Some have said that salvation is objective. But there are many aspects of salvation which are subjective as well. Salvation has not only solved the problem of sin before God, it has also solved many other problems inside us. Within us, we now have a new life, a new nature, the Lord, and the Holy Spirit. As this is the case, can we be loose? I am not saying that a Christian will never sin. But I am saying that if a Christian does sin, it is a suffering to him. It is not a joy. If a man thinks that he has received a license and a certificate to sin just because he now knows that he is eternally saved, and if such a one does not feel anything when he sins, has no sense of suffering, I doubt that such a one is a true child of God. I am saying that a person is eternally a child of God only after he has first become a child of God. I am not saying that a person can be a child of God eternally without ever once having been a child of God. The Lord is within us. He forbids us to sin.

Third, a person as mentioned above does not know the issue of God's salvation. For those of us who have been saved by God, there is surely a consequence, a result, and an issue. What is this issue? After a man is saved, can he then break the law just because he is now justified in Christ? Can he now freely transgress the Ten Commandments from beginning to end? Can he now do anything he wants to do? Please read the words of Paul in Philippians 3:6 through 9: "As to zeal, persecuting the church; as to the righteousness which is in the law, become blameless. But what things were gains to me, these I have counted as loss on account of Christ. But moreover I also count all things to be loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, on account of whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as refuse that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness which is out of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is out of God and based on faith." Paul had righteousness through faith in Christ. He received righteousness through faith in God, and not through the work of the law. Was he then free to do anything and to be irresponsible and loose just because of this? He said that the things which were gains to him he had counted as loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus. On account of Christ, he suffered the loss of all things and counted them as refuse. Hence, with every regenerated Christian, mature or immature, there is a desire for holiness, a love for God, and a heart to please Christ. I do not know why this is the case. I only know that this is the issue of salvation.

You may reason that because Paul was an apostle, he was therefore able to speak as he did in Philippians 3. Let us now look at the ordinary believers. Second Corinthians 5:14-15 says, "For the love of Christ constrains us because we have judged this, that One died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all that those who live may no longer live to themselves but to Him who died for them and has been raised." Here Paul gave us an answer. A man will not be irresponsible and loose just because God has saved him and Christ has resurrected for him. On the contrary, because of Christ's death and resurrection, a person will live to "Him who died for him and has been raised." While he is living on earth today, he does not live to himself, but to the Lord, who has died and resurrected for him.

Thus, the reason a person can say that he can be loose because he knows that he is eternally saved is due to three things: First, he is ignorant of the way, the process, of salvation; second, he does not know the content of salvation; and third, he does not know the issue of salvation, that is, he does not know what salvation can do for man. If you see these three things, immediately you will see that eternal salvation will not only keep you from lawlessness, but it will also make you godly. Eternal salvation will keep us from looseness and will make us sober.

Peter told us in his letter, "According to His promise we are expecting new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells" (2 Pet. 3:13). Are we free to be loose now that we know where we are going? In the following verse, Peter continues by saying, "Therefore, beloved, since you expect these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace without spot and without blemish." Because we know that we will be with Him, we cannot be loose or lawless. If we do not know where we are going, we will turn around in circles. But anyone who has a goal, who knows where he is going, will surely choose the straightest path.