one more quick point0- there is just so much to say o nthe subject- but I’ll try to keep it brief-
Romans 3:20
(20) Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.
To put this another way- There is noone who can maintain their salvation by trying not to sin, or ‘sinning as little as possible’ by ‘committing sins that aren’t too serious’
The reason? Because trying to sin as little as possible is trying to obey the law- the old law, in order to be righteous- ‘righteous enough’, that we don’t ‘lose our salvation’
The verse above clearly tells us we can NOT maintain our salvation by observance of the law- (ie not sinning- or sinning little)
“If righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (Gal. 2:21b).
Sadly we have a sense that we must do something- or keep doing something, in order to experience God’s love and gift of grace- but the bible tells us He loved us ‘while we were yet sinners’- but our misguided sense of morality tells us we have to earn His love- to earn our salvation by maintaining it- We feel we have to do something- That isn’t true-
“but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
That’s it- nothing added- Our sin is “Paid in full”, by the Blood of Christ. Not in part- in full- all of it- past present and future, and we did nothing to earn it- We are now righteous before God because of what His Son did for us
Rom 10 24
Verse 24: “And are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
We become free of blame- Completely free of blame- even though we still have the old nature, sin, in our lives- We become free of blame, not by vowing never to sin again- or by only committing small sins- but only through the blood of Christ- At the point of salvation we certainly don’t give up all sin to become blameless enough that Christ can now accept us- no- it’s all Christ- If we can’t make ourselves blameless enough to accept Christ and stand totally righteous in God’s sight- how would one think we could possibly keep ourselves blameless enough to maintain our salvation throughout our life? Doesn’t make sense-
We are bought with a price; we no longer have ownership of that which GOD has purchased and put His seal upon what He purchased with a price, a price so great payment could only be made by GOD..