A Short Story

I have a short story to tell you guys, it goes as follows:There once was a man who was taken to court and found guilty of murdering another man. After being found guilty, the court entered into the sentencing phase of the trial. During this phase of the trial the man found guilty for murder was brought to the stand and asked to testify about the crime he was guilty for.The man sat on the witness stand and when asked about his crime he began to smile. At one point of his examination on the stand, the man was asked, "If you could do it all over again, would you?" To this the man replied, "Do it again? YOU BET I WOULD!!! I'm not sorry that I killed a man, rather I quite enjoyed it. If given the chance to do it over again, I wouldn't even think twice about it!!!"What do you think? When the judge hands down his sentence, do you not think he will hand down the strictest sentence possible under the law?So it will be for us on the day of judgment when every single one of us will have to stand before Christ and give an account for every single deed we have done in our life. How will you fair that day? When YOU stand before Christ, will He find you grieved over the sins you have committed in your life? Or will instead He find you proud for having done them, showing no remorse whatsoever?Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!

Thankfully, through a living faith, I know that all my sins were in Christ when Christ suffered on the cross. It is there that my sins were judged -- GUILTY! -- and it is there that they were punished.There is therefore, now, (because I am no longer under law but under grace) no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.The judgement for a Christian's sin has already taken place. We will still be judged as to our reward (some will get ten cities, some five, some none), but I am certain that our sins will not be judged again.Of course that is no excuse to sin (Shall we continue in sin so that grace may abound? Certainly not!)Grace and peace,Dan/\\/\\/\\

Thankfully, through a living faith, I know that all my sins were in Christ when Christ suffered on the cross. It is there that my sins were judged -- GUILTY! -- and it is there that they were punished.Indeed, thanks be to God. But let us remember:Hebrews 10:26 For if we go on sinning wilfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 26 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?

KingJimmy wrote:Hebrews 10:26 For if we go on sinning wilfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 26 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?Powerful words, but as we see from verse 39 - they are not applied to those who believe to the saving of the soul..."But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul."The condemnation spoken of in verses 26 to 29 does not fall to believers, but to those who fall back to perdition. John, speaks of the same sort of false believers in 1 John 2:19 "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. There is much condemnation waiting for those who, after accepting that the reality of the gospel, continue to reject Jesus as their personal Savior. Those who have come into the sheepfold by any other means than the door (Jesus Christ) will find themselves cast out on that last day.The condemnation remains, but it is not directed at the wheat, but at the tares.Grace brother,Dan/\\/\\/\\

Verse 26 is for believers, for it says "if we...", the same "we" the author has better hope for. He says if we go on sinning, then we are to expect the terrifying judgment of God. Verse 29 tells us these people were once sanctified (set apart, made holy).If a believer continues going on in sin after he believes, never repenting of their continued sin, yet thinks he is trusting in the grace of God, he is deceived, for he is trusting in a grace that is not there. The plain meaning of the text is very evident. If you continue on in sin, expect to be judged. If you wish to talk about passages from 1 John, he would teach us that if you claim to be a Christian, yet continuing on in sin, you lie. Be sure if you continue on in sin after being set free, there is condemnation for you, for you are not in Christ. The soul that sins shall die.

KingJimmy wrote:If a believer continues going on in sin after he believes, never repenting of their continued sin, yet thinks he is trusting in the grace of God, he is deceived, for he is trusting in a grace that is not there. The plain meaning of the text is very evident. If you continue on in sin, expect to be judged. If you wish to talk about passages from 1 John, he would teach us that if you claim to be a Christian, yet continuing on in sin, you lie. Be sure if you continue on in sin after being set free, there is condemnation for you, for you are not in Christ. The soul that sins shall die.Amen - we are not in disagreement. Yet we know that one does not become a Christian by the keeping the law, rather those who are genuine will obey the Lord. Scripture is quite plain, -many- will come to our Lord on that last day thinking that their verbal profession of faith, will over shadow their unrepentant conduct. Many will cry "Lord, Lord" resting in their religious association or conduct, but Christ will inform them they must depart from Him for He never knew them.Yet our hope and faith do not rest in our obedience, but in the gospel. Those who are in Christ are no longer under the law. Jesus doesn't save men by "empowering" them to obey as though thereafter they save themselves (albeit through "divine" assistance.) Indeed, we are saved through Christ's righteousness imputed by God to the account of those who are in Christ through their faith.There is no gospel outside of God's grace, and no condemnation for those who are under grace. As I said, I agree wholeheartedly - if anyone continues to sin after "coming to Christ" - he hasn't really come to Christ. Not that he loses something, but rather, what he only "thought" he had will be taken away. For His glory,Dan/\\/\\/\\