried away as far as the east is from the west. Your part is to believe the good news. Quit trying to get forgiven, and receive, by faith, the gift of God’s forgiveness.

—

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How to Have a Perfectly Good Conscience

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Many people struggle with guilt on a daily basis.

They feel guilty for not spending more time with their kids and for not calling their parents.

They feel guilty for working too hard, not working hard enough, and not working at all.

They feel guilty for getting up too late, giving into cravings, taking meds, not taking meds, not doing the laundry, not recycling, and for scoffing an entire packet of Oreos while watching What We Do in the Shadows.

If you have been raised with rules or high expectations, or if you have an idealized picture of marriage and home life, chances are you are familiar with guilt.

Guilt is what you get when you don’t measure up, and most of us don’t measure up.

But did you know it’s possible not to have a guilty conscience? Maybe you don’t believe me, but there was this guy in the Bible who said this:

Brethren, I have lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before God up to this day. (Acts 23:1)

And before you go, “Well that was Paul the superstar church-planter,” remember that this was also Saul the persecutor of Christians. If anyone should have had regrets and a guilty conscience, surely it should be the chief of sinners.

Yet Paul frequently spoke about having a good and clear conscience.

We are sure that we have a good conscience. (Hebrews 13:18)

If Paul could have a perfectly good and clear conscience, you can too. But first, you need a proper definition of conscience.

What is your conscience?

Perhaps you imagine your conscience to be a judge inside your head who accuses you when you break the rules. Or maybe you hear a Jiminy Cricket-voice scolding you when you mess up. But these are caricatures and not the real thing.

Your conscience is that inner voice that lets you know whether you are walking in the will of God or whether you have departed from it.

The word conscience loosely means “with knowledge.” Your conscience knows when you have crossed the line and missed the mark.

How does it know?

For some, this knowledge is defined by cultural norms. For others, it may come from some religious code such as the Law of Moses.

But ultimately any definition of right and wrong is grounded in the character of God.

How to have a healthy conscience

A healthy conscience is not one that hammers you with the law or one that is subject to society’s definitions of right and wrong. A healthy conscience is one that is in tune with the Holy Spirit.

I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 9:1)

The conscience makes judgments based on knowledge, and the most reliable source of knowledge is the Spirit of Truth.

When the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirits that this is the way to go, and your conscience heeds this instruction, you will be convinced and it will not matter what anybody says.

This is why Paul could stand before the Sanhedrin and talk about having a perfectly good conscience. He knew his conscience was submitted to the Holy Spirit, and no teacher of law could convince him otherwise.

We are exhorted to keep the faith and hold onto a good conscience, and these two things are connected. If you reject or cast away a good conscience your faith will be shipwrecked (1 Tim. 1:18–19). A good conscience is something to protect, and that means knowing how to handle condemnation.

How to silence the inner critic

Sometimes we battle condemnation in the form of self-criticism or self-doubt. “I’m a failure. I’ve messed up. God will never accept me.” When that happens, we need to remind ourselves that:

God is greater than our heart and knows all things. (1 John 3:20)

Your heavenly Father knows every dumb thing you’ve done and every dumb thing you’re going to do, and knowing all this he still loves you and calls you “Beloved” (1 John 2:7). There is nothing you can do to make the Father love you any more, and nothing you can do to make him love you any less. Knowing this fills you with confidence and helps to silence the inner critic.

But God does more than just love you; he justifies you and makes you righteous.

In the eyes of the world, you may not measure up. You may fall short again and again. But God himself is for you! Who can be against you?

What to do when you mess up

We all make mistakes and when we do it’s easy to cower before the voice of condemnation. But there is another voice. When you sin, Jesus doesn’t accuse you; he defends you (1 John 2:1). And then he gently guides you back onto the right path.

This is why we need to listen to the Spirit of Truth when we sin. The Holy Spirit tells you the true facts: God still loves you. Yes, you screwed up but your Father’s got this. Now eyes back on Jesus.

