Does the Fruit of Habitual Bad Behavior Prove That Someone Is Not Saved?

5

THE FRUIT OF HABITUAL BAD BEHAVIOR

This reflects a well-known comment that I’ve heard from fellow believers: How can someone be saved if they continue in habitual sin?

When an article surfaces indicating that someone in church leadership was found guilty of an egregious sin, I wonder how many of us think to ourselves, ‘I can’t believe they did this.’ And if the sin was found to be repeated, many would conclude that the person had lost their salvation.

Did you know that some churches contend that if someone in leadership has been found to have committed a scandalous sin, the matter should be left to God alone to address? The members are told to mind their own business and keep their mouths shut. Otherwise, they’ll be labeled as maligners and contributors to church division.

Here’s an interesting story about a Christian couple who have encountered many such actions of inappropriate conduct involving church leaders and the treatment they received when they tried to address such incidents.



AFTER A LEADER’S SIN HAS BEEN REVEALED

When a church leader chooses sexual sin, the effects of that sin are like a boulder dropped into a still pond. The ripples engulf everything in [their] path. Though my husband and I have enjoyed a faithful marriage of nearly 39 years, the sexual sins of our church leaders have been like a series of boulders being catapulted into our lives at regular intervals. When I reflect on our church experiences over the last four decades, I realize that a disproportionate amount of our time and emotional energy has been spent dealing with the [cover-ups] of various church leaders.

To put it mildly, it’s taken a toll:

We’ve been thrown under the proverbial bus when I inadvertently got too close to the truth our lead pastor had been hiding: we later learned he was addicted to internet porn and had been having an affair. To protect himself, he ruined my reputation by branding me a malcontent and gossip, driving our family from a church we loved. We discovered the elders knew all about his sin, and covered for him for years because they believed he was “anointed to lead” the fast-growing congregation.

We’ve witnessed the spectacle of victim-shaming [firsthand] when a struggling young woman I was mentoring confessed to me that she was in a “friends with benefits” relationship with her ex-boyfriend, the youth pastor of our church. I encouraged her to share her story with the pastor and other church leaders. She was presumed guilty by church leaders, while the youth pastor was protected from losing his job because he was related to some of the church leaders. He lost his position only after it was revealed he was also secretly dating an underage youth group student.

We’ve watched sentiment attempt to overrule common sense when my husband, then an elder in a non-denominational church, had to deal with a man who wanted to serve in children’s ministry while [he] was still on probation for statutory rape. Some in the congregation believed he had evidenced a changed life and “deserved” a second chance. Never mind that this would have violated the terms of his parole and put the church in serious legal jeopardy.

We’ve been asked to keep toxic secrets – and refused. A church leader and her husband confessed to us they had both had affairs in recent years, and didn’t want the rest of the church to know about it. She told us she believed the church would fall apart without her in her leadership role. We could not agree to this. As relative newcomers, we chose to leave the church quietly, stuck lugging their secret out the doors with us.

We’ve been called upon to support many people devastated by pastoral sexual abuse. I know too many #churchtoo stories, but perhaps the most painful came as my husband and I walked for more than a year with a woman reeling from the revelation that a male youth pastor had been sexually abusing her teen son (and several other boys) for years. The truth about the abuse came out after the youth pastor committed suicide. The woman’s son plunged into a deep depression as he struggled with feeling responsible somehow for the man’s death

We’ve had to stand with a powerless victim of a lecherous pastor before a board of his peers. The truth eventually came out that this leader had a history of inappropriate relationships that had stayed just this side of full-blown physical affairs. He was removed from his [position,] and the church sent him to counseling, which was a more hopeful ending than most we’ve witnessed.

I’ve wondered if my husband and I were sending off some kind of beacon that drew these troubles to us like moths as though we were lamps on a summer night. I don’t wonder anymore. For every big-name celebrity pastor whose name hits the headlines because of unholy sexual behavior, I’ve heard more stories than I can count of those wounded by the selfish actions of leaders they trusted. (Thankfully, we have also known men and women of integrity and humility to counterbalance the bad leaders we’ve encountered.)

