In our study on the Gift of Salvation, we really addressed only one aspect of salvation - what Bible scholars call justification. Many people misunderstand the idea of SALVATION. Many people think that Jesus came to save us from death. Jesus came to save us from sin. Death is just a byproduct of sin. "For the wages of sin is death." Rom 6:23. Jesus did come to pay the penalty for our sins, but that is not all. The process of salvation is threefold. 1) JUSTIFICATION - forgiveness of the guilt of sins already committed. 2) SANCTIFICATION - the process of becoming more Christ-like - victory over the power of sin. 3) GLORIFICATION - Jesus finally removes us from the presence of sin in our bodies and in the world at His second coming. The whole process of salvation includes all three. Justification, sanctification, and glorification. Jesus delivers us from the guilt, the power, and the presence of sin.

Once we receive forgiveness of our sins by grace through faith in Jesus as our Savior, is it God's will that we continue in sin?
 

Rom 6:1-2   1     What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase?  2     May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?   Rom 6:11-16  11     Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.  12     Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts,   13     and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.  14     For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace.  15     What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be !   16    Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?   Heb 12:14  14     Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.

Gal 5:19-21  19     Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality,  20     idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,   21     envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.    1 Pet 1:13-16  13     Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ  14     As obedient children, do notbe conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,

15     but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior;  16     because it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."   1Thes 4:3,5,7   3     For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality;    5     not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God;   7     For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.   Rom 12:2   2     And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.    Heb 10:26-27   26     For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,   27     but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.    Lev 19:2   2     "Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, 'You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.   Matt 5:48   48     "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect

 
How are God's mercy and justice related to each other?
 

Eph 2:8-10   8     For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;  9     not as a result of works , that no one should boast.  10     For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.	I Jn 2:1-3  1     My little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous ;  2     and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.   3     And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.   I Jn 1:8-9  8     If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  9     If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
		John 8:10-11   10     When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?"  11     She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more."

God tells us the same thing that Jesus told the woman caught in adultery - "I forgive you for your sins; now go and sin no more." In His mercy God forgives for the sins we have committed against Him. In His justice, He commands us to sin no more. By His grace, He gives us the power to overcome the sin in our lives.

What does it mean to overcome sin?
 

I Jn 3:4  4     Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law .   John 14:15  15     "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.   I Jn 2:3-6  3     And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.  4     The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;	5     but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:   6     the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked    John 15:10  10     "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments , and abide in His love.	I Jn 5:3-4   3     For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome .  4     For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world-- our faith

We do not keep God's commandments in order to earn salvation. Rather, out of gratitude for His gift of salvation, we strive to do His will through His strength. We proclaim, along with the psalmist, "I delight to do Thy will, O my God; Thy Law is within my heart." Ps 40:8. In Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) we see that the spirit of the Ten Commandment law includes not only the actions that are specified in the letter of the law, but also the underlying attitudes. Anger, then, is just as sinful as murder, etc. Thus to overcome sin requires more than just a change in our behavior; it requires a total change of heart. This is why, if we love God, we keep His commandments and His commandments are not burdensome.

Isn't God asking the impossible? Is it possible to keep God's commandments?
 

	Gen 6:9  9     These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.   Gen 17:1-2  1     Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless.  2     "And I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly."   Gal 3:6  6     Even so Abraham believed [trusted] God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.	Ezek 14:20  20     even though Noah, Daniel, .and Job were in its midst, as I live, "declares the Lord GOD," they could not deliver either their son or their daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness    Heb 11:5   5     By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.   II Ki 2:11   11     Then it came about as they were going along and talking, that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven.
Job 2:3   3     And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to ruin him without cause."

How can we overcome the sin in our lives?

Rom 6:5-8  5     For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection,  6     knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin;  7     for he who has died is freed from sin.  8     Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,    1Thes 5:23-24  23     Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.   24     Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.   Phil 1:6  6     For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.  2 Cor 3:18  18     But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

Ezek 36:25-27  25     "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.  26     "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  27    "And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.   I Jn 4:4  4     You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

I Jn 3:8  8     the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil.   Rom 8:37  37     Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.    Phil 4:13  13     I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.   2 Pet 1:3-4  3     seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.   4     For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.   I Jn 3:5-6  5     And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.   6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.   John 15:5  5     "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit ; for apart from Me you can do nothing.

Jesus removes our guilt as soon as we come to Him, but He does not stop there. As we abide with Jesus - or spend time with Him - He changes our hearts. He gives us power to overcome the sin in our lives. This is not a reflection of our efforts, but the same Jesus who cleanses us from our sin, then resides in our lives through the Holy Spirit, and gives us victory over sin.

Do we immediately have victory over sin as soon as we accept Jesus and are baptized?
 

Luke 8:2  2     and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary who was called Magdalene , from whom seven demons had gone out, [not all at the same time].  Prov 24:16  16     For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again, but the wicked stumble in time of calamity.    Phil 3:12-14  12     Not that I [Paul] have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.

13     Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,  14     I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.   Rom 7:14-25  14     For we know that the Law is spiritual; but I [Paul] am of flesh, sold into to sin.   15     For that which I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.  19     For the good that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish.

21     I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wishes to do good.  22     For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man,  23     but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.  24     Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?  25     Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

Paul was one of the greatest of the Apostles. He wrote about two thirds of the New Testament. Yet even he did not feel that he had become completely surrendered to Christ. His sinful nature strove against the Holy Spirit who inhabited his life. Yet Paul did not fall down and wallow in his sin and his failures. He constantly strove toward the goal of the Righteousness of Christ. Justification is the work of an instant. Sanctification is the work of a lifetime.

Will our sinful nature ever be changed? Will the struggle between our sinful nature and the Spirit of God in us ever end?
 

1 Cor 15:51-54   51     Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed--  52     in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed .   53     For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality .   1 Cor 15:42-43  42     So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption .

43     It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.  1Thes 4:15-17  15     For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep.    16     For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first .  17     Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.

When Jesus returns, the dead will be raised with new bodies free from the curse of sin. Likewise, those who are alive at Jesus' return will be changed in the twinkling of an eye, and the sinful nature will be removed forever.