The way to a perfectly good conscience is to walk in step with the Spirit and to believe all the good things that God says about you.

Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God. (1 John 3:21)

You don’t have to feel guilty all the time. You have a choice. You can choose to live under condemnation or confidence. You can live under guilt or you can live submitted to God.

The way to be free from a condemning conscience is to assure your heart that God justifies you, he is for you, and he loves you no matter what.

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Want to learn more about maintaining a healthy conscience? Check out the full entry for “Conscience” on Paul’s rapidly growing Grace Glossary.

Do Christians have a Sinful Nature?

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Ever heard the one about how you have two natures wrestling inside you and the one that dominates is the one you feed the most?

It’s not true.

Christian, you do not have a sinful nature. One with the Lord, you have a new heart and a new mind with new desires (1 Cor. 2:16). As a new creation, you get to share in the divine nature of Christ (2 Pet. 1:4).

You don’t have a sinful nature, but the devil would love for you to think that you do.

He will tell you that you are wicked and inclined to sin. The devil wants you resisting yourself because then you won’t resist him.

“Die to yourself daily.” Heard that one? It’s one of the devil’s best lines. So many churchgoers are trying to die daily because they don’t what happened to them at the cross:

Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with him… (Romans 6:6)

Your old self is gone. The person you used to be died with Christ (Col. 2:20). The moment you came to the Lord you were baptized by the Spirit into his death and resurrection (Rom. 6:6–10). Your old self was nailed to the cross and no longer lives.

You don’t need to die daily. Once was enough.

The difference between your old self and the person you are now is found in three words: Christ in you.

Formerly you were inclined to follow the flesh down the well-worn path of self-destruction. But now the indwelling Spirit of God helps you to live whole and righteously.

Formerly, you were corrupted by the sinful choices you made. But now the incorruptible seed of the living Word is bearing good fruit in your life.

Why do I still sin?

Although Christians don’t have a sinful nature, we can be tempted to sin just as Adam and Eve were tempted. When we give into that temptation, perhaps because we have forgotten who we are or because we are not resting in Christ, the result is sin (Jas. 1:14–15).

But unlike Adam and Eve we are not alone in our struggle against temptation. We have the indwelling Holy Spirit. It’s us and Him versus the Tempter. It’s a totally unfair fight against an already-defeated enemy.

With God on your side, how can you lose?

From time to time we all make mistakes. But when you stumble, the Lord is right there to pick you up and speak in your defense (1 John 2:1).

How do I stop sinning?

When we come to Jesus we are set free from sin, but we may need to unlearn some sinful habits. The Bible calls this laying aside the old self and being renewed in the spirit of our minds (Eph. 4:22–23).

If in your former life you were a judgmental bully, by the grace of God you can become kind and compassionate.

If you were bitter and unforgiving, you can learn to forgive others as Christ forgave you.

You were not born bitter and judgmental; you learned these bad habits. And since you learned them, by the grace of God you can unlearn them.

It may seem that sin has a strong grip on your life, but God’s grace is stronger still. Where sin abounds, his grace super-abounds.

Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:11)

Christians do many things in response to sin; we confess our sins, we hold ourselves accountable for our sins, we discuss our sins. We pray against sin, preach against sin, and warn against sin.

But when it comes to sin, there is one thing we must do above all, and that is reckon ourselves dead to it.

When sin comes knocking, don’t open the door.

When sin calls, don’t answer.

A dead person cannot react and cannot be tempted by sin.

Alive to God

That is the first part of the verse, here is the second: reckon yourself alive to God in Christ Jesus. Once upon a time, we were disconnected from the life that is in Christ (Col. 1:21). But now we enjoy fellowship and intimacy with the One who knows us better than we know ourselves.

In Christ, the deepest longings of our heart are fulfilled.

