Evangelicals and their behaviour

Link to The Heresy here.

Apparently in practice they are no different from anyone else.

So is Salvation pie in the sky when we die?

One of the things that I HATE about me, is that some sins I enjoy. I don't beat my wife, don't get roaring drunk, abuse the kids or have affairs. But I KNOW there are things that I do, or want to do that I know are sin. A few months back I gave in briefly to something I thought was dealt with, and found myself crying out to God "where's the power in salvation? Why am I not changed? Why do I want to do these things?".

My experience is that salvation is a joint process. I have to want to be changed and have to put on the clean clothes of new behaviour to acquire the benefits of salvation. If I beat my wife then I have to wear the clothes of love, respect and protction toward her. If I surf net porn then I need to look for ways to sanctify my use of the internet - to bring God into the web with me, rather than surfing 'in secret' where we hope he doesn't see. If I have a problem with alcohol then I need either wear abstention or clothe myself with moderation. This all needs to be done in faith, asking Jesus to make real in our lives the actions that we are performing.

Sometimes God just steps in sovereignly and changes us in our habits. I believe that when this happens it's usually because those habits are not part of us, and are 'acquired'. But the thing that reflect our characters - usually excesses or deficits - these are the things that require putting on the clean clothes of salvation to see our characters redeemed. I've no data for this last paragraph - only experience.

I suspect a significant part of Christians not seeing change is because they aren't taught to look for or search for it. For a long time people have been taught "Jesus takes our sins away" without the necessary accompanyment "take up your cross and follow me". The sacrifice may not even know what the altar look like.