Salvation places us IN CHRIST. However, it is a matter of choice to abide there.
For example, let's say you were drowning in rough seas. A captain of a nearby boat sees you struggling, rushes over, and pulls you out of the water. He then gives you a change of clothes and allows you stay in his personal quarters, eating from his own table, for the remainder of the voyage. He then tells you to stay off the deck because it possible that the waves could pull you back into the water where you might drown.
You are now faced with three options:
#1. trust the Captain and stay inside the boat, no self effort involved
#2. ignore the Captain, and jump back into dangerous waters
#3. flirt with disaster by going on deck on hoping that, if you do fall in, the captain will be there to rescue you once again
Now, common sense tells you that the easiest and safest option is to stay inside the boat. Biblical faith works similarly. Jesus saves us and accepts us into His Presence. He then warns us to avoid temptation because to indulge in sin is to venture outside of His Presence:
"But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin." ~ 1 John 3:5
However, in regards to salvation, most believers choose the equivalent of option three. They go about living their lives with little regard to what the Bible says, hoping God will bail them out in times of trouble. To them, God is nothing more than a life preserver, only needed in an emergency.
True, biblical faith not only saves us but also sanctifies us. However, it is a matter of choice to stay sanctified. One need not do anything to remain sanctified but rest in Him by placing all trust in Him and what He has told you. It's when we take our fate into our own hands and follow the desires of our flesh that we stumble into sin.
"For no temptation (no trial regarded as enticing to sin), [no matter how it comes or where it leads] has overtaken you and laid hold on you that is not common to man [that is, no temptation or trial has come to you that is beyond human resistance and that is not adjusted and adapted and belonging to human experience, and such as man can bear]. But God is faithful [to His Word and to His compassionate nature], and He [can be trusted] not to let you be tempted and tried and assayed beyond your ability and strength of resistance and power to endure, but with the temptation He will [always] also provide the way out (the means of escape to a landing place), that you may be capable and strong and powerful to bear up under it patiently" ~ 1 Corinthians 10:13 (AMP)
For example, let's say you were drowning in rough seas. A captain of a nearby boat sees you struggling, rushes over, and pulls you out of the water. He then gives you a change of clothes and allows you stay in his personal quarters, eating from his own table, for the remainder of the voyage. He then tells you to stay off the deck because it possible that the waves could pull you back into the water where you might drown.
You are now faced with three options:
#1. trust the Captain and stay inside the boat, no self effort involved
#2. ignore the Captain, and jump back into dangerous waters
#3. flirt with disaster by going on deck on hoping that, if you do fall in, the captain will be there to rescue you once again
Now, common sense tells you that the easiest and safest option is to stay inside the boat. Biblical faith works similarly. Jesus saves us and accepts us into His Presence. He then warns us to avoid temptation because to indulge in sin is to venture outside of His Presence:
"But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin." ~ 1 John 3:5
However, in regards to salvation, most believers choose the equivalent of option three. They go about living their lives with little regard to what the Bible says, hoping God will bail them out in times of trouble. To them, God is nothing more than a life preserver, only needed in an emergency.
True, biblical faith not only saves us but also sanctifies us. However, it is a matter of choice to stay sanctified. One need not do anything to remain sanctified but rest in Him by placing all trust in Him and what He has told you. It's when we take our fate into our own hands and follow the desires of our flesh that we stumble into sin.
"For no temptation (no trial regarded as enticing to sin), [no matter how it comes or where it leads] has overtaken you and laid hold on you that is not common to man [that is, no temptation or trial has come to you that is beyond human resistance and that is not adjusted and adapted and belonging to human experience, and such as man can bear]. But God is faithful [to His Word and to His compassionate nature], and He [can be trusted] not to let you be tempted and tried and assayed beyond your ability and strength of resistance and power to endure, but with the temptation He will [always] also provide the way out (the means of escape to a landing place), that you may be capable and strong and powerful to bear up under it patiently" ~ 1 Corinthians 10:13 (AMP)