Two Sundays ago I preached from Matthew 5:28-30, where Jesus calls us to sexual purity and motivates us with a strong warning –
“If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.”
He does not mean this literally — because elsewhere Jesus says sin is not caused by our eyes — but by our hearts (Mark 7:21).
So Jesus is saying — spare no effort to fight sexual sin, because if you continue in sexual sin you could end up in hell.
Whoa.
So how should we understand this?
Two wrong ways to understanding this warning
One wrong way would be — “This warning can’t apply to me, because I am already saved, and believers can’t lose salvation.”
The problem with this response — is that Jesus gives this warning to believers — His disciples (Mat 5:1-2).
And — many similar warnings are given to believers — like in Rom 8:13; 1Cor 15:1-2; Gal 5:19-21; Gal 6:8; Eph 5:5-6; Col 1:22-23; Col 3:5-6; and Heb 10:26-27.
So this warning must apply to believers.
Another wrong way to understand this warning would be to say — “This warning means I could lose salvation — I can be genuinely trusting Christ and born again but still end up in hell.”
This is wrong because Scripture teaches that when God saved you He started a work in you which He will continue until you enter heaven — which means no genuinely saved person will face hell.
I see that in passages like Jer 32:40; John 10:28-29; Rom 8:28-30; Phil 1:6; and Jude 1:24-25.
So how should we understand Jesus’ warning?
The warning is given to believers. And it warns that if we continue in sexual sin we could face hell.
So how does this warning fit the truth that we can’t lose salvation?
Here’s how –
When God saved us He supernaturally changed our hearts so we repent of sin and trust Jesus as Savior, Lord, and Treasure.
But that’s not all.
He also changed our hearts so we fear Him and respond to His warnings. You can see that in Jeremiah 32:40 –
“I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.”
So one crucial difference between saved people and unsaved people is that saved people fear God and respond to His warnings.
How this works
So when saved people face sexual temptation, they hear Jesus’ warning and say to themselves –
“If I pursue sexual sin, I could face hell.”
Because God has changed their hearts, this causes them to fear — and to cry out to Jesus for help.
And as they pray, and fight to trust God’s promises, the Spirit strengthens their faith, shows them Jesus’ glory, and satisfies their hearts so they don’t sin.
But saved people are not perfect.
So sometimes when they face sexual temptation, they sin.
But — because they have been saved — it won’t be long before they hear Jesus’ warning, and say to themselves –
“If I continue in sexual sin, I could face hell.”
And because God has changed their hearts, this causes them to fear — and to turn back to Jesus for forgiveness and cleansing.
And when they turn back, confessing their sin, He loves them, washes them clean, assures them of their forgiveness, and strengthens them to fight again.
What about someone who doesn’t respond?
What if someone faces sexual temptation, ignores Jesus’ warning, and sins?
And what if he continues with no repentance, no remorse, no confession?
Then — unless something changes — that would probably show he was never saved in the first place.
And — tragically — he will face hell.
Not because he lost salvation. But because his continuing in sin without repentance, remorse, or confession shows he never had salvation.
Don’t misunderstand
We are not saved by our sexual purity or by fighting against sin.
We are saved only one way — by faith alone in Christ alone (Eph 2:8-9).
So to be saved we don’t first need to become more sexually pure.
To be saved we turn to Jesus as we are — in our sexual impurity — and trust Him to save us, forgive us, change us, and satisfy us in Himself.
When we do that –
- God forgives all our sin — past, present, and future (1John 1:9).
- God changes our hearts so we desire Jesus more than anything (Luke 18:27).
- God pours His love into our hearts, satisfying us completely (Rom 5:5).
- God changes our hearts so we pay heed to His warnings, fight against sin, and turn back to Him when we sin (Jer 32:40).
A long and windy road
Picture the road to heaven as a steep mountain road, with treacherous turns of sexual temptation — turns with such steep drop-offs that — if we fall — would mean eternal destruction.
When God saves you, and places you on this road to heaven, He promises to keep you on this road — which means nothing can pluck you off this road — nothing can cause you to fall from this road.
But if this road has treacherous turns of sexual temptation — how can He promise to keep you on the road?
Two reasons –
One is because at every treacherous turn He’s posted a warning — “If you come near — you could fall to eternal destruction.”
The other is because He’s changed your heart so you pay heed to His warnings.
By God’s grace — every saved person will respond to God’s warnings and turn back before going over the edge to destruction.
Two take-aways
First, respond to God’s warnings.
Understand that if you are pursuing sin then you could face hell. But also understand that the moment you turn back to Christ, pleading with Him for help, He is running to you with everything you need.
Second, rest in God’s promises.
If you are trusting Jesus as Savior, Lord, and heart-satisfying Treasure — know that He will keep you from stumbling, He will not let you stumble off the road to eternal destruction, He will surely bring you to heaven.
Your eternal destiny is secure. You cannot lose salvation.
~Steve Fuller from Living By Faith Blog (I highly recommend this blog!)
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