My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
John 10:27–28 (NKJV)
The decision to follow Christ is the only thing that can change your standing with God.
With tears in their eyes, people tell me they’ve lost their salvation. For some, a bad habit hooked them, causing them to spiral out of control and costing them dearly—their marriage, home, health, peace of mind. They feel like they’ve lost their salvation because they’ve done wrong, but it’s not true.
When you gave your life to Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit came to live in your spirit. Your spirit received a new nature. It was a rebirth. Spiritually speaking, you are not who you used to be.
Doing something that goes against God’s principles doesn’t undo that rebirth. A bad decision may be incredibly destructive in your life and may hold all kinds of negative earthly consequences, but it doesn’t change your standing with God. You still have a new nature within you—the nature of God.
So, if you feel like you’re a hypocrite because your life doesn’t measure up to the Christian standard you think it should, that doesn’t make you less of a Christian. If you feel like there’s something wrong with you and no one else has the issues you do, you need to know the truth.
The truth is that when you gave your life to Christ, you received the nature of God within you. And you are empowered to rise above!