As we read last week in Galatians 5:19-24, after listing the deeds of the flesh Paul states emphatically, “those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” So what will become of those who believe they are saved because they made a public acknowledgement that they believed in Jesus as their Savior, but have gone on living in their sinful nature, practicing the works of the flesh stated here? This may be the most important question that could ever be asked by millions of “believers.”

          If we dumb down the gospel so that it is easy enough for just about anyone to get “saved,” but compromise the actual, biblical conditions required for salvation, have we made people to feel secure in a spiritual condition in which their lives are still in eternal jeopardy? Many Scriptures make it clear that this is in fact the case.

          I have been in many meetings where people are asked to simply raise their hands to make a declaration of belief in Christ for their salvation and everyone else is told to keep their heads bowed and their eyes closed. This is obviously done so as not to embarrass or intimidate the new “converts.” How could this even be a public confession of faith? To live the true Christian life takes courage. So how can we expect those who make such a weak confession to be able to do it? The answer is that not many do, but they quickly claimed to be saved.

          Studies indicate that only about 5 percent of converts today go on to even attend church. In the first century, not only did 100 percent attend church, they were “added to the church,” indicating the real, vital church life that is basic New Covenant life. As we will cover, there is obvious fruit with a truly converted life. If that fruit is not present, then we have to wonder if the conversion is real. Even if the conversion is real, we know from the Parable of the Sower that every seed will be tested. The Lord asserted that it is those who “endure to the end” that will be saved (see Matthew 24:13).

          I certainly would not want to make it harder than it is supposed to be for people to commit their lives to Jesus. However, if anything could be worse than this, it would be making it easier than it is and thereby deceiving many into thinking they are “saved” when their eternal life is still in jeopardy. When we make it easier than the Lord makes it, we are diluting the character, strength, and power of the gospel to save us from our sins. We are not being saved from death but from what is causing the death—sin. If that sinful nature is not being removed, then we are not on the path of life. If we are on the path of life, then our deliverance from the “body of death,” our carnal nature, is evident.

          This does not imply that we must be perfect, as even “James the Just” confessed that “we all stumble in many ways” (see James 3:2). Stumbling occasionally and “practicing” these things are different matters, as we are told in Romans 6:17-23:

            But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that
       form of teaching to which you were committed,

            and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

            I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your
       members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your
       members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.

            For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.

            Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the
       outcome of those things is death.

            But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in
        sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.

            For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

          In verse 19, we are told that impurity leads to lawlessness, which leads to further lawlessness. Even if you have never committed adultery or fornication, pornography, impurity, and such can rob you of your eternal inheritance. As you begin to practice these things, the first thing that will happen is your love for the Lord will begin to grow cold.