Should I Question My Salvation If I Keep Repeating the Same Sin?

A visiting preacher at our church said that if we continue committing the same sin over and over again, that our salvation should be in question.

Is that true? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Hi, this is Bill Meyer along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. If you have a question, you can call us right now at 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673. And as always, you can email us with your question at questionsatcorechristianity.com.

You can also post a question on our Instagram or Facebook accounts. First up, we have a good news story for you. An 11-year-old boy in England is being celebrated as a hero after he jumped into the harbor near his home to save a toddler from drowning. Eli Harrison had gone down to the beach in States, England with his parents and two siblings earlier this month. As the family was walking toward the pier, Eli noticed a small boy floating approximately 30 feet from the shore. Without hesitating, he dove into the water, maneuvering around several small fishing boats to rescue the toddler.

Although the little guy had swallowed some water, he made a full recovery. I just love these stories about young people. There's just so many redeeming stories like this one. Yeah, good for Eli. I'm thinking back to the other story that you shared not too long ago about the little boy who dove in the way of a dog coming to attack his sister. I mean, just really some neat examples of bravery, even at a very young age, courage. So thanks. That's really awesome.

Good for Eli. Well, let's get to our first question of the day. And Seong posted this on our Facebook page. And he says, What is the second death talked about in Revelation? If there is a second death, would it follow that there's a first death and a first resurrection?

How can this be explained? Yeah, you're talking about Revelation chapter 20. Actually, in the same place, John talks about the second death.

And of course, John is the author of the book of Revelation. In that same context where he talks about the second death, he talks about the first resurrection as well. First, what is the second death? Well, the first death for the non-believer refers to physical death. The second death refers to their eternal state at the final judgment when the ungodly are raised. They're raised unto the second death.

It's a divine judgment. So Revelation chapter 20 verses 14 and 15 says this, Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. And so the lake of fire is synonymous with the second death in Revelation chapter 20. Now earlier, John mentions the first resurrection. Look back at verses four through six.

John said this, Then I saw thrones and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection. Over such, the second death has no power.

But they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years. Now, the two best ways I think to take the first resurrection are that it refers one to regeneration. In other words, when someone becomes a Christian, they're filled with the Holy Spirit by faith in Jesus Christ. Or, and this actually is my preference, this idea that the first resurrection refers to death for the believer. That is when a Christian dies, it's a coming to life, if you will.

It's referred to as the first resurrection. Now, you have to understand that death for the believer has been transformed by Jesus' death and resurrection. This is actually something that's very clear from what Jesus says in the Gospel of John. Do you remember what Jesus told Lazarus' sister in John 11, verse 26? Everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?

Now, think about that for a moment. How can Jesus make that statement? Maybe you've wondered about that verse before, John 11, 26.

For Jesus to say, the one who believes in me will never die. Well, the fact of the matter is, every Christian who has lived from the death and resurrection of Jesus until now has experienced physical death. And so what could Jesus be referring to there? Well, for the believer, death has been transformed.

It's not this judgment anymore, if you will. It's a coming to life. It's the first resurrection. It's entering into the presence of the Lord to reign with Jesus Christ. So here's a big takeaway for you if you're a Christian. Death isn't a judgment on you anymore.

It's an entering into life. But if you don't belong to Christ, your physical death is the precursor to the second death. The second death is that lake of fire judgment.

The first resurrection for believers in Jesus Christ is when we die and enter into the presence of the Lord, awaiting the final resurrection, the resurrection of the body and the life of the world to come. Thanks. I definitely don't want to go to that lake of fire thing. No, no.

I mean, there are some lakes you want to visit and there are others not so much. And definitely the lake of fire is the one you don't want to go to, Bill. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. And let's go to a call that came in from Micah in New York City. Question I would like to ask is, where do you think Adam was when Eve was being deceived?

Thank you very much. Micah, that's a really good question. It's hard to speculate about this, but scripture does make it absolutely clear that he was held responsible for the sin. He might have said it was the woman you gave me, Lord, but the truth is, he was not helping to protect Eve from the serpent.

