One evening a preacher was declaring the glad tidings of the grace of God. He laid much stress upon the truth of the eternal security of the believer as one having passed from death to life. Then he dwelt confidently upon the impossibility of a believer in the Son of God ever coming under the judgment of God. He maintained that, concerning such a one, Scripture affirms that he is a member of the body of Christ. He quoted John 5:24, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”
When the preacher paused, a man stepped up to him and said: "Then I may do as I please, if I am saved eternally, without fear of being lost?”
"Yes," was the prompt reply of the preacher, "you may. But tell me this: what will a sinner saved from hell please to do? Tell me what a man, who knows that not only his sins are gone, but that he is united to Christ, will glory in doing? Will not the redeemed and liberated slave be filled with love and adoration for his benefactor, and full of gratitude to his Redeemer?”
The man was silenced. His question seemed to imply that if he knew he was saved without doubt from the penalty of sin, he might go on in his evil course without dread of the consequences. He did not seem to know that, having been born again by faith in Jesus' blood, the believer receives a new nature, is made partaker of the divine nature, a nature that hates sin and loves holiness.
Suppose a man has been rescued from a ditch into which he has fallen in wickedness or folly, and is then taken to the home of the one who has extricated him from his old position. Suppose that he not only gets cleansed and properly clothed, but is lovingly received and adopted into the family as a member, and becomes an equal heir to the vast wealth of the family. Would he be likely to desire to be in the ditch again? Would he be still more desirous to be there because he knows that only through the love and grace of his benefactor the estates have been unalterably secured to him?
Surely not! Nor will one whose heart has been drawn by the constraining love of Christ and purified by faith in Him, desire the husks the swine have left behind. When those who have professed the name of Christ, and have "run well" for a time, go back into their old courses, we are forcibly reminded of the words: "The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire." 2 Peter 2:22.
Through carelessness, through the wiles of the enemy, a real Christian may fall into sin; but can he willingly or happily continue therein?
"How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" Rom. 6:2.
God comes in restoring grace. He breaks the hard crust around the heart, and brings His child to a sense of his sin.
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9.
Dear ones, saved from eternal death to eternal life by that mighty love displayed on Calvary, may we, each one, love to do those things we shall not be ashamed of when we see Him as He is.
"Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." 1 Cor. 6:19, 20.