We all know that we are sinners. And we know that there is no combination of our own works, our own efforts, that can save us. But having been saved by the death and life of Jesus Christ, does it make any difference how we live our life?

Now, common sense tells us that it does make a difference. We aren’t comfortable with the idea that a man can be saved, then go out and be a womanizer for the rest of his life, and be in the kingdom of God in the end. I know there are those who say that the womanizer never was saved in the first place, but I think that is merely a convenient way of disposing of a very troubling question.

We can say that when a man goes through the waters of baptism and is forgiven all his past sins, that he will then live a life of faith and obedience. Or we can say that he must live a life of faith and obedience. But in the end either way we have said the same thing—that a life of obedience and faith comes between conversion and the kingdom of God. That a Christian has to sit up and take notice, he must put some effort into the Christian life, he must make some choices. Listen to what Paul wrote the Christians in Corinth, beginning in chapter nine of 1 Corinthians.