Every one of us wants to feel truly alive, to be full of life, energy, and purpose. Not merely existing but connecting, thriving, and being everything God made us to be.

This is the life we have in union with the Lord.

To be “alive to God” is knowing and being known, and it’s loving and being loved. It is seeing the touch of God in everything you do and in everyone you meet.

This new life begins with a revelation of God your Father and yourself as his dearly-loved child.

God delights in you. He rejoices over you with singing. You are the apple of his eye. When you know Who is for you, it changes everything (Rom. 8:31).

No one who abides in him sins. (1 John 3:6a)

Those who abide or make their home in the sinless Son drop their sinful habits like rotten garments.

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. (1 John 3:9)

One with the Lord, you are a sinner no more. John is not saying you will never sin (see 1 John 2:1). He is saying it is not in your new nature to sin. Sinning has lost its appeal. Having been set free from your old way of life, you no longer want to sin.

And why would you, when you have found something better by far.

—–

Two Lies About Sin

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The worst disease to ever afflict the human race is not Covid or cancer, but sin. Sin is not merely breaking the rules or acting immorally. Sin is much more serious than that.

God offers us his divine life but we fall short. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). The gap between our broken and bruised lives and his whole and glorious life is called sin.

Now that we have a Biblical definition of sin, we can look at two lies we have been told about sin.

Lie #1: A little sin can’t hurt

You hardly need me to remind you that we have been sold a con. The world tells us that sin brings pleasure, but the truth is that sin comes with a hefty price tag:

For the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23)

God gives life, but sin ministers death. Sin cripples us, diminishes us, and kills us. Sin ruins our lives, our marriages, our families, our world.

When we walk after the flesh, we sow the seeds of destruction and reap a fatal harvest. This fruit is not God’s judgment but sin’s wage. Sin is its own punishment.

You already knew that, right? But what you may not know is that true pleasure – the kind you and I were made for – comes from the Lord.

You will make known to me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. In your right hand there are pleasures forever. (Psalm 16:11)

We were created to enjoy divine and everlasting pleasure, but we traded it all for the fleeting and fatal pleasures of sin.

What a terrible trade! Every disease, heartbreak, and crime that was inflicted on the human race happened because we said no to God and yes to sin.

Lie #2: Sinning makes God mad at you

If the first lie comes from the world, the second lie comes from religion. Religion tell us that sinning is bad because it displeases God and makes him hate us. Not true. God doesn’t hate you. He hates sin!

Why does God hate sin? He hates sin because sin hurts those he loves. God never intended for us to live with the suffering that sin brings.

When Adam turned his back on God, he opened a door to a world of trouble, and so do we whenever we repeat his mistake. When we offer our bodies as instruments of unrighteousness, we become slaves of sin (Rom. 6:16).

Jesus broke you out of sin’s prison, but whenever we walk after the flesh it’s like we’re slapping the chains right back on.

Sinning does not mean we will lose our salvation, but we will surely lose our freedom.

For the Christian, this can happen when we put ourselves under law. Paul rebuked the Galatians because they were trying to perfect in their flesh that which was begun by the Spirit (Gal. 3:3). They put on the heavy yoke of law, stopped walking by faith, and lost their liberty (Gal. 3:12, 5:1).

5 truths about sin

Now that we have exposed some of the lies about sin, here are five truths about sin:

  1. We can sin just as easily by doing good things as bad. Whenever we walk after the flesh, we fall short of the glorious life God has for us.
  2. We all sin, from the best of us to the worst of us. Your sin does not make you unique.
  3. God dealt with all your sin – past, present, and future – at the cross. He did this because he loves you and wants you to share his life with him.
  4. When you stumble, God still loves you. His grace is greater than your sin, his best is better than your worst.
  5. God’s grace empowers you to say no to sin and live the godly life he has for you.

Jesus will never condemn you for your sin. Instead, he will empower you to sin no more so that you might enjoy the whole and abundant life God has for you.

