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Answer
The apostle Paul addressed a similar question in Romans 6:1-2, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” The concept that someone could “trust in Jesus Christ” for salvation and then continue living as they did before is completely foreign to the teachings of the Bible. Those who believe in Christ are new creations «Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. », (2 Corinthians 5:17). The Holy Spirit transforms us from engaging in the acts of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21) to bearing the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). The Christian life is a life of transformation because the Christian has been transformed.
What sets Christianity apart from all other religions is that Christianity is founded on what God has accomplished for us through Jesus Christ—a divine achievement. Every other world religion is based on what we must do to earn God’s favor and forgiveness—human effort. Other religions teach that we must perform specific actions and refrain from certain behaviors to earn God’s love and compassion. In contrast, Christianity, through faith in Christ, teaches that we engage in certain behaviors and abstain from others because of what Christ has already done for us.
How could anyone, after being rescued from the consequences of sin, which is eternal damnation, return to the same lifestyle that originally led them down the path to destruction? How couldAnyone, having been cleansed from the defilement of sin, desires to go back to the same cesspool of depravity? How could anyone, knowing what Jesus Christ did on our behalf, go on living as if He were not important? How could anyone, realizing how much Christ suffered for our sins, continue sinning as if those sufferings were meaningless?
Romans 6:11-15 declares, “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master because you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!”
For the truly converted, then, continuing to live sinfully is not an option. Because our conversion resulted in a completely new nature, our desire is to no longer live in sin. Yes, we still sin, but instead of wallowing in it as we once did, we now hate it and wish to be delivered from it. The idea of “taking advantage” of Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf by continuing to live sinfully is unthinkable. Christians who have no desire to live for Christ, but instead find themselves living lives indistinguishable from those of unbelievers, should examine whether they have ever genuinely received Christ as Savior. “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” «Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? », (2 Corinthians 13:5).
