Gaylord Diaz's Blog

SALVATION AND PERFECTION

As we’ve already seen in Ephesians 2:8, you’re saved by grace. Salvation is a gift of grace. It’s unmerited, undeserved, and unearned. You can’t do anything to earn God’s salvation or grace. His grace, and the salvation that goes with it, is totally sovereign. God saved you because He wanted to, not because you deserved to be saved. Brethren, no one deserves to be saved! We all deserve Hell and damnation because of our sins. But God saved us because it was His sovereign pleasure and goodwill to save us.

Now because salvation is purely a matter of God’s grace and not something that you can work for, then you must understand that YOUR SALVATION ISN’T CONDITIONED OR DEPENDENT ON YOU BEING SINLESS OR PERFECT. THE ONLY REQUIREMENT FOR SALVATION, THE ONLY THING YOU CAN DO TO BE SAVED, IS REPENT AND BELIEVE IN JESUS. John 3:16 promises, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

God, you see, didn’t say you had to be sinless before He saves you. He didn’t condition your salvation on you being perfect first. To be sure, God wants you to be perfect, Matthew 5:48.  But perfection isn’t a condition or requirement for salvation! If you believe in Jesus and have received Him as your personal Lord and Savior, then you’re already saved and JUST BECAUSE YOU AREN’T PERFECT DOESN’T MEAN YOU AREN’T SAVED!

SIN’S EFFECT ON YOUR SALVATION

Okay. Let’s get this straight up front. Christians aren’t perfect. Christians can sin. Christians do sin. There’s isn’t a Christian around who doesn’t sin. We all sin from time to time. We try not to. Some try harder than others. But the bottom line is, we all sin. The difference between us is, some of us try harder than others. Some give in easier than others. We differ in the kinds of sin we commit. And the number of times we sin. So when it’s all said and done, we all need God’s forgiveness and the cleansing blood of Jesus to cleanse us from all our unrighteousness.

YOUR SINS ARE NOT UNFORGIVABLE. I know I’ve said it lots of times already. But it bears repeating because we all need God’s assurance that He’s forgiven us. 1 John 1:9  assures us that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. It’s sins. Plural. We sin any number of times and that’s how many times we’re forgiven. No sin is left unforgiven.

YOUR SINS WILL NOT KEEP YOU OUT OF THE KINGDOM. You’ve got to repent of them, of course. And you’ve got to keep trying hard not to sin. But when you asked God to forgive you, He forgave you. And that sin—those sins—now forgiven and blotted out from God’s sight and memory will not keep you out of the kingdom. When Jesus said, I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand, that means you’ll not perish in perdition. You won’t end up in Hell. Jesus similarly said in John 6:39, And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. As God’s sheep, GOD WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO SIN A SIN THAT’S UNTO DEATH OR PERDITION! Before you die God will make sure you repent of your sin and are forgiven. The promise is, they shall never perish.

YOUR SINS DON’T MAKE YOU QUIT BEING A SHEEP. SIN DOESN’T TURN A SHEEP BACK INTO A GOAT. YOU DON’T QUIT BEING A SHEEP JUST BECAUSE YOU SINNED. 2 Chronicles 7:14 is quite enlightening on this point, If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

What does the Lord call these people who were sinning? He calls them My people. They’re sinning. They haven’t repented yet. But the Lord still calls them My people because they’re still His people. Beloved,  sheep don’t quit being sheep when they sin. A straying sheep doesn’t become a goat.

If you sin or backslide for a time, God will come after you and He’ll find His one lost sheep, Luke 15:4-6. Since God promises that they will never perish, then  GOD WON’T ALLOW YOU TO DIE IN SIN OR IN A BACKSLIDDEN CONDITION. As the parable of the lost sheep teaches us, God will rescue His wandering sheep and He’ll restore them to Himself before they draw the last breath.

Coming Up On My Next Blog Post, Part 5. More on sin’s effect on salvation. Stay posted.