[Audience] You know, Christian means Christ like. but it also says in there that we sin daily. If you break one commandment, you break them all.
[Tim] Well scripture is very clear, if we say we know Him and we don’t keep His commandments were a liar and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:6). Scripture says very clearly that not everybody inherits the kingdom but those that do the will of the Father (Matthew 7:21).
The fact is that the Christian does good, does righteousness. Yes there is sin. Remember here’s the Apostle John, he can write, “Little children, I write to you that you sin not but if you do… ” He’s saying that we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He’s made propitiation for our sins. As God’s people, when we sin we confess our sins and He is faithful and just to forgive our sins. We have propitiation that’s been made and there’s now no condemnation.
As a Christian we live lives where the Spirit of God is producing this fruit of love and love fulfills the law. There’s no law against love, love is the summation, and so what happens is the Spirit is fueling this kind of fruit in the life of a believer and every imperfection is being burned off by the blood of Christ, it’s just, it’s covered, it’s covered.
We are God’s workmanship and good works are foreordained and they’re being worked out in the Christian life and every imperfection, every blemish, is washed away. That’s the picture. Christ’s blood just washes the imperfection. But if somebody looks at their life and basically it’s characterized by unrighteousness, scripture is very plain that person is not converted. John is very plain. You practice unrighteousness? You are a child of the devil. You’re not a child of God. Those who are born of God will practice righteousness. That is very much taught in Scripture.
So, what we want to look at, is this: 2 Corinthians 5 says that if somebody has been truly converted, if they’re truly born again, if they are a true Christian, their new creations in Christ. Old things pass away, all things become new. Basically what you have is a person who was dead in trespasses and sins has been made alive together with Christ, and that life is radically different than the life they had before.
Is it perfect? No, it’s not perfect but it is moving to perfection. From one degree of glory to another the Spirit of God is transforming us more, and more, and more, and more into the likeness of Christ. And that is a reality and where that is absent… well you have people that… have this form of godliness but they deny the power there of. You see the power is transformation, the power is new creation.
If that new creative reality is not present then it’s not true Christianity, it’s not biblical Christianity. Life transformation will always accompany the forgiveness of our sins. Always. When God declares the sinner righteous, legally they’re forgiven; it always accompanies a real practical transformation of life.
And so again and again and again scripture says, “Don’t be deceived.” Don’t be deceived into thinking you’re christian, don’t be deceived into thinking your sins are forgiven, unless your life has been transformed the way that the scripture says.
I can’t see forgiveness but I can see a transformed life. And scripture is replete with warnings: don’t be deceived, don’t be deceived, if there isn’t the transformation, there is also not the forgiveness.
Don’t believe your heaven bound, if you’re still the same old person chasing sin in the same old way, because Christ’s salvation is way better than that.
[Audience] So what you’re saying is: either you’re hot or you’re cold? You can’t be lukewarm? Am I right?
[Tim] Oh no, you can’t be, if you’re lukewarm you get spit out of His mouth.
