There are some people who feel that Christians can live a lifestyle pretty much as they please after \u201cbelieving on the Lord Jesus Christ\u201d ( Ephesians 2:8-9; John 5:24; and others). Faith alone in Christ alone with nothing else required, it is all in the rewards. Is that your thinking also or do we as believers have to adhere to obedience as a tool to walk Christ-like in this life to spend eternity with Christ?<\/p>\n\t
“Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles–when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries<\/em>” (I Peter 4:1-3).<\/p>\n
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord<\/em>” (Romans 6:1-23).<\/p>\n
“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God<\/em>” (Romans 8:5-8).<\/p>\n
“Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God; for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus<\/em>” (I Thessalonians 4:1-2).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The Bible does not teach Christians to do as they please. Our duty is to please our Lord and Master (Ecclesiastes 12:13). People who do as they please will not reach heaven. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven<\/em>” (Matthew 7:21).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: There are some people who feel that Christians can live a lifestyle pretty much as they please after \u201cbelieving on the Lord Jesus Christ\u201d ( Ephesians 2:8-9; John 5:24; and others). Faith alone in Christ alone with nothing else required, it is all in the rewards. Is that your thinking also or do we…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[58,60,179],"class_list":["post-8286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-once-saved-always-saved","tag-perseverance-of-the-saints","tag-sin"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":29429,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-paul-die-with-christ-if-christ-is-living\/","url_meta":{"origin":8286,"position":0},"title":"How can Paul die with Christ if Christ is living?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 4, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am confused about \"My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me\" (Galatians 2:20 NLT).\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29737,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/since-christ-died-for-our-sins-do-we-have-any-responsibility-to-give-up-sins\/","url_meta":{"origin":8286,"position":1},"title":"Since Christ died for our sins, do we have any responsibility to give up sins?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 28, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have been telling people that, though I fully accept that Jesus sacrificed Himself for our sake and that He also died because of our sins.\u00a0 People tell me that He only died for our sins, and I find this confusing because in my mind mentally, verbally, and physically\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29521,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-love-the-lord-but-i-must-be-grieving-him-so-much\/","url_meta":{"origin":8286,"position":2},"title":"I love the Lord, but I must be grieving Him so much","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 15, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Here is my story: I married a man, but after a year his sister put me out of the house because of my drinking and partying with friends. I had nowhere to go, so I met people who took me to another town. I wasn't saved at that time,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14638,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-you-explain-all-these-similar-phrases-about-dying-with-christ-and-dying-to-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":8286,"position":3},"title":"Can you explain all these similar phrases about dying with Christ and dying to sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 15, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What do these phrases mean? I have been crucified with Christ I am dead in Christ I have died to Christ I am dead to sin I am dead in sin I am resurrected with Christ Answer: Let's examine each phrase in the statement in which it was given:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51963,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-people-who-rejected-the-ministry-of-the-holy-spirit-not-christians-in-actual-fact\/","url_meta":{"origin":8286,"position":4},"title":"Are people who rejected the ministry of the Holy Spirit not Christians in actual fact?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 15, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: The\u00a0article on the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit as a sin that cannot be forgiven did not really explain why those people accused Jesus of casting the demons by the power of Beelzebub. \u00a0In reality, there are people who professed to be Christians but reject the ministry of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":91269,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/our-purpose-in-living\/","url_meta":{"origin":8286,"position":5},"title":"Our Purpose in Living","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Hugh DeLong \"Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8286\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}