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What is the Sin Leading to Death?

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There are different types of sin, and some more serious than others. Apparently we should pray for those who do the lighter sins, but not waste time praying for those who do the bad ones.

Ever heard that? It comes from this verse:

If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this. (1 John 5:16)

What is the sin leading to death and why should we not pray for people doing this sin?

Sin unto death

Some say the sin leading to death is the unforgivable sin, which is unbelief. But why wouldn’t we pray for our unbelieving friends and family members? (We can pray that the eyes of their hearts would be opened to the gospel. We can pray that they would hear Jesus knocking on their door.)

I’ve also heard it said that the fatal sin is taking communion unworthily. Or it’s turning away from Jesus. It’s hypocrisy. It’s lying to the Holy Spirit like Ananias and Sapphira.

Or the sin that leads to death is the sin you did knowing full well that it was sin when you did it.

Or it’s the sin you keep doing again and again because you’re an unrepentant rebel.

In short, the fatal sin is so bad and so offensive to heaven that there’s no point asking God to forgive you. You are so far gone that God can’t help you, and you are not worth praying for.

Nope.

Let’s get two things straight: First, Jesus bore all our sins, big and small, and there is no sin greater than God’s grace (Rom. 5:20). No matter what you have done or how often you’ve done it, there is grace for you.

Second, when we see others destroying themselves in sin, we should pray for them. They need help. Why wouldn’t we pray?

“But some are beyond help. Don’t waste your breath praying for those guys.”

Again, nope. There is no sinner beyond the reach of God’s mighty grace. Not one.

The worst sinner in the world

Look at Saul the Pharisee. If anyone was beyond the reach of grace it was the chief of sinners. Do you think the early Christians wasted time praying for him? Of course they did. Didn’t Jesus teach us to love and pray for their enemies (Matt. 5:44)?

And their prayers were answered. Just look at what happened to Saul.

But I digress. Back to John.

When not to pray

There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that.

John is not talking about different types of sin. He’s telling us when to pray and when to quit praying.

When our brothers and sisters are stumbling in sin, we should not condemn them but pray for them. Pray that God would lead them on to the path of life. “You should pray and God will give them life.”

Someone who is sinning needs life because sinning is destructive. When we sin we are sowing death into our lives, marriages, and families (Rom. 6:23). But the good news is that Jesus gives life.

Imagine you have a friend who is on a destructive path. They are making bad choices and sowing the seeds of death.

They sin.

You pray.

They keep sinning.

You keep praying. It’s not complicated.

But what if the sinning brother or sister makes choices that bring their life to a premature end? What if they drive themselves over the proverbial cliff? If they’re dead there’s no point praying any further. Our responsibility to pray ends at the grave. What happens after that is God’s concern.

Don’t pray for the dead

What is the sin leading to death? It could be just about anything, but once they’re dead you can stop praying for them. Your part is done. Now they are in God’s hands.

This is obvious, right? Only for many it’s not obvious at all.

Some religions and even some Christian denominations pray for the dead or the “faithful departed” even though there is nothing in scripture to support this.

Praying for the dead is a dead work. Start praying for the dead and your prayer lists will only get longer. (How would you know if the prayers were answered?)

Short version: Don’t pray for the dead, but pray for those who have lost their way. Pray that God will lead them in the path of life.

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852. Escaping From a Consciousness of Sins

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This week, church pastors around the world will be providing sermons about sin, sinning less, seeking more forgiveness because of new sins, and perhaps erroneously declaring how sin is separating you from God. Avoiding sinful behavior is good advice, but there is more to the story. The letter to the Hebrews reveals how the blood of Jesus put sin away once for all. Although all people would continue to fall short of the perfect and holy standard that the law of commandments required, the cross dealt with sin in such a way that Jesus and the Father would not have to deal with it ever again.

