Never allow anyone to convince you that God did not do enough on the cross to cover your sin or to be able to make you into a new creation.
2 Corinthians 5:16-18 "…16 So from now on we regard no one according to the flesh. Although we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:…"
When God changes someone into a new creation they cannot go back to the old again, we cannot undo what God did. Those who remain disobedient while claiming to be Christian were never born again.
Ephesians 2:10 "10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.'
Matthew 7:21-23 "21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"
God does not throw away His children when they disobey, He disciplines them to return to obedience.
Hebrews 12:5-7 "…5And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you. 6For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises everyone He receives as a son.” 7Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?…"
God changed us into a new creation we no longer think the same way we did when we were sinners. Born again believers do sin and hate that they do. The unbeliever does not care if they sin, they even defend their sin. The born again believer who was changed by Christ will not defend their sin, they eventually confess to be cleansed. 1 John 1:9 was written to born again believers not to the unsaved.
1 John 1:9 9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
If anyone is working really hard to change themselves or to be good they are doing it in the flesh, not in the Spirit. No one will make it to heaven because they were good enough. Only those who have trusted in Christ for their salvation and their cleansing will be saved.
Ephesians 2:8-10 "…8For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.…"
Those who have trusted Christ will depend on Him to be changed, their desires are changed, their way of thinking is like that of Christ. However, we are trapped in this sinful body that tempts us and sometimes we give into it and fall. When we fall we hate it, we confess to be cleansed by Christ and go on to improve and trust Him more.
Every time we fall and confess we grow spiritually. Those who do not grow Spiritually are those who are depending on their own acts and good deeds not on Christ. These people are often prideful, full of self and resistant to correction.
1 John 1:7-9 "…7But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.…"
