Sunday Sermon Title: Christian Dilemma - Part 4
Speaker: Senior Pastor Rony Tan
Church: Lighthouse Evangelism Church
Date: 16 February 2014

1. Introduction
Historically, there are two main extreme doctrines on God's grace

A. To preach God's Law without God's forgiving and keeping power is to mislead Christians to a life of fear, hopelessness and despair.
B. To preach God's grace without man's responsibility and discipline is to mislead church-goers, especially the unconverted, to have a false sense of eternal security while still living in a lifestyle of sin.

2. Knowing how Biblical doctrines can be misleading when only a facet of truth is being preached

A. Illustration: Four blind men's views of an elephant.
Alhough all of them apparently are speaking the “truth” but not one has the whole truth. Hence, distortion of truth happens when one focuses on a facet of a biblical truth to the exclusion of other equally important facets required to have a correct balanced view especially on the biblical concept of God's grace.

B. Several Scriptural Examples:
(1) John 8:32 – “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free”.  This is only one facet of the truth about Jesus Christ, the Saviour.  Other facets of this truth, for example, Jesus said, “I am the truth, the way and the life” (John 14:6) is to be believed before one can be set free.

(2) Romans 10:13 –“Whoever call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved”.  But in Matthew 7:21 Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven”. Both seem contradicting each other, but when these two Scriptural passages are read in its right context, they present two different facets of God’s truth on salvation . The former talks about how a genuine seeker can be saved by calling upon God, while the latter talks about evil doers who think they know God and are saved but are not.

(3) 1 John 3:8-9 – “He that committeth sin is of the devil…whoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God”. Based on this passage, one misleading view is that Christians cannot sin if they are born of God. If they do, they are of the devil. So, what then is the purpose of the provision of 1 John 1:9 for Christians who sin?  It reads, “When we confess our sins…He will cleanse us from all unrighteousness?” Again, to have a balanced view, one needs to embrace the whole counsel of God which includes interpreting Biblical passages in its right context and not conveniently preach one facet of truth only. Here, chapter 3 is emphasising on a lifestyle of sinning against God, while chapter 1 is mentioning about the provision of Christ’s blood which can be appropriate for cleansing and of receiving forgiveness when Christians do sin in the sanctification process.
Note: Christians, however, should not take 1 John 1:9 as a licence to sin against God. Even though God can forgive them 1000 times when they sin, they must face 1000 consequences and some could be more than they can bear!

(4) Romans 8:1 – “There is no condemnation in Christ”. Many Christians think they can keep on sinning because they are in Christ and their past, present and future sins are forgiven at the cross by Jesus, once and for all.  One needs to look at the second part of this verse to know how misleading a preacher can be when apostle Paul added that no more condemnation “are those who do not walk in the flesh.

(5) Romans 8:35 – “…nothing can can separate us from the love of God”. Again, this is the first part, while the second part tells us WHAT are those things that cannot separate us from Christ. They are trials, tribulations, etc, and NOT disobedience, sins, lawlessness, etc.

3. Understanding the Whole Counsel of God in the Bible

Christians have responsibility to ensure they live a righteous and godly life while living under God’s grace.  Scriptural passages mention the choices believers must continue to make daily in this sanctification process of becoming Christlike and obtaining complete salvation for their spirit, soul and body.  Here are some of them:

A. In Matthew 24:11-14, Jesus mentions about lawlessness abound and only those endure to the end shall be saved,

B. In 1 Corinthians 9:27, it mentions about how apostle Paul disciplines his body to make sure he is not a counterfeit.

4. At salvation, does a believer receive forgiveness for his past present and future sins?  If yes, there are two possible conclusions:
A.  I don't have to repent anymore
B. You are always saved even without repentance.

5. At salvation, what the Bible teaches is that our past and present sins are forgiven. Sanctification process begins. This is the believer’s responsibility of living a life of holiness empowered by the Holy Spirit toward the goal of Christlikeness. When he does sin, he has the provision for forgiveness of sins by confessing and repenting of his sin as promised in 1 John 1:8-9.

6. Warnings and Admonitions for Believers in the Bible

A. In Hebrews 2:1, it mentions that believers can be drifted away from God.

B. What is the difference between Judas and Peter when both sinned against Jesus? Peter repented and was forgiven.  Judas regretted and felt remorse. He was not forgiven.  That is why in John 17:12, while praying to the Father, Jesus mentioned that nothing is lost except the son of perdition in reference to Judas.

C. The Example of Simon the Sorcerer in Acts 8:9-13
Simon believed and baptized. He was saved. But Simon was rebuked for wanting to buy God's power with money. He repented. Like Simon, every Christian needs to
repent and receive forgiveness when he does sin for this is part of the sanctification process.

D.  In Hebrews 6:4-6, it mentions that believers can come to a point where they fall away from the truth and it is impossible for them to be restored through through repentance.

E. In 2 Peter 2:20-21, believers who once have overcome can be entangled again.

7. Conclusion

A. Can a Christian lose his salvation easily or can he lose his eternal security? Then one needs to ask what kind of Christian is he?  For example, if a teacher were to ask a class of 40 students if they can pass their examinations, the answer will depend on what kind of students in the class.  Those who did not put a single effort in the preparation prior to the examination is destined to fail. Similarly, if a “Christian” lives a life with no regard to the fear of the Lord, his destiny is predictable!  The life example of the apostle Paul speaks volume of believers’ responsibility to live a life of holiness empowered by the grace of God.  His life exemplified the importance of having godly fear and responsible stewardship over our time, talents and treasure.
Godly fear is the answer. Life of apostle Paul.

B.  Do not be deceived!  It is one thing to claim or declare loudly that we are children of God or we are more than conquerors, but it is another thing to truly live it out in love, godliness and righteousness.  

C. Reminder:  A believer's repentance is not about living under the law, rather it is about living towards becoming more and more like our Lord, full of grace and truth