A sinful lifestyle isn't a good thing.
1 John 3:1, 9-10 See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him.
9 Those who have been born into God's family do not make a practice of sinning, because God's life is in them. So they can't keep on sinning, because they are children of God.
10 So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.
God loves his children so much that he sent Jesus to defeat the devil's plans for our destruction and make it possible to restore the relationship that was lost in the Garden of Eden. His love for us compelled Him to adopt us into His family and give us all of the benefits that natural born children receive.
A child of God has a look about him, it is different from the look that the rest of the world has, when the world sees him they should see somebody whose behavior doesn't make any sense.
It is difficult to live the way the rest of the world does with God living inside of me, God doesn't let his children misbehave without pursuing them and the Holy Spirit is at work in me letting me know what is wrong. Christ in us and sin in us is the most incompatible situation that there can be. (Colossians 1:27)
Don't abuse grace.
Romans 6:1-2, 11-12 Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of His wonderful grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. 12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires.
A sinful lifestyle is a reliable indicator that a person is not the child of God that they claim to be. It is clear in scripture that the only way to receive the free gift of salvation is to receive it without any good works attached but it is also clear that a child of God will behave differently.
We have been completely transformed! It isn't just a change in status or a new destination after we leave this world, our nature and our desires have been changed. We have been called a new creation, people that are slaves to righteousness and people that are busy doing the good works that God has planned for us. Salvation is not just a change in status, it is a change in nature, it is a change in how we live, how we think and how we speak. (2 Corinthians 5:14-17, Romans 6:22, Ephesians 2:8-10)
Colossians 3:1-3 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand. 2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. 3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.
God's people submit and obey what God's Word tells us is right, our behavior should be increasingly more like Jesus as we grow more like Him. There are so many people that want to cling to the promises of scripture but they don't want to have anything to do with the demands of scripture. They want to know that their life after death is taken care of while they live this life to please themselves.
Help us Lord to live to please you. Keep us from believing that this life is all about ourselves and help us do the good works that you designed for us to do so that you will be glorified. (Matthew 5:16)
