I recently read an article that was critical of Christians who believe in eternal security. In the article, the argument was made that the “once saved, always saved” doctrine gives those who claim to be Christians a license to sin.As one who believes in the security of the believer, I would respond to this article by saying that those who have accepted a system of belief that enables them to continue in habitual sin without remorse have not embraced biblical Christianity.
Scripture clearly teaches that when a person is saved his/her desires change for good and though they might slip up and are not perfect, they have a new found desire to live for God. Paul says, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Cor. 5:17).
The purpose of salvation is to free people from sin, not to free people to partake in sin. Freely partaking in sin is what we all did prior to salvation. John says in 1 JN. 3:8-10,
Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has beenNow this doesn’t mean we as believers never struggle with sin. We clearly do. John says in the same book—in 1 Jn. 1:8, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” John, in chapter 3, is talking about habitual sin—he’s talking about those who view salvation as a ticket to ride and think, “I’ve checked that box—I’ve prayed that prayer and can now live the way I want to live.” As I have said before, the Christian life is not to be thought of as “a ticket to ride” but as “a race to be ran and won.”
sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 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. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God.
