Real Christianity #103： Can Christian Disobedience Prevent Salvation？
Episode Stats
Words per minute
154.61275
Harmful content
Hate speech
2
sentences flagged
Summary
Pastor Dale Partridge answers a listener's question about what it takes to keep God's Word and not fall out of the will of God. In this episode, Pastor Dale explains why it's not about whether or not you can stay in God's will, but rather about your ability to keep the Word of God and obey His Word.
Transcript
00:00:00.000
Welcome to this episode of Real Christianity. My name is Dale Partridge, where each week
00:00:13.120
I offer 15-20 minute answers to tough theological and pastoral questions. This is a 100% listener
00:00:20.600
supported audio ministry of relearn.org. And for those who don't know, our mission at relearn.org
00:00:27.500
is to educate and equip ordinary Christians to plant biblical, confessional, and missional
00:00:34.680
For more information, just visit relearn.org forward slash house.
00:00:39.700
Okay, have you ever feared that your inability to obey God's word would lead to the failing
00:00:51.240
Have you ever worried that you're not obeying enough to please God?
00:00:57.160
Now, I know that this is a very real concern for many people.
00:01:01.980
This has been an issue that I've had to deal with in my own life in the past.
00:01:06.440
But we're going to unpack this important discussion in just a minute.
00:01:10.480
But before we begin, I want to talk about house church just for a second here.
00:01:15.820
For those that are interested in exploring the idea of planting or starting or being a part of a biblical house church,
00:01:21.940
I want you guys to consider picking up a copy of a book that I wrote along with our Theological
00:01:28.060
Advisory Board. It's titled House Church, and the subtitle of this book is really not actually a
00:01:35.080
book. It's more of a document that goes over the theological convictions, the order, the liturgy,
00:01:42.040
the structure, the doctrines of what a biblical house church really looks like, the theological
00:01:48.940
nuts and bolts of a gathering because getting together with a few Christians and their Bibles
00:01:54.660
isn't necessarily a church. Now in this little booklet, you'll understand and learn what does
00:02:01.780
make up a church and how do we do that according to scripture? How do we gather according to
00:02:06.720
scripture? So it's a great little book. It's very cheap. I think it's between 10 and 15 bucks.
00:02:11.200
You can buy that on our site again at relearn.org forward slash house. Again, that's relearn.org
00:02:17.880
forward slash house. Second thing I want to mention is if you are struggling with
00:02:24.540
a habitual use of pornography, you're looking at it over and over again, and you want to be
00:02:32.860
set free. You're ready to be set free from the bondage of pornography. There's a great resource
00:02:39.620
that we've created. It's a gospel-centered resource. If you or anybody you know is struggling
00:02:44.460
with pornography, consider checking it out at standinvictory.org. Again, that's standinvictory.org.
00:02:53.020
All right. Today's question is from Henry in San Diego. He asks, Pastor Dale, I feel like I'm
00:02:59.600
drowning in temptation. And while I fight back with morning devotion and worship and prayer,
00:03:05.720
some days I feel like I'm just going to give in to my sin and fail God. I want to be obedient,
00:03:12.580
but I feel like I don't have what it takes to keep God's commandments.
00:03:16.660
How can I ensure that I'll stand strong and not fall out of God's will?
00:03:27.040
I'm hoping that you're listening to this episode.
00:03:29.620
I think this is actually a common concern among Christians.
00:03:34.280
However, I don't think this is a practical question,
00:03:37.600
Meaning, I don't think what you need is a list of scriptures that'll help you stay in God's will, as you have put it.
00:03:48.900
Now, I could be wrong, but I think you might be, might be, operating under an incorrect understanding of the gospel.
00:03:57.360
Now, I could be wrong, as I said, but just stay with me for a second.
00:03:59.740
I say that because you said, quote, I feel like I don't have what it takes to keep God's commandments.
00:04:12.440
You don't have what it takes to keep God's commandments.
00:04:15.420
Nobody has what it takes to keep God's commandments.
00:04:18.960
In fact, I would say that the central purpose of God's law in the Old Testament was to make people realize,
00:04:26.220
or his people realize that they are unable to meet its demands and their obvious need for a savior
00:04:34.500
because they couldn't keep the law. They needed somebody that could. But this is, you know,
00:04:39.280
actually the beauty of the gospel, right? We're not saved by our ability to keep God's commandments
00:04:44.300
and maintain a holy life. We're saved by Jesus's ability to keep all the commandments and by his
00:04:51.920
holy life, right? And by faith, you know, our faith, God has attributed or imputed Jesus's
00:05:01.360
perfect righteousness and holiness to us who believe forever. Okay. That word is important
00:05:08.220
forever. In other words, we're going to sin and fail and fall, but that doesn't change the status
00:05:14.880
of our salvation because our salvation is not dependent upon the fickleness of man,
00:05:19.820
but on the perfectness of Christ. Okay, so to say that another way, we don't need to fear that our
00:05:27.860
failing character will threaten our salvation because our salvation isn't founded upon our
00:05:33.560
character. It's founded upon the character of Christ. Now, you might be wondering, okay, Dale,
00:05:40.200
are you being licentious here? You know, are you just kind of permitting, you know, unholy behavior?
