Is
there any sin you must stop doing to be saved? ALL the Pastors say an
emphatic NO! ONLY the Sin of ‘Unbelief’ will exclude you
from the Kingdom of Heaven. Basically what is being taught today as
salvation according to the Gospel of Christ is you get saved as a poor
helpless sinner, filled with the Holy Spirit and then God will
magically empower you to ‘begin’ overcoming your vile habits over a period of time. Consequently you get ‘saved in your sins’ and then you repent. That’s how the process supposedly works.
However, this method has some serious flaws. First of all, the sin NEVER stops. The so-called ‘saved’
person continues to struggle with all the same sins he allegedly
repented of at the start. He is still ‘WAITING’ on God to
change his desires and take away the vile habits. The Pastors keep
telling him he is saved and filled with the Spirit and that God will soon ‘empower’
him to overcome the sin. He should remain in his focus group and not
worry about the things he has no ability to control. The Problem? His
bondage keeps getting worse!
In his study group he is told that according to the
Bible, he was born a wretched sinner, guilty of Adam's transgression
and is hopelessly in bondage to an ‘inbred’
nature of depravity. At best all he can expect to be in this world is
the chief of sinners fully wretched to the core. Although the power of
God is hypothetically working to deliver him from his sins, soon he
will begin to blame God for his constant faults and the lack of success
in overcoming them. Since he has been told also that continuously
admitting he is a poor wretched sinner keeps him humble, he has no clue
that he is growing more and more callus in his rebellion.
The message is very confusing and contradictory. On one
hand, the Pastors are saying that a saved person cannot be living in
continual sin. But on the other hand, they assure you that ‘some’
deeply engrained sins are difficult to root out and you certainly
remain saved in the meantime, even if such a sin is as vile as
molestation. The logical conclusion? The commission of sin (any sin) is
between the person and God and cleanup is on God’s timetable. The final outcome of salvation is secure in Christ so the person must continue to trust that God is faithful no matter what happens in his flesh.
What is so perplexing about their message is some of
them teach that repentance is a fruit of salvation. You get saved and
then repent. But others (many others!) don’t even mention repentance.
It’s not even a mandate for salvation! Therefore the Biblical process
of Godly sorrow working repentance UNTO salvation is null and void.
They either have it in reverse or not at all.
Nonetheless, EVERYONE teaches that it's God’s responsibility to clean
you up according to His schedule, hence the professing masses are
wallowing in their sins while they wait for some Divine guidance to
miraculously straighten them out. Although it NEVER happens.
Why is God so limited in His power that all He can do
is cover man’s sin and pretend He can only see the perfection of His
Son? The Bible says that He has given us all things that pertain to
life and Godliness and that we are partakers of His divine nature in
order to escape the corruption that is in the world through lust!
(2Pet. 1:3-4) It also states that we can do ALL THINGS through Christ
who strengthens us. (Phil. 4:13) And the same power that raised Christ
from the dead is at work in us! (Eph. 1:19-20) So what’s the problem?
WHY (under their message) do people remain wretched sinners forever in
bondage to lust? Would God intentionally limit Himself in dealing with
man? If it’s His job to clean man up, Why doesn’t it ever seem to
happen?
The answer is very simple. It’s NOT His job to change
man’s desires from evil to good! In repentance, you cease to do evil
and learn to do good. (Isa. 1:16) You forsake your evil ways and
unrighteous thoughts. (Isa. 55:7) You lay aside all filthiness and
overflow of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word
that is able to save you! (Js. 1:21) The clearing of wrongdoing is your
part. Granting forgiveness is God’s. (2Cor. 7:10-11) Unless man gets
clear of his sin in repentance, it will NEVER stop. Think about it!
People stop their vile habits all the time. They break free of alcohol,
drugs, and various addictions. (Without God!) Man is perfectly capable
of doing what is right. It may not be easy, but NO one can deny that it
has been done.
But you MUST understand that stopping your sin (or
addiction) DOES NOT automatically restore you to favor with anyone. It
only PROVES that you are making a sincere and diligent effort to
change. As in the case of adultery. Abandoning the adulterous
relationship will not automatically reconcile the broken marriage
relationship. It only proves your remorse and sorrow for causing the
separation. The offended party must be motivated by the effort made to
freely grant forgiveness and restore the relationship.
God has granted man the grace of repentance PROVEN by
DEEDS, to forgive his sins and restore him to a right and clean
relationship, washed and purged by the blood of Christ. Man is free to
choose, which makes him responsible for obeying. (Josh 24:15) We are
workers together with God in the process of redemption. (2Cor. 6:1)
Pastors have fallen prey to a deadly error by insisting man must be
saved in his sins. Flee them if you can!
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