These two issues are very fundamental for the Christian faith, therefore it's very important to have knowledge about what they mean.

HOLD  ON  TO  YOUR  SALVATION! When you have come to know Christ it's very important that you hold on to your salvation. The Bible tells us that if we with our mouth confesses that Jesus is Lord and in our heart believes that God has raised Him from the dead, then we are saved. <Romans 10:9-10> If you have done this and are really serious to follow Jesus then you are saved! You don't need have to have any special feelings to know that you are saved. Just trust in what God saids in His Word (The Bible).

So no matter what the devil might tell you, you are saved! The Devil will surely try to confuse you and tell you that you are not saved but if you just hold on to what the Bible saids and confess that you are saved and now belong to Jesus, then the confusion will go. <Joh 1:12>

YOU  ARE  A  NEW  CREATION  IN  JESUS! The Bible tells us that when we have come to know Christ we are new creatures. <2 Corintians 5:17> That doesn't mean that God has changed our outer looks but that God has transformed us on the inside and put a willingness in us to do His will. Because we are new creations we now begin to think differently and act differently than we did when we weren't saved. Instead of doing sinful things we now try to do what pleases the Lord.

THE  PAST  IS  GONE! <2 Corintians 5:17> also tells us that when we have come to know Jesus our sinful past is gone, forever! The Devil has no right to condemn you for things that you have done before you come to the Lord. It's gone forever cause the Bible tells us that God has forgiven you all! <Psalms 103:12, 1 John 1:7> He has not only forgiven your sins, He has also forgot them! <Hebrews 10:17> In God's eyes it's like you have never sinned. So when Satan tries to accuse you for things you have done before you were saved, rebuke him and say to him that the blood of Jesus has cleansed you from all sin and that you now are a new creature in Jesus.

I'm gonna give you a picture that will help you to understand this better. As you know butterflies comes from ugly grubs. When the grub is fullgrown it becomes a puppet and out from the puppet comes a beautiful butterfly. The butterfly never return to be a grub again, the grublife is gone forever. That's exactly what we are in Christ, we are new creatures! The past sinful life is gone forever and has nothing to do with us now. <2 Corintians 5:17>

Still there are things that we have to struggle with when we are saved. It's an ongoing process every day to become more like Jesus.

BUT  WHAT  HAPPENS  IF  I  SIN  SINCE  I  HAVE BECOME  A  CHRISTIAN?? Even when we try to live for Jesus it's hard to live perfectly. Sometimes we miss the mark and fall in sin. But if we regret what we have done God forgives us and we can start again with him. <1 John 1:9-10> It's very important though that we turn from the sin and ask for His forgiveness. When we do so God forgives us. <Proverbs 28:13>

DON'T  GIVE  THE  DEVIL  A  CHANCE! You see, our enemy sends his temptations in our way and tries to get us to fall in sin. If you give him an invitation he will take it. <Ephesians 4:27> Therefore, give him no opportunity!

If there is a specific area in your life where you often fall in sin you better go to the root of the problem and remove it! You won't get rid of it until you remove it and with your actions show that you repent from it. If it's pornography, trash the zines, if it's secular music, get rid of it and so on and on. Whatever it may be, go to the root of it and remove the temptations that are making you to stumble. A good way too overcome temptations is also to flee from them and avoid things and places that makes us to stumble. <2 Tim 2:22>

<Acts 3:19> saids "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord". The Greek word for repent "Metanoeo" means "to feel regret and remorse and to turn around and go the opposite direction". You see God doesn't just want to hear that you are sorry but He wants you to repent! He wants you to go the other direction and in your actions show Him that you are serious in cleaning those stumble blocks out of your life.

Sin is nothing we can play with, it's serious matters since it's is destroying our relationship with God. Therefore we shall do all we can to remove it from our lives.

WE  WILL  NEVER  BE  TEMPTED  BEYOND  OUR  STRENGTH! The good news though is that we will never be tempted beyond our strength! God will always open a way out from every temptation we meet. <1 Corintians 10:13>

WE  ARE  DEAD  TO  SIN! The Bible also tells us that in Christ we are dead to sin! <Romans 6:11> We are still able to sin but we don't have to! We can resist sin cause in Christ we are dead to it. If you consider yourself as dead to sin it get's a lot easier to resist it. Some really good scriptures that talk more about this are <Romans 6:1-11> and <Galatians 5:24>.