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FAQ # 100
QUESTION 100 : How many times must a righteous person sin in order
to lose his salvation? Must it be a lifestyle or continuous sinning? Does
one have to practice sin before he becomes unsaved or shows himself never
saved to begin with, as some would say? (D. Corner)
I took these question from Dan Corner because its obvious with him and
thus many, that the concept of sinner and salvation is not clear. Not
anyone's fault, but innocently because over the years unsaved folks have
come to be termed "sinners". As Dan correctly pointed out, anyone
who commits a sin is a sinner, it doesn't matter how many times. And there
are so many sins that you can't keep a record of them all, the Law alone
contains 613 individual laws. You probably only know ten. So even the
best of Christians will sometime or the other slip up and commit a sin.
Does that make them unsaved? No. Can they be classified sinners? Unfortunately
if you are looking at the word from its strict sense then you may say
yes, but if you are talking about being unsaved, which the word does not
mean, then NO.
This is where the paradox lies, that the word sinner has evolved to mean
unsaved folks. For instance, you might do carpenter work around your house
but that doesn't make you a carpenter. You get the point? Not because
a saved person sin that makes them unsaved or as we say it, a sinner.
How the bible distinguishes it is that those who are saved will not continue
in a life of sin or "sinneth" (1 John 5:18). Or more poetically,
a good man falls seven times but gets back up again; he doesn't stay down
in the sin and be led away in it, but get back up! The spirit of God in
a saved person will ensure this (Eze 36:27). Revelation 21:8 speaks of
those who practice sin, being unsaved; but being saved doesn't
necessarily mean you wont sin. A saved person may sin, say once in 40
years, but the unequivocal teaching on Justification is that God pardoned
all your sins to begin with (Heb 10:14,12).
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