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NASB | Matthew 1:21 "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 1:21 "She will give birth to a Son, and you shall name Him Jesus (The LORD is salvation), for He will save His people from their sins." |
Subject: Saved from sin? |
Bible Note: Hi. Can I join in? One reason that I’d like to is that I think this is such an excellent question, and a very important question. It relates to the very nature of the Gospel and whether we are preaching it correctly. The other reason is that I have known Brian McLaren personally. I have worked with him and, if I may say so, I think I know his heart. Brian believes, as I do, that a person once saved is guaranteed a place in heaven. He cannot lose his salvation. The concern is that people may seek this sure salvation and believe that they can get away with practicing sin, subsequent to salvation. It is the issue of Romans 6 again. Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? But this time we face it at the time of the preaching of the Gospel. To make this short, let me say that the issue has already been addressed by Paul, speaking to Christians, people who are already saved. But what if we are presenting the Gospel to people and they perceive of salvation as a fire escape over hell? I think Brian would say that we need to make sure we give the proper message. The motivation should be to get right with God, to have a love relationship with him, and not simply to avoid his wrath. We should repent of sin because we realize that sin offends God. We should want to get sin out of our hearts in order to have a right relationship with God. It is still a problem when people think that they can sin and believe that it will not get them to hell. It is one thing when people are genuinely saved and we can remind them that they are dead to sin. It is another matter when we are calling people to salvation without pointing out the essential problem with sin. What it comes down to is that the people may not really be saved. They would not have repented because they had not seen sin for what it was and they had not actually turned from it. A person who is saved is saved from sin. They are saved from the power of sin. They are saved from the penalty of sin. However, as they come to Christ, it is not the penalty that they should be focused on, but on the effect of sin on a relationship with God. Before we are saved we are dead in sin. We are without God in the world. We must seek the Lord. Since he hates sin, we must turn our backs on sin in order to come to him. Can we then continue in sin? God forbid. As Ray Comfort would say, we should not preach the Gospel without making people aware of sin in their lives and the problem with it. Some people are motivated by fear. Some are motivated by love. But all must know a need for a change of heart. We must cause people to feel godly sorrow for sin. Only then can we be confident that we are leading them to repentance and faith and true salvation. |