Now, who knows what he was doing? I mean, I don't know what was happening in that moment, but I think what's being highlighted here is Adam's failure. Obviously, through Adam, you have original sin. So we inherit guilt, corruption from what Adam did. This is why when scripture talks about us being born in Adam, it talks about the corruption, the death that came as a result of that.

You think of a text like Romans 5. But really, what that should point us to is Jesus and the new Adam. And actually, in Romans 5, Jesus is set up side by side with the old Adam, the Adam through whom death came, and he's portrayed as this new Adam in whom we have righteousness, forgiveness, and eternal life. And that's one of the amazing things about Jesus that I think we all have to understand. In Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15, Jesus is described as the second Adam. He's the one who came to do what the first Adam failed at, namely obeying God, protecting his bride, saving her from the serpent.

That's precisely what Jesus did. He protected his bride. He redeemed her, protected her from the serpent. And who is the bride of Jesus Christ? It's the church, the body of Christ.

What a wonderful hope that we have. We're in the true Adam, the second Adam, who doesn't leave his bride at the mercy of the serpent. No, Jesus crushed the head of the serpent. And that's precisely the promise that we have in Genesis chapter 3 verse 15. So I don't know, Micah, where Adam was or what exactly he was doing when Eve was having that conversation with the serpent in the early chapters of Genesis. I do know that he was sinning, that he was responsible for the fall. And I know that the hope that we have is in Jesus who came to reverse the works of the first Adam so that in him we might have life and protection from the serpent.

So thanks for your question. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. I'm Bill Meyer, and you know, we often receive questions about heaven on this program, and we actually have a great resource on that topic we want to make available to you today. Yeah, I know, especially, you know, after we talked about the lake of fire and the second death and all that stuff, it might be good for you to spend some time thinking about heaven. And so we have this wonderful resource over at corechristianity.com called Seven Things You Need to Know About Heaven. Really, one of the greatest topics a Christian can think about is our eternal life with Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, though, there's a lot of confusion today about what heaven will be like, and that's why we made this resource so you can have a biblical view of heaven. So head over to corechristianity.com forward slash offers to download seven things you need to know about heaven.

You can also call us at 833-843-2673 for help getting any one of our offers. Again, that number is 833-the-core. Adriel, here's a question that came in via email from Donna, and it's a tough one. She says, If a mother committed sexual sins while her child was growing up and later repents, will those consequences still have an effect on her adult daughter now? David was forgiven, but none of his children went to heaven according to the Bible. Was it because of the consequences of his sin of murder and adultery?

Wow. Your question reminds me of a story that we find in the Gospel of John, in John chapter nine. I'm just going to start reading in verse one. It says, As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth, and this is Jesus.

And Jesus' disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? And Jesus answered, It was not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work.

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, which means sent.

And he went and washed and came back seeing. Donna, what an interesting question. And that's really, you know, what we're tempted to think immediately when something bad happens to us, to our loved ones, to our children. Immediately, right, there's this huge temptation to blame ourselves for the bad things that happen, even in our children's lives. Now, I'm not saying that, you know, we need to avoid taking responsibility for what we do, how we parent, for our own sins.

But we also have to be careful. And we can choose our sins, but we can't choose our consequences. But we shouldn't just assume that every bad thing that happens or every sickness we experience is a consequence of some sin.

Rather than try to figure out the why behind certain events, maybe something difficult that your children are facing, you need to do a few things, Donna. One, rest in the fact that when you confess your sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive you and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. This is what John says in First John chapter one, verse nine. You're forgiven if you're in Jesus Christ, Donna. And I think that's just so important because we can walk in this sort of sense of, I just feel so crushed by my sins still. Where we sort of walk through the Christian life, even though we might say, yeah, I know I'm forgiven, we think to ourselves, God is just still holding all of this against me.

