You Probably Aren’t Saved If… (This Is About Sex)

Often on TV, Jean and I have seen people proclaim that they are Christians, that “my faith is very important to me,” and talk openly about Jesus, but they say these things while they are living in overt, unrepentant sexual sin. Hopefully, that’s not you. But if it is, then you probably aren’t saved, and, unless you repent, you will be lost forever.

I suspect that at my writing, you probably aren’t saved if you’re living in overt, unrepentant sexual sin, will baffle and/or upset many people. But the Bible is clear about this. Consider Ephesians 5:3, 5-6: “But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness[i] must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints…. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”

That’s clear, right? If you are sexually immoral you will have “no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ” and this is why “the wrath of God comes.”

But I’ve Prayed “The Sinner’s Prayer”?

But, some will protest that they believe in Jesus and that they have prayed the sinner’s prayer, so that means they are saved. No. It does not. Those are what Paul called, “empty words.” As I’ve posted previously, the sinner’s prayer never has saved anyone, Faith that doesn’t result in a change of behavior isn’t a saving faith. The problem is that a false gospel has been preached, one of easy-believism, or non-Lordship salvation (Jesus doesn’t have to be your Lord but you can still be saved if you believe), and so many Christians don’t realize that they can’t go on living in sin.

Have I Forgotten about the Reformation?

Some may protest I appear to have forgotten about the Reformation, that what I’m talking about is works righteousness. No. I am not. We are indeed saved by grace alone through faith alone. But there is a reformation maxim that I’ve always liked: “faith alone saves but the faith that saves is not alone.” Here are the first three of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses that began the Reformation in earnest:

1. When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, “Repent” (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.
2. This word cannot be understood as referring to the sacrament of penance, that is, confession and satisfaction, as administered by the clergy.
3. Yet it does not mean solely inner repentance; such inner repentance is worthless unless it produces various outward mortification of the flesh.

Notice that Luther said that you aren’t repenting at all unless it is changing your behavior. This makes sense because people live what they sincerely believe and if you sincerely believe that Jesus really is the Lord who died for our sins and was raised from the dead, and sexual practices outside of what the Lord ordains are sinful, then you will take steps to not do those things.

But I Struggle with Sin

Christians have told me that they struggle with sin. Exactly!! In fact, that they “struggle” is evidence that they are true Christians. What I’m talking about are people who know what God commands—sexual chastity—but aren’t taking any steps to change. Let me encourage those who struggle with sin. I realize in this lust ladened world that there are many opportunities to sin and that temptation abounds. For crying out loud, most of us have an adult bookstore on our  laps (more about that in tomorrow’s post)! But, again, I’m not talking about the person who lapses into sin and then sincerely repents and seeks to do better. I’m talking about “Christians” who are not trying to not sin. I’m talking about people who download porn, tell God they’re sorry for lusting after it, but then don’t delete the porn from their computers because they want to view it later. I’m talking about people who call themselves Christians who are “shacking up” and have no intention to change. This is unrepentant sexual sin and if you’re doing those kinds of things then you probably aren’t saved. Repentance means you will actually try to stop sinning.

A Christian Is Someone Who Has Decided to Stop Sinning

There are only two possibilities for a person who responds to Jesus: you can choose to stop sinning or you can choose not to stop sinning. True Christians are those who choose to stop sinning. Now, obviously, I’m not saying that true Christians don’t often sin—if that were the case, then I’m not a Christian. What I’m talking about are those who call themselves Christians but have decided to willfully, unrepentantly, go on living in sexual sin.

Why I Said Probably Aren’t Saved

The reason I said those who live in overt, unrepentant sexual sin probably aren’t saved—as opposed to simply saying “aren’t saved”—is because, upon reading this (or hearing a similar exhortation elsewhere), someone may repent and delete the porn, or get accountable, or stop shacking up, and so on. This is what I’m hoping for in writing this post!

So, if you call yourself a Christian, but you’re living in unrepentant sexual sin, you probably aren’t saved. But you can repent! If you’re struggling with sin, tomorrow I’ll publish a related post: “A Sure-Fire Way to Stop Looking at Porn.”

---

[i] Peter T. O’Brien explains about the word covetous (greed) that “Paul moves from the acts of immorality or uncleanness to their inner spring—’greed’, that insatiable desire to have more, even the coveting of someone else’s body for selfish gratification.” Peter T. O’Brien, The Letter to the Ephesians, PNTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999), 360.