John 10:28 - I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.

There is an all-important distinction Christians must make between horizontal consequences of sin and vertical condemnation for sin.

When a Christian friend falls into sin, lots of people confuse these two categories, which results in two basic responses. Some people question their friend's salvation: "How could anybody really be a Christian and do something like that?" Others say, "Just let it go. After all, nobody is perfect. Don't we believe in grace and forgiveness?"

The first group needs to be reminded that God's love for us and acceptance of us does not in any way depend on what we do or don't do but rather on what Jesus has done. Who we are before God is firmly anchored in Jesus' accomplishment, not ours.

The second group needs to be reminded that consequences on the ground of life are real. Real people make real mistakes that require real action to be taken. So for instance, we can talk bad about our boss without sacrificing one ounce of God's acceptance, because before God, our sin has been atoned for, our guilt has been removed (Isaiah 6:7). But we might still lose our job. We can make the mistake of driving one hundred miles per hour without losing a bit of God's love for us, because nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. But we might still lose our license.

When we confuse consequences with condemnation and vice versa, we don't know how to make sense of things when our brother or sister makes a big mistake.

The truth is that when we are in the throes of consequences for foolish things we do, our only hope is to remember that "there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). In fact, the kind of suffering that comes from the consequences of sin is like a brushfire that burns away every thread of hope we have in ourselves and leaves only the thread of divine grace - a thread that will never break no matter how foolish we may be.

Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,