He's just waiting to crush me, waiting till I fail one more time so that He can completely disown me. Well, that's not how the Lord is. God is merciful. And when we go to Him, when we confess our sins, He forgives us, He cleanses us. Number two, recognize that the ultimate consequence for your sin, curse and death, was borne by Jesus Christ on the cross. This is why we can receive forgiveness. Now, death, like I said in the answer to the first question related to the second death, that has been transformed for the believer. So that even death for us is different now as believers in Jesus Christ. Our sins deserve death. God is so merciful to us. Even when we're chastised, God is gracious because the reality is we deserve death because of our sins. Number three, recognize that God can even be glorified, despite what we perceive as bad. I mean, you think again about that text in John chapter 19. Why was this man born blind?

And Jesus said that the glory of God might be revealed in him so that the works of God might be put on display. I don't know. You don't know. You can't know for sure why certain things happen. And rather than, like I said, try and rack your brain about, is this happening because of some sin that I did a long time ago?

No. Rest in the forgiveness of Jesus, cling to Him, and know that God is able to make all things work together for the good of those who love Him, like Paul says in Romans chapter 8. Now just one other thing, Donna, you brought up King David and you said, I know that none of his children were saved or went to heaven according to the Bible. I don't think that we actually do know that. I mean, the Scripture doesn't clearly say one way or another. We do know that some of David's children did fall into grievous sin.

We don't know what happened after that. And so I think we want to be careful. Yes, there were consequences to David's sin with Bathsheba, but the Lord was still merciful to him and the Lord continued to pour out his blessings upon David. And so, sister, I pray for you and maybe, Bill, we can pray for Donna right now because it sounds like she's really struggling with this. And so let's pray. Father, we know how easy it is to grow discouraged. And Lord, to look at the circumstances in our lives and just to assume this is because of my failure, this is because of my sin. Lord, and sometimes it is the case, Lord, and you promise that because you love us, you will discipline us.

And yet, Lord, you are not a harsh father or a cruel father. And you say in your word that you delight in giving good gifts to your children, that when we ask for bread, you don't give us a scorpion, Lord. And I pray for Donna that you would help her to know that you are good, that in Christ, you forgive all of her sins. And whatever it is that she's going through or her children are going through, Lord, I pray that you would raise them up. I pray that through these circumstances, you would be glorified, you would draw near to them, and you would bless them, Lord, and be with them. And ultimately, Lord, give them a sense of your forgiveness, your love, and your presence. In Jesus' name. Amen. You're listening to Core Christianity, so nice to have you along.

By the way, we are listener supported. If you listen to this program on a regular basis and you feel that God might be prompting you to make a donation, we would certainly appreciate that. Let's go to a question that came in from Aaron on our website. Aaron says, A visiting preacher said in his sermon that if we continue committing the same sin over and over again, our salvation should be in question. This struck me as being wrong biblically, but I couldn't come up with a specific passage of scripture as to why. Was this person correct in telling us this?

Thank you for that question. I was struck not too long ago as I was preaching through the book of Galatians by the fact that Paul had to rebuke Peter for what he identifies as Peter not walking in step with the gospel. In other words, the implications of the gospel, the truth of what God has done for us in Christ, they were being denied. And in one sense, the gospel was even being denied by Peter in so far as he was unwilling to embrace those implications of the gospel. Now, in the context of the book of Galatians, the problem was Peter was unwilling to eat with Gentile believers for fear of what Jewish, quote unquote, believers would think of him. It was it was really the fear of man that Peter was struggling with. And, you know, what blew my mind about that is, do you remember another time in the New Testament where Peter struggled with the fear of man?

How about during Jesus's crucifixion? Remember when Jesus was being crucified, Peter was confronted by the servant girl and Peter denied Jesus, he cursed and said, I don't know him. And Jesus had to restore Peter.

