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In some places, the Bible clearly states that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ. In other places, the Bible seems to suggest that we must live in obedience to God to be saved. So, how do we reconcile these biblical mandates to obey God with grace? After all, grace is unmerited. Why can’t Christians just live how they want to? That is the focus of this episode.
Though we are saved by grace through faith in Christ, at the same time, we also become born again. No one can enter heaven without being born again. And when we become born again, we will live in obedience to God.
In Christ, we became a new creation. The Bible says old things were passed away, and all things became new. The evidence that God has changed us is that we obey God. In other words, we don’t have to obey God to be saved, but we are to live in obedience to God after we become saved.
According to the Bible, genuine Christians don’t live a life of practicing sin. For instance, in 1 John 3:9, John writes, “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God” (NASB).
If someone says he is a Christian but is living a sinful life, he is not a Christian. Or he is living a disobedient life as a Christian. The apostles’ letters are written on the premise of genuine Christian behavior.
What we are talking about here is the life-changing power of the gospel. Absolutely no one who truly meets the Lord Jesus Christ can remain the same and live the same after meeting the Lord. Through Him, we are translated from death to life.