We well know there was no five-step quick fix to resolve any of these situations. Even as a bystander, I’ve brought my own sin into these [situations] in the form of angry frustration and words I’ve carelessly spoken out of turn. I’ve also been tempted to self-pity (“Why us? AGAIN?”). But as I reflect back, what makes me saddest about this string of stories is that the amount of time my husband and I have expended on them is time we have not been able to use for other, more life-giving pursuits.

In fact, we all suffer the effects, either directly or indirectly, of a leader’s fall. Those in a congregation not directly involved experience the effects of distracted leaders who are spending too much time either hiding their sin or having too many meetings, negotiations, and conversations once their sin has come to light. Teaching, worship, and discipleship are less than they could be for every member in a congregation when leaders are using their time and energy in dealing with sexual sin in the inner circle.

Another tidal wave ripple in the pond we’re all experiencing is the erosion of trust in our spiritual leaders. Earlier this year, Christianity Today reported the results of [a] Gallup poll that noted that only 40% of the people they surveyed trust clergy to be honest and ethical, down from 67% in 1985. Once trust has been violated, it is [triply tough] to rebuild that trust: a bit of innocence has been stripped from every member of a congregation when a leader falls, and the reputation of the Church [is] tarnished in the local community and beyond. Once the truth about a wayward leader emerges, every one of us in the Church is given a bit of additional baggage to schlep with us as we must process the hypocrisy of those we trusted to guide us spiritually.

We in the Church may use occasions where a leader’s sin has been exposed to remind ourselves they’re clay-footed humans – just like the rest of us. That’s true , but so is the warning in James 3:1: “Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” The well-meaning coaching to seek to trust God no matter what a fallen leader may do is helpful only up to a point.

We have every right to expect faithfulness to God and the people in their care from our leaders. As a result, we also have every right to feel anger, confusion, and grief when one among us falls. We are all members [of] one body. Of [course,] we’ll feel it. We should. I do. And I sorrow.

Even as sin is being revealed among us, I recognize this spotlight as nothing less than the holy love of God searching us out, calling each one of us and all of us to confession, repentance, and humble pilgrimage forward. Truly, every single one of us carries a nest of sin within our brokenness. In that, we are not different than our leaders.

I contend that none of us are helped toward maturity when a leadership team’s response is a single, all-church meeting or [an] elders’ letter informing us of a leader’s sin. We will not be able to org chart our way out of our current state. The boulders of sexual misconduct are all around us, threatening to shipwreck victims and bystanders alike.

I remember well the folksy quote of a lay preacher I heard years ago: “You can do it God’s way, or you can do it God’s way.” We can submit to God’s ways right now or accept [His discipline and reformation] later. The God who can move mountains (and boulders) can bring cleansing and renewal to us, and it will not look much like the minimal or nonexistent processing of leaders’ sins we see happening in some streams of the Church – the beautiful Bride – in this moment.70

That was quite a riveting story. This brings us to the question at hand.

If a fellow believer manifests ungodly conduct over and over again, does this indicate that they’re not saved or that they have lost their salvation?

Here’s the perspective that we’ll attempt to validate.



●REPETITIVE UNGODLY BEHAVIOR PROVES THAT THE PERSON IS NOT SAVED

We’ll begin by introducing the prominent verse used to support this argument. Please turn to 1 John.



1 John 3:9

No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. NASB

This is a fascinating verse about a Christian’s chronic sinning. It says that no one who is born of God (has been made the recipient of divine life71; those who are born from God through conversion reflect his character now in them, and those who are not [reveal] this by their nature as well72) practices sin (be in a state of sin73). The verb practices in Koine Greek is in the present active indicative. This conveys the idea that it’s a statement of fact that a genuine believer will not continually choose to commit sin as he used [to;] he doesn’t sin habitually as he formerly did.74



Why not?

Because God’s seed (new divine life; new divine nature) abides (remains) in him. Therefore, he cannot continually sin because he is born of God (born into the family of God).

What we can deduce is that if someone professes to be a Christian and lives in perpetual sin, either they can’t be saved or they have lost their salvation.

Another example of Scripture that supports this rendering is found in Philippians. Please turn there.