If forgiveness from God is still needed for new sins committed, more blood would also have to be spilled. Jesus would not be required to keep offering Himself repeatedly for the forgiveness of sins because the cross would finish the need for more blood being shed. He paid for an eternal redemption—redeeming the Jews from a ministry of death and condemnation—and opening the door for Gentiles to also partake of a New Covenant. The old, obsolete law of works with ongoing sacrifices brought a reminder of sins and left people trapped within a sin consciousness which Jesus came to deliver people from.


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What is the Definition of Sin?

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What is sin?

Some define sin as transgression of God’s law. “We need to keep the law because ‘sin is lawlessness’” (see 1 John 3:4). Okay, but which law?

“We have to keep all of the commands.”

Including the ones about not wearing poly-blend clothing or eating bacon?

“Well, not those ones. But at least the Ten Commandments. Plus everything Jesus said.”

But the Bible says we are not under law (see Rom. 6:14). Which means we can’t use the law to define sin.

“What…?”

And since the law is not of faith, we might say that trying to live under the law is itself a kind of sin (see Gal. 3:11–12).

“You’re breaking my brain.”

What you misdiagnose, you mistreat. If you define sin as law-breaking, you’ll think the remedy to sin is law-keeping. But to live under the law is to walk after the flesh.

We are supposed to look to the Lord, not the law, which means you cannot use the law as a guide for holy living. In the Holy Spirit you have a better Guide by far.

Which brings me back to my original question.

What is sin in the Bible?

In the Bible, the word sin can be a verb (an action) or a noun (a thing). Let’s talk about sin as a verb. Those with a legal mindset define sin (or sinning) as law-breaking, while moral people tend to define sin as immoral behavior. But this is not how the Bible defines sin.

The original verb for sin (hamartano) means to miss the mark and not share the prize. But what is the mark that we are supposed to hit and what is the prize?

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)

What does it mean to sin? To sin is to fall short of the glorious life God has for us (to paraphrase the Message Bible).

God has divine life; we do not. His life is whole, good, and perfect, but our lives are bruised and broken.

Because we fall short, we miss the mark and don’t get to share in the divine life that God wants for us. This falling short is called sin.

All of us are sinners and none of us can live at God’s level. It’s impossible. But the next verse reveals God’s plan for closing the gap:

And all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:24, NIV)

The sinful life is what we have; the glorious life is what he offers, and this new life comes to us through the grace of Jesus Christ.

TL:DR: We are all sinners, but we are freely justified (made right with God) by grace.

Sin is a fruit

In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve turned their back on God and the result was sin and death.

Sin and disobedience are the fruit of distrust. Adam and Eve did not believe God and chose the path of independence. Ever since then, humans have been operating from a baseline of self-trust (what the Bible calls walking after the flesh) and the result is sin.

The remedy for sin is to turn back to God and receive the grace he freely offers. Those who do this hit the bullseye and receive the prize. They are made new and get to share in his divine life (2 Pet. 1:4).

Now that we know what sin is (missing the mark), it will help to identify what sin is not. Sin is not merely doing bad things, because any time we walk after the flesh we miss the mark – even when we are doing good.

Nor is sin merely breaking the rules. The devil does not really mind if you are a reckless law-breaker or a religious law-keeper. As long as you are walking after the flesh you are going to fall short of the life God has for you.

What is the definition of sin? It is not rule breaking or acting immorally as much as it is walking by sight and leaning on your own abilities and understanding. It is trusting in yourself and living without regard for the things of God.

And who is a sinner? A sinner is not merely someone who does bad things. A sinner could just as easily be a churchgoer or charity worker, or a Pharisee and a publican. There are good sinners and bad sinners but they are all sinners alike if they are relying on themselves and living independently of God.

Until we come to Christ and receive by faith the gracious gift of his life, we remain dead in our trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1).

How is sin a noun?

There are two ways that sin is a noun (hamartia). First, if you rake all your sins, trespasses, offenses, and mistakes into a big stinky pile, what you have is a noun: your sin.

