How much can a Christian sin and still be saved?

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.

Marcelo

Senior Member
Feb 4, 2016
2,359
859
113
73
#1
A well known preacher in my denomination was found to have been cheating on his wife for the last two years. He has already been permanently removed from his ministry and the only question now is: Can he still be saved? Is it possible "to renew him again to repentance "? (Heb 6:4)
 

Hevosmies

Well-known member
Sep 8, 2018
3,612
2,633
113
#2
Oy vey! God only knows if the man is saved is my answer!

Sadly this is too common in churches today. I wonder whats going on? Has it always been like this or is this just part of the last days apostasy? Seems like there is a scandal somewhere all the time.

Maybe its the internet, so we hear about it more than before
 

Noose

Senior Member
Apr 18, 2016
5,096
932
113
#3
That is sin against one's own flesh, and either way, the flesh is corrupt and shall pass away. The knowledge of truth (God) is what will dawn in a man and this is resurrection, not the works of flesh.

You need to understand what sin is; it is the spirit of lies that indwells a man. It manifests on the flesh through what is said or done (works) but each level still has its own punishment; the punishment for the spirit of lies is eternal death but the punishment for its fleshly manifestation remains on the flesh- suffering/diseases/pain/death.

At the garden of Eden, we see Adam and Eve being given fleshly punishment for the fleshly manifestation of sin but the punishment for the spiritual sin remains eternal death.

David also did it and was punished physically.

IMO.
 

JaumeJ

Senior Member
Jul 2, 2011
21,429
6,707
113
#4
A well known preacher in my denomination was found to have been cheating on his wife for the last two years. He has already been permanently removed from his ministry and the only question now is: Can he still be saved? Is it possible "to renew him again to repentance "? (Heb 6:4)
There is only one sin that may be unpardonable, that is the blaspheming of the Holy Spirit.....Yes, he probably IS saved, but not too happy with himself.
 

JustEli

Well-known member
Dec 23, 2018
1,374
983
113
50
#5
If ur saved ur saved, but sin still has consequences.
 
Feb 21, 2016
848
196
43
#6
The same thing happen to my mother back when I was a child.They kicked us out.In the OT,God forgives Israel in what today would be considered satanic worship.
 

Marcelo

Senior Member
Feb 4, 2016
2,359
859
113
73
#7
There is only one sin that may be unpardonable, that is the blaspheming of the Holy Spirit.....Yes, he probably IS saved, but not too happy with himself.
I believe he can be saved, but I don't think it will be easy. He kept lying to his wife and to the whole church for at least two years, for he always claimed that the power of his preaching came from the Holy Spirit.
 

Noose

Senior Member
Apr 18, 2016
5,096
932
113
#8
I believe he can be saved, but I don't think it will be easy. He kept lying to his wife and to the whole church for at least two years, for he always claimed that the power of his preaching came from the Holy Spirit.
I'm not saying it is a good thing but i always think of David. He saw a woman and planned so that the woman's husband be killed to try to legitimize his later actions. Planning to have a man killed in a battle would hypothetically take months if not years- so David, for months or even years was operating in the flesh and going against his spirit and God.

Our flesh always antagonizes our spirit because the flesh comes from the earth and it is true what has been said that the earth and all its works shall pass away. So, we (our spirit) are treasures in earth vessels but we need to be steadfast in the spirit nevertheless.
 

Bingo

Well-known member
Feb 9, 2019
9,219
4,755
113
#9
'Growing pains'...shall be evolved into unthinkable events never thought of , and 'all shall witness'.
'Praise God'
 

Attachments

John146

Senior Member
Jan 13, 2016
17,130
3,689
113
#10
A well known preacher in my denomination was found to have been cheating on his wife for the last two years. He has already been permanently removed from his ministry and the only question now is: Can he still be saved? Is it possible "to renew him again to repentance "? (Heb 6:4)
If the man was saved before the acts of adultery, yes, he is still saved after. But he's now a terrible witness for Christ.
 

JaumeJ

Senior Member
Jul 2, 2011
21,429
6,707
113
#11
No one feels worse than those who feel betrayed. The congregation was betrayed, but God iwll not hold it against him as long as he remains with the Mediator between us and the Father. Again, it is certin he is not happy with himself, and with th e congregation feeling so hurt because of him does not help matters at all. Praise God and let us all always overlook the pain and get on with proomoting the glorification of our Father…….amen
 

Marcelo

Senior Member
Feb 4, 2016
2,359
859
113
73
#12
I'm not saying it is a good thing but i always think of David. He saw a woman and planned so that the woman's husband be killed to try to legitimize his later actions. Planning to have a man killed in a battle would hypothetically take months if not years- so David, for months or even years was operating in the flesh and going against his spirit and God.