00:05:46.060
Uh, you know, I'm just saying, I'm just saying, you know, I'm not saying go do whatever you want
00:05:52.600
because your righteousness is in Christ and not in yourselves. That's not what I'm saying.
00:05:56.180
Uh, because the truth is you actually could do that. Um, you could keep doing what you want and
00:06:01.720
it wouldn't change your salvation. If you're a born again, Christian, you can sin and it would
0.86
00:06:05.960
have no effect on your status as a child of God. Romans eight one even says there is therefore now
0.56
00:06:11.360
no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Now, just because we can doesn't mean we
00:06:19.560
should. And this is exactly the reason why Paul said in Romans 6, 1 through 2, he says,
00:06:26.340
are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? Let me stop there for a second. Because it will
00:06:32.480
abound, the grace will abound. But then verse 2 says, certainly not. Paul is teaching us something
00:06:38.880
really important here. And pay attention for those that are listening, especially Henry.
00:06:44.260
Hopefully you're listening here. Pay attention. Paul is saying that the reason Christians
00:06:49.600
shouldn't sin is not because we fear that if we do, we will fail to meet the standard of God's law.
00:06:57.980
That's not the motivating factor. We don't sin because it would be ignoring the abundant mercy
00:07:05.700
and grace that we received through God's love. In other words, born-again Christians aren't
00:07:12.980
motivated by the fear and the law. We're motivated by the grace and the love. We don't fear that
00:07:22.000
we're not enough. We know that we're not enough, and that's okay because we also know that Christ
00:07:29.580
is enough and it's his righteousness that we stand upon, not our own. Now, this doesn't mean
00:07:37.760
that God doesn't call his children to walk in obedience to his commands. He does. He calls for
00:07:43.140
holy living. But our obedience is not what saves us. I really like what Charles Spurgeon once said.
00:07:50.140
He says, obedience is not the root of salvation, but it is its fruit, right? Saved people obey
00:07:58.100
God. That's what they do. It's an evidence of that. Not perfectly, but there is an obvious
00:08:04.440
evidential fruit in their life. Additionally, I would say they do not obey God because they
00:08:13.400
need to. They obey God because they want to, which is going to lead to my second point.
00:08:18.840
I want you just to pay attention because this really addresses an important part of this
00:08:26.680
question that Henry asked. I heard this tone, Henry, of concern for your ability to obey.
00:08:35.580
And your concern is a good thing. It's evidence of a heart that wants to please God. But your worry
00:08:41.420
that you're not equipped with the ability to maintain obedience is what I think out of step
00:08:48.720
with what the scriptures teaches us in the matter. Let me explain. When a Christian is born again,
00:08:58.480
And for those whom he predestined, he also called.
00:09:05.260
And those whom he justified, he also glorified.
00:09:11.840
These are events, right, in eternal history, right?
00:09:16.120
Predestined, called, you come to faith, justified, glorified, right?
00:09:21.800
this is like a chain link together. If you're saved, if you're part of that first chain link,
00:09:28.040
then you will be saved forever. This is why Jesus can promise you eternal life. If your salvation
00:09:34.300
could be lost or if it was dependent upon your works to keep you saved, he couldn't promise
00:09:41.060
eternal life. John 10, 28, Jesus says, I give them eternal life and they will never perish
00:09:56.220
You can rest in the fact that you're not going to find yourself
00:10:02.120
outside of God's salvific power with your disobedience
00:10:12.320
He also promises that we'll be made by sanctification of the Spirit
00:10:21.920
And I'm sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
00:10:29.300
So again, this idea that Jesus, that God is the starter or the initiator of your faith,
00:10:34.640
he who began a good work in you will take it to its completion, right?
00:10:38.760
He's the author and the finisher of your faith.
00:10:43.640
In the new covenant, God does not merely command obedience.
00:10:49.080
right? It's a fruit of those who are saved. Now, anyone can modify their behavior to be in
00:10:54.840
alignment with God's commands. That's what the Pharisees did. It's self-righteous and therefore
00:10:59.240
sinful, however, okay, when you're just doing it to be in alignment. But only those that are
00:11:05.480
actually in Christ can produce obedience that pleases God because it's actually driven by
00:11:10.320
love. It's driven by the Holy Spirit. And I would say, in fact, outside of your faith in Christ,
00:11:16.600
you and I can't produce God-glorifying obedience. Again, this is what's seen in the Pharisees,
00:11:23.140
right? They're not doing God-glorifying obedience. Outside of our faith in Christ,
00:11:28.280
any act of obedience, just hear me on this, outside of our faith in Christ, any act of
00:11:34.480
obedience is done from self-righteousness, which is sinful, which is why Paul says in Romans 14,
00:11:39.880
23, for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. And it's why Isaiah 64, 6 says,
00:11:49.200
even our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment to God. The only earthly obedience
00:11:54.620
that is accepted by God is the obedience accomplished by those in Christ who are
00:12:00.120
operating by the Spirit. In Deuteronomy 30, verse 6, God spoke about the new covenant
00:12:08.320
that would eventually come to pass. He said, and I'm going to quote here,
00:12:14.140
the Lord, your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring. So he's going to do
00:12:20.140
it so that you will love the Lord, your God with all your heart, with all your soul that in that
00:12:26.540
you may live. Any love that we have for God can't be attributed to our self-righteous ability,
00:12:33.640
but to the work that God did in us, right? He's the one that gave us the new heart so that we will
00:12:39.680
love God. Ezekiel 36, 26 through 27, God says, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit
00:12:51.340
within you. I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will
00:12:59.380
put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will keep my judgments and
00:13:06.860
do them. So this is the writings of the Old Testament predicting the theological and spiritual
00:13:16.360
shift that's coming in the new covenant, the covenant that we're in. You can read more about
00:13:20.260
that Ezekiel 11, 19 through 20 as well. But the Bible says to give credit where credit is due.
