I hope this blesses you all!
Some Christians say that a Christian is "once saved, always saved," but if you look at the Bible, it would seem that one's salvation isn't quite as secure as some think it is. Paul says "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." And "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction." He also said, "Let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall!" The question is, does this refer to falling from the faith? Possibly. In 1 Cor. 9:27 Paul says, "I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified." To think of even Paul possibly being disqualified seems almost unbelievable. But this article will lay out some things that can disqualify anyone for heaven, even a "Christian." James says, "Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do....faith without works is dead." And lastly, in 1 Cor. 6 Paul says, "Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ."
Steps
1. Be pure; don't be sexually immoral or commit adultery. Sexual immorality can include a lot of things really. Paul does not mean by his statement in 1 Cor. 6 that if you were ever sexually immoral you won't inherit the kingdom of God. Paul means that if you continue in that life the rest of your life, you won't go to heaven.
⦁ Paul says "do not be deceived." Many are deceived into thinking once they say the prayer, get their ticket to heaven, that they can live however they want, but that is not what the Bible says. If someone is saved, or they think they are saved, but they are still highly sexually immoral, they probably aren't really saved.
⦁ One of the number one things that turns non-believers off to Christianity is when Christians still live like anyone else does, but the key is to realize that "you shall know them by their fruit." If someone is habitually cheating on their spouse, or habitually looking at porn or sleeping around etc., they probably aren't really Christian.
⦁ The true mark of a Christian is one who might sin from time to time, but they regret it, repent, and try to be different. As Jesus said, "Go and sin no more." This is why John says in 1 Jn. 3:9, "No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God." This does not mean that a Christian will never sin, this means that a true Christian will not be in a habitual un-repentant pattern of sin.
2. Put God first always; don't be an idolater. An idol can be anything really; it can be a thing, person, activity etc. Many people idolize their spouse. Be careful of doing that, because if they die or leave you and they are your whole world, then what will you have left? You will be devastated, unless you keep God first in your life and not your spouse.
⦁ Many people idolize money. That is why Jesus said, "You cannot serve two masters. You will love the one and hate the other. You cannot serve both God and money." Many guys idolize football. Many women idolize beauty and shopping.
⦁ A good way to test yourself and see if you have an idol in your life is to consider what you think about the most. What is the number one thing that you are always thinking about? If you are Christian, that one thing should be God and his Kingdom. This is what it means to "pray without ceasing." To always have God on our minds and constantly talk to Him about everything. "Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you," material things. If God is not the number one thing on your mind, try to make the thing you think about smaller in your mind and make God bigger.
⦁ Pray that God would make you more passionate about Him and sharing the gospel than about anything else in the world, and He will.
3. Be straight; don't practice homosexuality. I know the world is tired of hearing Christians talk about homosexuality but it actually comes up in the Bible a lot. Paul says "men who have sex with men" or women with women, will not inherit the kingdom of God. I think it's interesting that he said, "that is what some of you were." There very well could have been people in the early church who were homosexual before they came to Christ and now, once receiving Christ, they became straight. There actually are several testimonies on YouTube of this happening to people.
⦁ If someone is homosexual, they are not destined to be homosexual their entire lives. It is the same as someone having a tendency toward alcoholism, it can be overcome. If God can heal an alcoholic of alcoholism, then God can heal a homosexual from wanting to be homosexual.
4. Work for your money; don't steal and don't be a swindler. Paul says that thieves will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. Joyce Meyer said once that she has even had people steal money out of her offering plate. People might need help with money, but stealing is not the way to get money.
⦁ Stealing is kind of the easy way to get money; being humble and asking for charity is very hard. No one likes to ask for help. But be humble and ask for help; don't steal.
⦁ Also swindling is conning people out of their money, or tricking them to give you their money. It is being a con artist. Don't swindle people either, obviously.
5. Be generous; don't be greedy. When one thinks of greed it's easy to think of Mr. Scrooge in the Christmas Carol. He only cared about himself. He never wanted to share his money with anyone. But was he happy, with all the money he had? No, he was miserable. So it is when we are greedy. That is why the saying goes "It is more blessed to give than to receive."
6. Giving will usually make you a lot more happy than receiving. Satan likes to tell us the lie that receiving will make us more happy, but the truth is that the more we try to make ourselves happy, the less happy we are. Giving of yourself is the only way to find true joy in life.
7. Be sober; don't be a drunkard. Does this include getting drunk on the weekends? Possibly. We need to have everything in moderation. A little wine or beer every once in awhile is ok, but going overboard is sin, just as much as over-eating is sin.
8. Speak well of others; don't slander others. To slander is to make a damaging statement about someone else. It's talking about people behind their back, gossiping. It's telling other people things about someone that would tarnish their character. It ruining someone's reputation. Don't do this.
⦁ Also, someone once said, if you gossip about others to people, they will probably talk about you behind your back too. Talk nicely about other people. Don't slander their character.
⦁ There can be a fine line between "sharing your story" and gossiping about people. If you are sharing about what someone did to you, make sure the person you are talking to doesn't know that person. That is just a general rule to follow on that.
Tips
⦁ Remember that Paul says repeatedly that you are to "walk in a manner worthy of your calling." We are to live like we are saved, which is differently than we use to, if we really are saved.
Warnings
⦁ Don't become overly judgmental of others on these things. Look at yourself first.
May God bless you! :)
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