Philippians 3:17-21

17 Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. NASB

The Apostle Paul was instructing the brethren in the church at Philippi to follow his example (be fellow imitators in the things of Christ, pursuing after Christlikeness) and observe (fix their attention on) those, like himself, who set the pattern (a righteous example). Then he makes this shocking statement about some of the believers.

18 For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, NASB

Many walk (live) as the enemies (a life where there is no evidence that the heart is renewed75 by allegedly aligning themselves with Judaizing teachers who wish to incorporate [circumcision and other ordinances of the Law] with the gospel76) of the doctrines and cross of Christ.

19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. NASB



Why are they characterized as such?

The apostle gives three specific reasons why this is so.

●Their god is their appetite (they worship their appetites, sexual gratifications, and self-indulgences; they live not in any reference to eternity77).

●Their glory is in their shame (they not only sinned but boasted of it and gloried in that of which they ought to have been ashamed78).

●They set their minds on earthly things (their whole study and attention are taken up with earthly matters; their attention is directed to honor, gain, or pleasure, and their chief anxiety is that they may secure these objects79; they are only thinking about doing what people of this world do80).



Then Paul sums up the consequences of their lifestyle. Their end (inevitable outcome; fixed doom) is destruction(ruination by separation from the presence of God in eternal judgment81). This indicates either that they were never saved, professed Christians, or that they lost their salvation.

Let’s take a look at one more section of Scripture that could be used to support church teaching that if someone commits habitual sin, either they’re not saved, or they have lost their salvation.



Suggested Reading: Hebrews 6:1-9

1 Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, NASB

The writer to the Hebrews believers, some of whom were members of the church at Jerusalem, was reminding them that it was time that they separated themselves from the elementary (basic; fundamental) teaching (doctrine) about Christ and press on to maturity (the more elevated Christian [doctrines] and the holier living that it was their duty to attain82).



Then the author discusses the spiritual state of believers who fall away.

4-5 For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, NASB

In the case (cannot be undone) of those (believers):

●who have once been enlightened (as these Hebrews listened to the message of the New Testament, the Holy Spirit enlightened their minds and hearts to clearly understand it. The work of the Spirit with reference to their understanding of New Testament truth had been so thorough that it needed never to be repeated for the purpose of making the truth clear to them83),

●and have tasted (some infer that these are unbelievers, professed Christians, of something less than full participation84; tasted but did not eat85). As such, they:

●have been made partakers (they went along with the Spirit to a certain extent) of the Holy Spirit,

●have tasted (admired) the good word (the gospel) of God and the powers (special blessings) of the age to come (the future dispensation of the rule of the Messiah),

6 and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God, and put Him to open shame NASB

●have fallen away (fallen back to an evil life); they cannot be renewed again to repentance (be saved again because they were never saved in the first place).

There we have it. More verses could have been added, but what has been presented should be enough to support the theology at hand. Now let’s take a look at the opposing view.



●HABITUAL SINNING BY BELIEVERS DOES NOT PROVE THAT THEY WERE NOT SAVED OR HAVE LOST THEIR SALVATION

We’ll reintroduce the same three sections of Scripture from the opposing view. Each of them will be translated differently. The first passage is from 1 John.



1 John 3:9

No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. NASB

No one who is born of God practices sin. The verb born in Koine Greek is a perfect passive participle. Perfect refers to the tense. It indicates an action committed in the past with present continual results. At a point in time, when someone responds to the gospel, they become born of [God and,] permanently, a spiritually alive individual.86 Subsequently, they can’t practice sin.



Why not?

Because God’s seed (new divine life; new divine nature) abides (is effective) in him. Therefore, he cannot continually sin (from what a Christian truly is at the level of his regenerate being87; so long as it (the divine nature) energetically abides, sin can have no place88) because he is born of God.

This isn’t to say that a believer can’t habitually sin. They can. However, when they were born again, they became a perfect new creation with a supernatural nature. Our who and our do are a million miles apart. Our do cannot affect our who, i.e., the new person we’ve become in Christ.

