If I have "accepted Jesus as my Savior" is it ok if I live as a drunkard? I have found that this is a great question to ask to someone who professes to be a believer, but seems to be depending more on their decision than on the person and work of Jesus Christ. The answer is often very revealing and shows that they are still depending on their works. Every time I have asked it they have responded with a no and then when I ask them why, they almost always start making a list of what someone has to do in addition to believing in The Lord Jesus. It was just yesterday when I asked this question to a young man in Philadelphia (Upper Darby) and he insisted that when you get saved you have to "work out your salvation" as he put it. At that point I didn't just want to assume he was an unbeliever, so I drilled down further and asked him if he meant that someone had to believe and do this other thing to be justified. He hesitated (which was a good sign) but then he answered with a yes and said if that person doesn't do this additional thing that they will lose their salvation and he continued to tell me that he believes that you get saved by faith alone but then you have to "work it out" in order to keep it. I went on to tell him that I think that he is deceived because to believe that I can keep my salvation could be just as bad as thinking I could earn it in the first place. Leaving that example, I want us to think about this: what is missing from most people's understanding of salvation when they get confused when asked this question? Well, first they are confused because most of them have seen the hypocracy in people who say they believe in Jesus but live in direct disobedience to scripture and their conscience is telling them that that is not right and at the same time someone along the way has told them that a person is not saved by works. The problem is that they don't have a Biblical understanding of regeneration: to them salvation is still a formula that man can perform to save himself. They don't see that not only do we need our sins forgiven, but we need life. They don't understand the nature of sin and that we are dead in sin and until we are raised to new life we can't be a Christian . This is the answer that Paul gives to the question in Romans 6:1-12. In this passage the Apostle explains how a Christian cannot live in sin because he has been crucified with Christ and raised with Christ. Yes, a Christian does struggle with sin in Romans 7 but he never is comfortable there nor can he find contentment in sin, therefore he will always be led into repentance and victory. However this does not justify the believer, but it shows that he is justified, that he is born from above and that the Holy Spirit is sanctifying him to be conformed into the image of Christ. So when you sense someone who you are witnessing to is only making a profession, without the reality, try this question and hopefully they will see their error and turn to The Lord Jesus Christ.
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