A Bad Example Of A Christian?

I was such a bad example of a Christian when I first asked Him to save me. Although I have fully repented and am fully committed to the Lord and careful about my walk, I still worry about the passages in Scripture that say that the unrighteous will not go to heaven.

Q. I was such a bad example of a Christian when I first asked Him to save me, and lived in immorality for 5 years. Although I have fully repented and been faithfully married for decades, and am fully committed to the Lord and careful about my walk, I still worry about the passages in Scripture that say that the unrighteous will not go to heaven. What would you say to people who were washed as I Cor. 6:11 says, but who fell into sin again?

A. First, you must understand that we’re all bad examples of what a Christian should be. Sin is not a matter of degree. One is either a sinner or not, and Jesus is the only one who is not.

I would advise you to read John 6:39-40 where Jesus promised never to lose any one that believes in Him. Then read John 10: 27-30 when He said that no one (including you) can snatch one of His sheep out of His hand.

And finally, study the Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32, where the son who left home to live a life of sin was welcomed back with open arms, because even though he left his father’s home, he never stopped being his father’s child.

We don’t get saved, nor do we stay saved, because of how we behave. It’s because of what we believe. Ours is a righteousness imputed to us by faith. We’re all sinners who kept on sinning even after we were saved. But God continues to see us as righteous because of our faith in Jesus and justifies us freely by His grace. (Romans 3:21-24) When we sin, we confess and are immediately forgiven and purified from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)