One evening, a preacher was declaring the glad tidings of the grace of God. He laid a good deal of stress upon the truth of the everlasting security of the believer, as having passed from death to life; and dwelt confidently upon the impossibility of a believer in the Son of God ever coming under the judgment of God; for the reason that concerning such a one, Scripture affirms that he is a member of the body of Christ. (John 5:2424Verily, 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. (John 5:24); Eph. 5:3030For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. (Ephesians 5:30))
When the preacher paused, a man stepped up to him, and said,
“Then I may do as I like, if I am saved eternally, without fear of being lost?”
“Yes,” was the prompt reply of the preacher, “you may. But tell me what a sinner saved from hell will like 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 a faithful servant, and full of gratitude to his Redeemer?”
The man was silenced. His question seemed to imply that if he knew he was saved without a doubt, he might go on in sin; but he did not seem to know that with a new birth, the being born again of the incorruptible Word of God, we receive a new nature, are made partakers of the divine nature, a nature that hates sin, and loves holiness.
If a man has been rescued from a ditch, into which he had fallen in his wickedness or folly, and taken home by one who extricated him from his position, and not only gets cleansed and clothed, but is received and adopted into the family as a member, and heir to the vast wealth of the family, would he be likely to desire to be in the ditch again? And would he be still more desirous to be there, because he knows that 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 purified by faith, desire the husks and the swine he has left behind. In cases where 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:
I know that through unwatchfulness, and through the wiles of the enemy, a Christian may fall into sin; but I cannot understand his living therein.
God comes in in restoring grace, and breaks the hard crust around the heart, and brings His child to a sense of his sin.
May we like to do those things we shall not be ashamed of when we see Him as He is.