Here is the first thing the New Testament says about your sin:

Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people (Matthew 12:31a)

All sinners have a pile of sins, and some piles are bigger than others. But on the cross the Lamb of God bore your sin and my sin and now there are no more piles. Thank you, Jesus!

Because Christ “gave himself for our sins” and “died for our sins”, God is no longer in the business of holding our sins and trespasses against us (1 Cor. 15:3, 2 Cor. 5:19, Gal. 1:4).

You may have sinful regrets, and sin still has consequences – don’t be fooled into thinking otherwise. But the good news is that God chooses to remember our sins and lawless deeds no more (Heb. 10:17). As far as he is concerned, they don’t exist.

Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin. (Romans 4:7–8)

“But what about the sin that I sinned just this morning?”

God has no record of that sin. Your conscience may keep a record, and the devil may keep a record, but love keeps no record of wrongs.

Sin as a tyrant

There is another way that sin is a noun. In the Bible, sin is sometimes described as a personality with desires, intelligence, and an agenda.

God told Cain that sin was crouching at his door (Gen. 4:7). Paul described sin as a tyrant with lusts and a desire to master you (see Rom. 6:14).

In the book of Romans, the word sin or sins appears 47 times and on all but one occasion it is a noun. Sin wants to enslave you, deceive you and kill you (Rom. 6:6, 17, 20, 7:14, 7:11). Paul was not talking about a sinful nature or some impersonal power. He was describing Satan.

Both sin and Satan seek to devour us (Gen. 4:7, 1 Pet. 5:8) and kill us (Rom 7:11, John 8:44). But the good news is that both sin and Satan have been defeated by Jesus (Heb. 9:26, John 12:31).

In Christ, you have been freed from sin (see Rom. 6:7). You are not freed from sinning but from sin the tyrant. Because there has been a change of government, you are free to sin no more. You don’t have to obey your former master.

From time to time, we all stumble. The difference now is that when you sin, your new master speaks in your defense.

If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. (1 John 2:1)

When you sin, Jesus speaks to defend you. He does not do it to justify sin, but to justify you and to remind you that you have been freed from sin.

Since you died with Christ, you are a sinner no more. You are a new creature, with a new heart and new desires to please the Lord.

Now go learn to speak the new language of the new covenant and be who you truly are – a saint and a dearly-loved child of God.

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Does Sin Hinder our Prayers?

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Ever heard this one: “God is holy. If you have unconfessed sin in your life, he will not hear your prayers.”

It’s. Not. True.

If sin made God deaf, no sinner could be saved. They would pray the sinner’s prayer, but God wouldn’t hear them.

Pray all you like, but I’m not listening. Lalalala. I’ve got fingers in my ears.

Imagine if you had to confess all your sins before God would listen. Most people would die of old age before they were done! And there would be no guarantee you got them all.

Sorry, kiddo. You forgot a sin from the summer of ’82. You’re toast.

“Confess your sins so that God will hear you.” What a stupid theology. Forgive me for getting agitated, but this sort of nonsense leaves people crippled with guilt and condemnation. It causes them to hide from their Father in fear.

Imagine if Jesus had not listened to sinners.

“Sorry, woman-with-a-hemorrhage, I can’t heal you because there’s unconfessed sin in your life.”

“Sorry, woman-caught-in-the-wrong-bed, I can’t stop these men from stoning you.”

“Peter, James, John, I can’t hear a word you’re saying. What’s that, Judas? I see your lips moving but I can’t hear you.”

Jesus is the exact representation of God the Father. If the Son listened to sinners, it’s because the Father listens to sinners. He hears our prayers. Every single one.

