Answers to "Ask Mike"
Questions
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16. Can a Christian fall away into sin so far that they lose the hope of salvation?
a) Avoid situations where the temptation for that sin occur. As long as any believer continues to trust God they have not passed "the line of no return." Rebellion against God's authority, however, is extremely dangerous so one must continually face the fact of failure, confess it, and do their best to "go and sin no more." For more discussion
on this topic see
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The
simple answer is yes. That is only because it is possible to
go so far in rebellion that Christ's substitutionary death is
rejected once and for all! Most of us wrestle with a besetting
sin. Evidently Paul understood the pressure. See Romans
7. Nonetheless, Paul also wrote Romans 6 where he says that we
should not continue in sin so grace would abound. I do not
believe the Bible teaches that once you are saved you can never be
lost, regardless. Nor do I believe the Scripture teaches that
a believer who wrestles with sin faces eternal jeopardy.
Scripture says we are justified (declared innocent because of our
faith in Christ) and sanctified (set apart but also progressing
toward Christlikeness). God does not remove all of the
temptations the moment we believe; rather, he teaches us patiently
how to overcome them. Some sins and temptations hang on longer
than others. We must seek to be overcomers and trust God to
give the victory. If one knows his besetting sin, several
things can be done to help overcome that sin.