While operating in their new nature, a believer can’t habitually sin. If a believer continues to function in their old nature, they’ll exhibit sinful words and actions, but this won’t change their spiritual standing. However, the divine nature will unfortunately be rendered inoperative. To be begotten of [God and to sin] are mutually exclusive states.89

Next, let’s turn to Philippians.



Philippians 3:17-21

17 Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. NASB

The Apostle Paul was instructing the brethren to followhis example (be fellow imitators in the things of Christ, pursuing after Christlikeness) and observe (fix their attention on) those, like Paul, who set a pattern (a righteous example). Then he makes this shocking statement about some of the other believers.

18 For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, NASB

Many walk (live) as the enemies (a life where there is no evidence that the heart is renewed90 by allegedly aligning themselves with Judaizing teachers who wish to incorporate [circumcision and other ordinances of the Law] with the gospel91)ofthe doctrines and cross of Christ.

19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. NASB



Why are they characterized as such?

The apostle gives three specific reasons why this was so.

●Their god is their appetite (they worship their appetites, sexual gratifications, and self-indulgences; they live not in any reference to eternity92).

●Their glory is in their shame (they not only sinned but boasted of it and gloried in that of which they ought to have been ashamed93).

●They set their minds on earthly things (their whole study and attention are taken up with earthly matters; their attention is directed to honor, gain, or pleasure, and their chief anxiety is that they may secure these objects94; they are only thinking about doing what people of this world do95).



Then he says that these believers are those whose end (inevitable outcome) is destruction(ruin). The word destruction is a Greek noun (apooleia derived from apollumi). I found that the information on this word was limited, so I had to pursue another avenue to learn more. Excuse me for the minutia.

I decided to use a concordance to find out where and how many times this word appears in the New Testament, excluding the four gospels. It occurs eleven times. To find a close meaning, I had to determine two things. First, what other references were derived from the same Koine Greek word? Second, were the people to whom this word applies similar in context, meaning they were unlearned and followed teachers who were leading them astray?

There are three other references that use the same noun in Koine Greek and are derived from the same Greek word. Of these, one Scripture seems to address people of a similar profile. This verse is found in the book of 2 Peter.



2 Peter 3:16

as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. NASB

The Apostle Peter was discussing some of the teachings of the Apostle Paul, stating that certain of them are hard to understand (using writings that are difficult to interpret96). Because of this, some believers who are untaught (people who have not received sufficient instruction in the interpretation of [Scripture] and who are therefore prone to error97)and unstable (believers who have been misled [by false] teachers98)distort (apply those portions of the Bible to a purpose for which they were never intended99; the act of distorting or misinterpreting the Scriptures through faulty methods of interpretation100; who, in perplexing texts, instead of comparing them with other Scriptures, waiting until God, by His [Spirit,] make them plain, hastily adopt distorted views101) to their own destruction (their own destruction of themselves102; is met with God’s judgment103—divine discipline).

The believers who were described as being the enemies of the cross of Christ were misled by false teachers and thus adopted distorted views about Christian living. Sexual sins were considered expressions of God’s love. Unscrupulous financial gain was understood as a blessing from God.

This kind of behavior doesn’t prove that they weren’t saved or that they had lost their salvation. Lack of recognition of sin and its confession will bring about divine discipline. And if a believer refuses to repent, they’ll be devoid of the Holy Spirit’s power, guidance, and teaching, resulting in the misery of the soul and a false testimony of the new person in Christ that they had become at salvation.

In conclusion, let’s turn to Hebrews.



Suggested Reading: Hebrews 6:1-9

1 Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, NASB

The writer to the Hebrews believers, some of whom were members of the church at Jerusalem, was reminding them that it was time that they separated themselves from the elementary (basic; fundamental) teaching (doctrine) about Christ and press on to maturity (the more elevated Christian doctrines and the holier living that it was their duty to attain104).



The author then discusses the spiritual state of believers who fall away.

4-5 For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, NASB

In the case (cannot be undone) of those (believers):

●who have once been enlightened (as these Hebrews listened to the message of the New Testament, the Holy Spirit enlightened their minds and hearts to clearly understand it. The work of the Spirit with reference to their understanding of New Testament truth had been so thorough that it needed never to be repeated for the purpose of making the truth clear to them105),

●and have tasted (from experience; enjoyed) the good word of God (Christian teaching).