And you remember, you know, at the end of the Gospel of John, Jesus is so awesome. He cooks breakfast for Peter, basically. And he asked him three times, Peter, do you love me? He restores Peter. After Peter denied him three times, Jesus restored him. And what blew my mind is, here you are, years later for Peter, having this conversation with Paul where essentially he's struggling once again with the fear of man.

Well, look, Aaron, if Peter, the rock, can struggle with the same thing for years, even after he's sat in the presence of Jesus, even after Jesus cooked him breakfast on the beach and restored him, if Peter can still years later struggle with the fear of man, and who are we to think that we're not going to struggle in the Christian life, and sometimes even with the same sins? I think pastors have to be really careful when when they say things like that, you know, there are a lot of I feel like ministries that the focus of their ministry is trying to convince people that they're actually not saved, you know, like, getting them to doubt their salvation. What we want to do is focus people not on themselves, but on Jesus, because the fact of the matter is, if you look to yourself, you might question whether you're, I mean, it's easy to look within and say, I see still so much sin, and even though I hate my sin, I struggle. And that's why we have to look outside of ourselves. That's why we have to look to Jesus. And that's why our only hope, ultimately, is not in how well we've done this week or over the last year, but in Jesus's perfect obedience.

We cling to Christ. We're going to struggle in the Christian life. That doesn't mean that sanctification isn't a real thing, that the Spirit of God isn't in us, working in us, renewing us, but it is a slow process and sometimes a very painful process.

And it takes time, a lot of time. And so, Aaron, you know, I would just be sensitive to those who are struggling and they hate their sin. They hate their sin because they know their Savior and they love Him. But like Paul in Romans chapter 7, they can say, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? They still feel that battle between the flesh and the Spirit. Are there people who are self-deceived?

Yeah. There are people out there who, you know, they said the quote-unquote sinner's prayer, I asked Jesus into my heart years ago, and yet they have no relationship with the Lord. They don't truly believe on Jesus Christ. They live for themselves. They're not a part of a church.

They care less about God and His word. But they tell themselves, you know, I got my fire insurance. I asked Jesus into my heart.

I think I'm good. That's foolish. But I think for those who are concerned and worried about their salvation because they feel like, God, I struggle. And they're crying out to the Lord and they're saying, God, be merciful to me because they know the depth of their sin. And while they want to walk with Jesus, they feel like they keep on stumbling. Well, to that person, I would say, look away from yourself, look up to Christ and rest, not in your own faithfulness, but in the faithfulness of Jesus. This is Core Christianity, and we have time for one last question, Adriel.

This one came through our website from Nahum. He says, when it comes to fighting addictions, what role does our willpower play in our restoration? Does it play a role or is the work all gods?

Hmm. You know, I think about what Paul said in the book of Philippians chapter two, and he gives us this really kind of scary warning or exhortation. He says, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. This is you.

You have a responsibility here. But then he adds, for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to do for his good pleasure. In other words, even our will is being renewed by the grace of the Holy Spirit.

When it comes to repentance, it just means to change your mind, to turn away from something and fighting our addictions. Well, the will is very important. Your will is very important, but it is God who is working in you, both to will and to do. Ultimately, and I think this is key here, we need the help of the Holy Spirit. God works in us, but with addictions, it's so important that we also have the support of others. First and foremost, we need the Lord. We need the grace of God, the grace of the Holy Spirit, especially because it's so easy to get discouraged. As I was saying, you think about Paul in Romans chapter four, that battle between the flesh and the spirit that he talks about in Galatians chapter five.

It's easy to get discouraged, to feel like, man, I failed again. We need to go to God for grace and derive strength from the Holy Spirit, rest in him. Paul says very clearly in Romans six through eight, it's only by the spirit that we put to death the sinful deeds of the body, but we also need when fighting addictions, the help of others. That could be something like an AA group, certainly the church. We need that God has made us for community. Yes, the will is important, but God is the one who is working in us, and we need to rely not on ourselves, but on him first and foremost and the people he's put around us. When you contact us, please let us know how you've been encouraged by this podcast, and be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's word together.