God hears us because he loves us

But didn’t David say, “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened” (Ps. 66:18)? Keep reading:

Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my supplications! Answer me in your faithfulness, in your righteousness! And do not enter into judgment with your servant, for in your sight no one living is righteous. (Ps. 143:1-2)

David, knowing that he was not righteous, asked God to hear him on account of his righteousness, and God did. Your heavenly Father hears your prayers not because you are good but because he is good and he loves you.

But what about that verse that says, “God does not hear sinners” (John 9:31)? The Jews believed that, but Jesus didn’t. He said things like “When you pray” as if we are to pray all the time, and he told stories to encourage us to pray (Matt. 6:7, Luke 18:1, 10-14).

The Bible never discourages prayer. Instead it says things like “devote yourselves to prayer” (Col. 4:2), and “pray continually” (1 Th. 5:17). Only one person is looking for excuses to get you not to pray, and it’s not the Lord.

Okay, what about John. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Keep reading:

I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for his name’s sake. (1 John 2:12)

In the new covenant you are not forgiven because you confess; you are forgiven on account of Jesus’ name.

This idea that we have to confess or cleanse ourselves before God will hear us, forgive us, or receive us comes straight out of the old covenant. See the cross. Your sins are there, every last one of them, including all the sins you confessed and all the sins you didn’t.

What really hinders prayer

Jesus said, “And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive” (Matt. 21:22).

The number one hindrance to prayer is not sin but unbelief, and notice that unbelief is not a hindrance to God hearing us but us receiving from him.

We need to pray with faith. We need to pray believing that God hears our prayers no matter who we are or what we’ve done because of who Jesus is and what he has done.

When John says confess he means “agree with God.” Agree that Jesus has dealt with all your sins once and for all. Agree that God is good and he longs to be good to you. Agree that your Father loves you and cares for you and he hears your prayers.

You may say, “But I don’t know how to pray. I’m afraid I will pray wrong.” Here’s Brennan Manning writing in The Ragamuffin Gospel:

There is no such thing as bad prayer…. A little child cannot do a bad coloring; nor can a child of God do bad prayer.

Your heavenly Father loves it when you talk to him. Whatever is on your mind, you can tell him all about it.

Talk to him about your hurts and worries, your hopes and dreams.

Tell him about your secret fears and struggles.

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from him. (1 John 5:14-15)

The key word in that passage is confidence. You can be confident of your Father’s goodness, and you can be confident when you pray.

Whatever your need today, ask your heavenly Father for help. Ask with the confidence that he hears your prayers and rides across the heavens to help you (Deu. 33:26).

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5 Myths about God’s Forgiveness

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No religion preaches the complete forgiveness of sins like Christianity. You might say it’s one of our unique selling points.

So why do we do such a bad job with it?

We tell people God may forgive them if they say the right words and keep on the straight and narrow, and then we try and pass off this awful message as though it were good news.

Newsflash: telling people they have to work for divine favor is neither news nor good. In fact, it’s bad news because there is nothing you can do to atone for your sins. Happily, the good news is so much better.

Here are five things the Bible says about forgiveness, and five things it doesn’t.

Myth 1: God may forgive you

Manmade religion manipulates people with carrots (God might forgive you) and sticks (he might not). It’s an ancient racket that leaves people anxious and susceptible to extortion (give us your money and service). But if we preached the true meaning of forgiveness, we would disarm religious bullies and liberate those whom Jesus loves.

Here are two related questions: When were you forgiven? And when were your sins carried away? The answer to one is the answer to the other because forgiveness has to do with the removal of sins.

On the cross your sins were carried away by the Lamb of God. This is Christianity 101, yet most Christians don’t know it. Instead of thanking Jesus for carrying all their sins – past, present, and future – they’re begging him to do what he’s already done. They need to hear the good news:

I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for his name’s sake. (1 John 2:12)

God may forgive you? Look to the cross. He already did!

Myth 2: God’s forgiveness comes with price tags

Prior to the cross, Jesus preached conditional forgiveness to people living under the old law-keeping covenant. “If you forgive, God will forgive” (Matt. 6:14). But on the cross Jesus fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law so that we might live under a new and better covenant of grace.