Our flesh always antagonizes our spirit because the flesh comes from the earth and it is true what has been said that the earth and all its works shall pass away. So, we (our spirit) are treasures in earth vessels but we need to be steadfast in the spirit nevertheless.
But David repented bitterly in sackcloth and ashes and I'm not sure the preacher in question will humble himself, just as David did, because he is not attending services in his local church and is nowhere to be seen. Most church members think that his sin is one that leads to death and are rejecting him. What is a sin unto death, anyway?
 
7

7seasrekeyed

Guest
#13
there's two kinds of 'sorry'

sorry for your sin (confess and turn from it)

and

sorry you got caught

the first one leads to reconciliation

the second one leads to death
 

Hevosmies

Well-known member
Sep 8, 2018
3,612
2,633
113
#14
To be honest, I cant blame the church members for that. Why? Because it wasnt like just a one off thing. meaning you got tempted one too many times and fell to some flirty woman.

But it was continuing for such a long time, you know? So I understand their view. If I was the wife, I would BOUNCE, since that is BIBLICAL grounds for divorce.
 

Hevosmies

Well-known member
Sep 8, 2018
3,612
2,633
113
#15
there's two kinds of 'sorry'

sorry for your sin (confess and turn from it)

and

sorry you got caught

the first one leads to reconciliation

the second one leads to death
Hey there. I cant send you a PM, nor are you online in the chat there so I will go offtopic real quick:

I want to apologize to you. I still think Joyce Meyer is definately teaching heresy by saying Jesus burnt in hell, but I want to apologize to you for how I phrased it. I cant even remember exactly how I said it, but I do remember that I was being UNNECESSARILY rude to you! Im sorry!
 

Marcelo

Senior Member
Feb 4, 2016
2,359
859
113
73
#16
To be honest, I cant blame the church members for that. Why? Because it wasnt like just a one off thing. meaning you got tempted one too many times and fell to some flirty woman.

But it was continuing for such a long time, you know? So I understand their view. If I was the wife, I would BOUNCE, since that is BIBLICAL grounds for divorce.
I was amazed at his wife's reaction. She just said: "I'm not gonna file for divorce, I just want you to stop fooling your audience. Go to the church right now and confess your sin before the elders ". She could have covered up her husband's sin and so preserve her "preacher's wife status", but she chose truth over appearance.
 

BenFTW

Senior Member
Oct 7, 2012
4,834
981
113
34
#17
If the man was saved before the acts of adultery, yes, he is still saved after. But he's now a terrible witness for Christ.
Is that truly fair? We do have a witness to uphold but not a facade. There is a fine line between upholding our witness and hypocrisy. If anything, if this man repents, makes amends, and his wife through the love of God instilled in her, receives him back, what testimony does that give to the world? How could she forgive him? As God forgave her.

His witness isn't tarnished necessarily, but his character. That must be developed, as the Lord sanctifies him. His witness can be that of redemption through the forbearance of God, depending upon his wife albeit in the right to forsake him, deciding to stay with him. She can be an example of God's light in the darkness, and he in gratitude for being forgiven much will love much. A strengthening of their bond, though through unfortunate means.

Certain relationships have specific obstacles but through differences are they strengthened. They experience much together, and see what they have traversed. A tale not of woe, but woo. Cultivating a bond that isn't easily broken.

How can a sinner be a terrible witness for Christ, when it is they He has come for? The world may rejoice at a righteous man falling only being convicted of their own wrongdoing because what he professed he did not do but they knowing it is right do not try. If he is one of the righteous, of the light, then he will rise by the grace of God (maybe here, and definitely in the after).

Certainly the man is in the wrong. If he dares he ought to make it right. This only works if the wife is also too willing, not having him grovel and feel less, with something always over his shoulder but having forgiven him and seeking to restore or improve, what they once shared. If she can't forgive him, always uses his wrong as a weapon, there can't be reconciliation. He broke the bond, and she severs it (within her rights).
 

Chester

Senior Member
May 23, 2016
4,314
1,442
113
#18
If the man was saved before the acts of adultery, yes, he is still saved after. But he's now a terrible witness for Christ.
The question is not was he saved before the adultery . . . what matters is this: Does he today believe in Jesus Christ and is He resting on the blood atonement of Jesus Christ for his salvation? I cannot answer that question . . .
 

BenFTW

Senior Member
Oct 7, 2012
4,834
981
113
34
#19
Salvation isn't walking in perfection through the means of self-righteousness. I am not saying practical righteousness is of no importance, but in the realm of salvation, this is a matter of faith and blood. Believing in the Lord Jesus, that He died for your sins and resurrected on the third day, remitting your sins through His bloodshed. This is justification, an immutable standing with God by the grace and mercy of God.
 

MadHermit

Junior Member
May 8, 2018
388
145
43
#20
>King David is a murderer and an adulterer. Yet he is the only man in the Bible to be later described as "a man after God's own heart."