Have I sinned beyond Salvation?

“There is no way God is not going to judge me for this”

“I think it’s too late for me”

“How can I call myself a Christian and sin this badly, continuously? Have I crossed the point of no return”

^ These are some of the thoughts early in my faith, and still do from time to time.

Is there a point where I have sinned beyond the scope of God’s grace on my life?

 

Before answering this question, let’s begin by emphasizing some essential truths

 

 

1) Christians Do Not Make a Practice of Sinning

 

⁴ Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. ⁵ You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. ⁶ No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. ⁷ Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. ⁸ Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. ⁹ No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God

1 John 3:4-9 ESV

 

The words “keep on” and “practice” are used several times in this passage.

I was going to attempt to use a fancy  metaphor to describe what this means but the text is pretty clear. 

Christians will not continue a  lifestyle of sinning.

But why is that?

The answer is shown at the end of verse 9

“…and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God“

Imagine you were on a plane one day, and casually saw a blue whale flying in the sky. You don’t need to be a zoologist to understand that there is something wrong with this picture.

Whales are not born of birds.

Whales swim.

Whales belong in the water. 

In the same way anyone who is born of God (born again/ believer of Jesus Christ/ believer) cannot habitually live a life characterized by sin.

Peace can not be made between sin and the Christian. There must come a point where we continually grow in repentance (turning away from sin, change of mind, a transformative change of heart)

An individual confessing Christ yet living in sin is as off-setting as a flying whale.

^try to read that sentence again without laughing

Many of us have already grasped this concept, however does this imply that the Christian can not and must not sin, lest they be stripped from the family of God?

 

2) Christians Do & Will Sin

 

Consider the scriptures below:

 

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous”

1 John 2:1 ESV

If Christians were perfect in maintaining repentance and incapable of committing sins, this verse would hold no merit.

 

“8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us”

1 John 1:8-10 ESV

Again, scripture makes perfectly clear that no man or women (believer or non-believer) is without sin.

Believers are rather instructed to confess our sins so that God can forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

 

 

3) So…What’s the Breaking Point?

Point #1: Christians cannot make a practice of sinning

Point #2: Christians do & will sin

….so what’s the middle ground? 

Clearly there’s still an Elephant in the room.

As always our answer lies within scripture:

 

 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. ¹⁷ All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.

1 John 5:16-18 ESV

 

The death being referred to in this passage, is that of spiritual death, in other words, separation from God and eternity in Hell (click here for a more in depth explanation of spiritual death)

Here is where things get difficult. The scripture above mentions 2 clear realities.

1. There is sin which leads to death 
2. There is sin which does not lead to death 

How do we differentiate these two types of sins?

More scripture…

In Acts 11, Apostle Peter speaks to his Jewish followers (who were believers of Christ) of how Christ used him to convert a gentile (a person who is not Jewish) into the Christian faith. The Jewish followers responded by saying this:

¹⁸ When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.” 

Acts 11:18 ESV

Two additional truths to draw from this scripture

1) God grants repentance onto humans

In other words, Christians are Christians not because they simply chose to follow Jesus, but rather God granted them the mind, desire and will to choose/ pursue Him…

I know it’s kind of trippy to think about but take a look at these scriptures: Matthew 16:13-17, Ephesians 1:3-6 & Romans 8:28-30

*God willing I’ll write a blog soon pertaining to the topic of “Pre-destination” 

2) Repentance  leads to life

Similar to spiritual death, the life being referred to is “spiritual life” or “eternal life” (endless relationship with God)

Now let’s compare the texts from 1 John and Acts.

From 1 John 5:16-18, we learned that there is a sin that leads to death & a sin which does not lead to death. Then in Acts 11:18 we see that repentance leads to life.

Therefore the sin that leads to death is the sin which prevents someone from repenting (turning away from sin, change of mind, a transformative change of heart). 

In other words, if I can still willing turn away from my sins, I have no sinned a sin which leads to death.

Kinda confusing right? Lol 

Let’s re-focus our mind on the main question at hand for sake of clarity. 

What is the breaking point of having gone too far in sinning?

Based on these scriptures, it’s when we have sinned beyond the point of repentance.

The Bible is not saying that there is a specific “type of sin” that will banish us beyond the point of repentance. It’s rather saying that, after a certain point, repentance would not be achievable due to the depths of our sinfulness…

Practically speaking, your heart will grow cold towards the perceptions of God and you will no longer have the willingness and desire to pursue Him.

Essentially, God will “set you loose” into your own sinful desires.

This is tough concept to swallow, but take a look at some of these scriptures.

¹⁵ See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; ¹⁶ that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. ¹⁷ For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears

Hebrews 12:15-17 ESV

 

Esau sought repentance with tears. He sought to turn away from sin, to transform his mind and have a change of heart.

….but it was never granted to Him. He continued in a life of sin and was no longer able to repent.

Similar tones of these truths are shed in Romans 1:24-27

 

 

4) Our Attitude Towards Sin

So…what should we do? Point #3 essentially suggested that it is very possible for us to come to a point where we can no longer repent. Where our hearts grow so cold that we do not even desire to change/

However,  if you are a Christian reading this post and have any sense of worry, regret or remorse, that in itself is evidence of God’s grace of giving you a willing heart that desires to repent.

In other words, there is still hope for us.

My advice?

Always seek repentance.

Never give up in pursuing God whether you’re an ex-murderer or a drug addict.

Whether you’ve sinned the same sin every day of the week for the last 5 years.

Always. Seek. Repentance.

Scriptures like John 5:14 & John 8:11 reflect this mindset where Christ encourages individuals to “sin no more” rather than saying “sin no more..unless you’ve come to the point of no repentance”.

In simpler terms, you’ll know you’ve crossed that point of “no return” when you no longer return to Christ (or no longer have any desire to repent at all).

The point of this post was to shed light on the fact that, yes, there is a reality in which God can “give up” individuals into the lusts of their hearts to impurity.

However, to those who are truly saved, God will continuously provide the means for His children to repent.

There is still hope for all us, in Jesus name.

 

Soli Deo Gloria