Instead of preaching a law that never applied to us in the first place, we ought to tell people what Jesus said after he rose from the dead: “The forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to all nations!” (Luke 24:47). Do you see? Your forgiveness is a done deal. This is the good news the apostles proclaimed all around the world:

Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. (Acts 13:38)

Forgiveness is not a reward to be earned but a gift we receive by faith (Acts 10:43). You can’t work for it because Jesus did it all.

Myth 3: God forgives in instalments

The standard maintenance myth goes like this: “God forgave some of your sins, but now it’s up to you to keep the ledger clean.” How do you do that? You have to be good and faithful. You have to give and serve. You have to repent and confess.

Now those are all good things, but if you think doing them earns you forgiveness, you’re captive to superstition and unbelief. You need to repent from your dead works and agree with God’s Word.

The Lord “pardons all your iniquities” (Ps. 103:3). All means all. Before he died, Jesus prophesied that all sins would be forgiven (Mark 3:28), and on the cross his prophecy was fulfilled (Heb. 9:16). Here’s the good news:

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace. (Eph. 1:7)

You have been completely and eternally forgiven through the blood of the Lamb (Heb. 9:12). God doesn’t forgive on the instalment plan. In Christ, you are as forgiven as forgiven can be.

Myth 4: God only forgives some people

The Catholics say only those who confess are forgiven and the Protestants say the same thing! What does the Bible say?

“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). To forgive means to carry or take away sins and Jesus carried all our sin. There’s no sin he did not bear. “He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself” (Heb. 7:27).

Some people hold onto their sins as though they were unforgiven, but as far God is concerned, all our sins were dealt with at the cross (Heb. 9:26). Here’s the good news:

He himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. (1 John 2:2)

Propitiation means satisfied. Because of Jesus, the demands of justice have been fully satisfied. Once upon a time the world was under the condemnation of sin, but God has forgiven all sin and there is nothing left to forgive. If God is satisfied with the sacrifice of the Son, let us be satisfied too.

Myth 5: God forgives but never forgets

Ah, the ol’ videotape chestnut. You know the one. “One day God will play a tape showing all your secret sins.” Yeah, that’s great news. Just terrific.

Beware this fake news! There are no videotapes because love keeps no record of wrongs (1 Cor. 13:5). You may have regrets that keep you awake at night, but God remembers your sins no more (Heb. 8:12, 10:17).

God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. (2 Cor. 5:19)

Here’s the good news: Your heavenly Father loves you more than you know. The only tapes he has on you are highlight reels!

During his time on earth, Jesus went around forgiving people who had done nothing to deserve it, and while he hung on the cross he forgave those who put him there. The Son of God did this to give us a picture of what true forgiveness looks like; it looks like love.

This is the good news the Church ought to be preaching to a world condemned by sin and guilt. “God holds nothing against you! He loves you and wants you to enjoy his love.”

What can we say in response to this happy news? There is only one thing:

“Thank you, Jesus.”

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812. The 800 Club: Looking Back – Repentance and What It Means Under Grace

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We grace renegades often get accused of not talking about repentance enough. That’s really not accurate, but what comes to mind when you hear the word repent? If you’ve spent at least a few weeks in a church building, most likely you’ve been under the assumption that to repent means to stop sinning and start living a better and improved moral standard. That’s great advice, but is this the core of what repentance is supposed to be about? We revisit the meaning of repentance in the Greek and how this ties into what Jesus was trying to get the Jewish people to do when He told them to “repent and believe the good news.”

The gospel isn’t about attaining right-standing with God through what we do … or what the Jewish people were attempting to do by the works of the law. Repentance involves a change of mind by realizing the more excellent ministry of the New Covenant—which ended a religious merit system—and to begin trusting in what Jesus did to bring us to a place of righteousness and perfection.



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