We’ve all heard phrases such as “we are all sinners” or “we are just sinners saved by grace” so many times that we came to accept them as truth. Some even claim that the only difference between believers and unbelievers is that believers are forgiven because of their faith in Jesus.
The goal of this article is to correct some misconceptions and show that the above phrases are not quite true. Contrary to popular belief, there is a difference between the righteous and the unrighteous.
First, I need to make it clear from the very beginning that being righteous doesn’t mean being sinlessly perfect.
[James 3:2] We all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man.
But there is a big difference between not being sinlessly perfect and living in willful sin. The Bible is very clear that those who live in willful sin are on their way to hell, no matter what they believe.
[Hebrews 10:26-27] If we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.
If someone lives in willful sin, that person is not born again, regardless of what they believe.
[1 John 3:9] 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.
The Bible is clear that true, born-again Christians no longer live in willful sin. They don’t become perfect overnight, but they are sincere and committed, desiring to please God, striving for spiritual maturity, sanctifying themselves.
True Christians are righteous. Those who are not righteous are on their way to hell, even if they believe in Jesus.
[1 Corinthians 6:9-11] Do you not know that the unrighteous will NOT inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Note the past tense. True Christians no longer live in those sins.
[Romans 6:1-2] Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
True Christians are no longer slaves of sin.
[Romans 6:15-23] Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. … For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Please take some time to meditate on the emphasized words.
What God says here through Paul is that true Christians have been set free from sin and obey God from the heart. They may not be perfect, but they do love and obey God, and they no longer live in willful sin.
Please understand that the wages of sin is still death. That fact hasn’t changed because Jesus died on the cross. Some teach that because Jesus died on the cross the wages of sin is no longer death, but that’s a lie. The Bible doesn’t say that anywhere.
That’s exactly the lie of the old serpent:
[Genesis 3:4] You will not surely die.
But God says:
[Ezekiel 18:20] The soul who sins shall die.
[Romans 6:16] Sin leads to death.
[Romans 6:21] The end of those things is death.
[Romans 6:23] The wages of sin is death.
Who will you believe?
Please read this again carefully:
[Romans 6:22] Now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.
Can you see the causal relationship?
Freedom from sin → obedience to God → sanctification → eternal life
Jesus taught the same thing, that those who live in sin are slaves to sin and need to be set free if they want to be with God forever.
[John 8:34-36] Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Has Jesus set you free from sin? Or are you still a slave to sin?
Jesus told two persons on different occasions:
[John 5:14] Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.
[John 8:11] Go, and from now on sin no more.
Why would Jesus say that if it’s impossible to stop sinning?
The fact that we still have a sinful nature doesn’t mean we can give in to that sinful nature. True Christians have crucified their sinful nature. They have circumcised their heart.
[Galatians 5:24] Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Those who haven’t crucified their sinful nature don’t belong to Christ.
True Christians walk after the Spirit, not after the flesh.
[Galatians 5:16-18] Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But IF you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Please understand that only those who are led by the Spirit are not under the law. Those who live after the flesh are on their way to hell, even if they believe in Jesus.
[Galatians 5:19-21] Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will NOT inherit the kingdom of God.
[Romans 8:13] If you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
The key is that we must be led by the Spirit.
[Romans 8:14] All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
Are you led by the Spirit?
Please also consider the following verse.
[1 John 1:6-7] If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But IF we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
The blood of Jesus cleanses us of sin only if we walk in the light. Walking in the light doesn’t mean sinless perfection, otherwise there wouldn’t be a need to be cleansed from sin. Walking in the light means not sinning willfully, not living in willful sin.
Only those who walk in the light are righteous before God. Those who live in willful sin are unrighteous and therefore unsaved.
There is a difference between the righteous and the unrighteous, and soon you will see that with your own eyes.
[Psalms 91:8] You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.
[Malachi 3:18] Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.
[1 Peter 4:17-18] For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And if the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?
Have you stopped sinning? Are you serious about sanctifying yourself? Or are you still playing games with God, trusting in man-made religious fairytales that promise you heaven without holiness?
[Hebrews 12:14] Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
Eternity is forever. There are no second chances.
Do not be deceived.