00:13:25.160
And I think we often, out of self-love and pride, pat our own backs when it comes down
00:13:31.280
Like we choose righteousness and feel pretty good about ourselves.
00:13:37.820
Every time you have said no to sin for the glory of God, it was not you, but Christ in
00:13:45.180
Every time you said no to sin because of morality's sake, it was sinful because it was done from
00:13:54.160
So I'm just hoping that you're catching all this here, but Henry, God's election of you
00:14:03.440
He's going to provide you with everything required to maintain your status in the new
00:14:12.700
This means that by your election, you will be called.
00:14:16.380
In that calling, you will be given a new heart capable of repentance and faith.
00:14:20.340
Through that faith, you're going to be justified.
00:14:21.960
And in that justified state, you will be sanctified and you will obey and you will follow your shepherd.
00:14:29.880
And lastly, in that sanctified state, you're going to die physically, but your soul will not.
00:14:34.420
And at the coming of Christ, your body will resurrect and you will be glorified with him.
00:14:42.820
God, not you, will unfailingly work in us all the conditions required for salvation so that he
00:14:52.480
may get all the glory. For God says in Isaiah 48, 8, I am the Lord. That is my name. I will not
00:15:00.620
share my glory with another. And so if you believe your faithful obedience is driven by your own
00:15:08.540
capability and somehow your works have contributed to your salvation or kept you saved, then you're
00:15:17.740
taking away from God's glory. All of our spiritual fruit is a result of him, every single bit of it.
00:15:24.680
Therefore, he must get the glory. So to close, are we called to obey? Yes, we're called to obey.
00:15:34.280
Obedience, again, is a vital evidence of someone who is truly saved.
00:15:40.280
Are we saved by our obedience or kept saved by our ongoing obedience?
00:15:46.200
No, we're saved and kept by Christ's obedience and sacrifice alone.
00:15:53.360
And so, guys, let's just—you should spend a moment today just reveling in that truth
00:15:57.620
that you who have been called and have been justified will be glorified
00:16:06.320
and you will be given everything you need to be carried all the way until the end.
00:16:13.380
So guys, I'm going to leave you with two resources here.
00:16:17.540
I'm going to give you two song recommendations.
00:16:23.460
These will be available on the website, on the post page for this episode.
00:16:28.000
This is episode number 103, titled, Can Christian Disobedience Prevent Salvation?
00:16:34.400
And the songs I want to recommend to you is, one is by Norton Hall Band.
00:16:40.580
I will link this, the Spotify link on the article, but it's titled,
00:16:47.160
He Will Hold Me Fast. Fantastic song, Resting in Christ. Another one by Modern Post is titled
00:16:57.720
Grace Alone, and it's the acoustic version. And so take a peek at those two songs,
00:17:03.640
listen to the lyrics. They're beautiful. Hopefully those are helpful. Guys, if you're a regular
00:17:08.080
listener to this show, thank you. If you haven't left a review, would you consider doing so? Just
00:17:13.120
take a minute right now, like right as we're about to close this episode, would you take a
00:17:16.860
minute, go to the iTunes app, tap on our show, tap the stars. You don't even need to write anything.
00:17:22.700
But if you choose to write something, I'll read it. So thank you guys for those who have left a
00:17:27.820
review. And if you haven't, just take a minute to do that. It would be very helpful for the ministry.
00:17:32.920
My name is Dale Partridge. Thank you for joining me on this episode of Real Christianity. We will
00:17:37.440
see you next Wednesday. Thank you for listening to this episode of Real Christianity. If you're
00:17:44.700
regular listener to this show, would you prayerfully consider making a donation to support our ministry
00:17:49.060
efforts? Simply visit relearn.org forward slash donate. Again, that's relearn.org forward slash
00:17:55.800
donate. And for those looking to explore the idea of joining or planting a church in your home,
00:18:00.560
you can download our free PDF ebook titled The Basics of Biblical House Church by visiting
00:18:05.260
relearn.org forward slash house. Lastly, do you have a theological question you would like
00:18:10.780
answered on the show, submit your question at relearn.org forward slash question. Thanks for
00:18:16.360
joining us on this episode of Real Christianity. We'll see you next Wednesday.