Some infer that these are unbelievers, of something less than full participation106; tasted but did not eat107). However, a closer look at the verb tasted will clarify this outlook.

The verb tasted (geusamenous derived from geomai) in Koine Greek is the same verb used in Hebrews 2:9.

But we do see Him who has been made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. NASB

That Christ should taste death is for the benefit of everyone. The verb taste in Koine Greek is in the aorist middle subjunctive. The aorist tense means that at a point in time, He will have to choose (middle voice: the subject participates in the results of the action), (subjunctive mood: the action of probability, maybe He will, maybe He won’t) to taste death (participle: the purpose as to why someone is doing something). Jesus could have decided not to go to the cross; however, as this was not the case, He had to experience death, not just sample it, to pay the debt owed to God the Father and satisfy His justice.

Therefore, from this analysis, the idea is that the Hebrews tasted (experienced) the good word of God (of salvation, of initial conversion). As such, they:

●have been made partakers (participated together) in the influences of the Holy Spirit,

●have tasted (from experience) the powers (special blessings) of the age to come (the future dispensation of the rule of the Messiah).

6 and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God, and put Him to open shame NASB

Unfortunately, for some, they:

●have fallen away (have abandoned their faith; after all of the great spiritual privileges they had experienced,108 this implies an entire renunciation of Christianity or a going back to a state of Judaism, paganism, or sin109) andcannot be renewed to repentance (to experiential restoration).



Restoration to what?

Please go to the book of 1 John to find out what this means.



1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. NASB

If any believer sins, they should confess what they have thought, said, or done to God the Father. Why? So they can receive His forgiveness. This has nothing to do with the forgiveness of sins that took place on the cross. The word forgive means to remove discipline (chastisement) from God, to remove lost fellowship with God in time, and to recover the filling of the Spirit. This involves sanctification, i.e., our spiritual walk.



If there’s no repentance (no turning from their sin; no confession), they’ll be under divine discipline until God’s final judgment.

1 John 5:16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this. NASB

If this lifestyle or these decisions to live in such a manner continue, the believer might die what’s called the sin leading to death, i.e., God takes them home to heaven.

Believe it or not, there’s another fruit that many churches say must be evidenced, or otherwise the person isn’t saved. What is it? Turn the page to find out.



Endnotes

70Michelle Van Loon. “After A Leader’s Sin Has Been Revealed.” 23 December 2025

.

71Weust’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament.

72IVP Bible Background Commentary.

73The Pulpit Commentary.

74Adam Clarke’s Commentary.

75Barnes’ Notes.

76Adam Clarke’s Commentary.

77Adam Clarke’s Commentary.

78Matthew Henry’s Commentary Pc Study Bible version 5, 2005. BIBLESOFT. WEB. 16 December 2024

˂http://www.biblesoft.com>.

79Barnes’ Notes.

80UBS New Testament Handbook Series.

81Bible Knowledge Commentary/New Testament.

82Barnes’ Notes.

83Weust’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament.

84Bible Knowledge Commentary/New Testament.

85The Bible Exposition Commentary/New Testament.

86Weust’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament.

87Bible Knowledge Commentary/New Testament.

88Jamieson, Faucet, and Brown Commentary.

89Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary.

90Barnes’ Notes.

91Adam Clarke’s Commentary.

92Adam Clarke’s Commentary.

93Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

94Barnes’ Notes.

95UBS New Testament Handbook Series.

96UBS New Testament Handbook Series.

97UBS New Testament Handbook Series.

98UBS New Testament Handbook Series.

99Barnes’ Notes.

100UBS New Testament Handbook Series.

101Jamieson, Faucet, and Brown Commentary.

102The Pulpit Commentary.

103Bible Knowledge Commentary/New Testament.

104Barnes’ Notes.

105Weust’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament.

106Bible Knowledge Commentary/New Testament.

107The Bible Exposition Commentary/New Testament.

108Bible Knowledge Commentary/New Testament.

109Barnes’ Notes.



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