Can I sin and still be saved?

A few weeks ago I preached on baptism--the why, the what and the how of this command of Jesus. I may not have been as clear as I would have liked about it, because I have had several conversations since then with a few people that have clued me in to some possible misunderstandings. Maybe I can follow-up here a bit...

I think everyone understands that this is a command of Jesus: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:19-20) Furthermore, I made the point that baptism is a sign and symbol of salvation, not a regenerative act. That is, a person is fully saved even before they are baptized, and simply getting baptized won't save anyone. This is a different understanding than some traditions, but one that I think flows from Romans 10:9-10..."If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved." I believe the moment a heart turns away from self-righteousness and receives God's righteousness provided by grace through Christ, that person is saved. Like the thief on the cross, who never had a chance to be baptized, but was told he would be in paradise with Jesus. Grace through faith is sufficient.

For some, then, it raised the question, "Can I still get to heaven if I am not baptized?" What I wanted to say clearly in my message was, "Yes, because baptism can't save anyone." I likened baptism to a heart monitor. Just as the monitor can't produce a heartbeat--it simply reveals what is (or is not) the inner, unseen reality of the patient's heart--so baptism is simply a sign of the inner reality of a changed heart and new life given by the Holy Spirit. If you have the beating heart of true faith in Christ, then baptism is a sign to show that. If you don't, no amount of water can create that.

I also wanted to stress that asking, "Can I still get to heaven and not be baptized?" is really the wrong question. Since baptism is one of many commands given by Jesus, it's like asking, "Can I sin and still be saved?" Of course every Christian still does sin. But we are to be fully engaged in fighting our sinful nature, not finding contentment in it. Sometimes we fight temptation and still give in. So we find ourselves utilizing 1 John 1:8-10 regularly, even daily: "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us."

So, can a Christian sin and still be saved? Yes. But, if you make it your plan to sin...if (in the case of baptism) you know you should do something and plan on consistently bypassing that command because it's inconvenient or embarrassing...then you are positioning your heart away from God's grace...and away from love and gratitude and an attitude of serving Christ. You are not taking off the old self and putting on the new.

You don't instantly lose your salvation when you sin in this, or other ways. But you are hurting and damaging the new life you've been given. Physically, you can live in unhealthy ways and not die...for a while. Eventually, if you continue down that path, it will catch up with you. That's why the Bible gives warnings that, though we are saved by grace and given a new life, that life must be nurtured. We must "continue in it" and not throw it away. You can't "lose" your salvation, but you can (by consistently ignoring and disobeying Jesus' commands of life) choose to not continue in it. You can choose to not hold on to it any longer and leave it behind:

• "Continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel." (Colossians 1:23)
• "For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off." (Romans 11:21-23)
• "Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son." (2 John 1:9)
• "Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith." (1 Timothy 1:18-19)
• "Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have wandered away from the truth." (2 Timothy 2:16-17)

And please don't ask, "How far can I go in not continuing before I lose my salvation?" That's like asking, "How close can I get to a rattlesnake before it will strike at me? 24 inches? 18 inches? 12 inches?" Some questions are not good to pursue. Can I be saved and not get baptized? Yes. Is that nurturing the salvation you have been given? No. You want to nurture and continue in and hold on to the new life you've been given by grace.

All I can do is encourage you to the obedience of faith--not the obedience of guilt or pride or fear. Get baptized as a sign that you have received and find your identity with Jesus--his death and his resurrection to a new life. If you haven't yet been baptized, do this as an expression of your love for Jesus!