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It is certainly true that whoever repents of sin and believes on Christ as
Lord and Savior will be forgiven. But is that where it ends? After we are
forgiven of our sins, does the Lord expect us to become holy as he is holy?
We know
that we are saved by grace through faith, and not by works. According
to Jesus, the thief on the cross who confessed Jesus as the
Messiah entered Paradise after he died. He certainly had no opportunity
on earth to become holy. But what of those who
live out their lives on earth after they repent and follow Jesus
Christ?
That old bumper sticker
The slogan
on the bumper sticker declares that we are simply forgiven of our
sins and not expected to live holy lives.
Or at least, although
it would be good if Christians could live holy lives, it is optional.
This is because, it is taught, we have received God’s
righteousness when we believe on Jesus. Therefore we are already perfect
in God’s sight---even though in reality we may still be sinning.
As long as we truly believe in Jesus, we are forgiven of our sins and
we have eternal life. Living a holy life, although certainly desirable,
is therefore optional. Thus we place great emphasis on faith and much
less emphasis on works and personal holiness. This is what we are generally
taught.
Let’s
see what Scripture teaches.
The Sermon on the Mount
In Matthew 5, Jesus gives what is traditionally called the Sermon
on the Mount. He begins with the Beatitudes. He tells us his disciples
that they are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Then
he reveals the following.
Matthew
5:17 “Do not think that I have come to
abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them
but to fulfill them.
18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the
smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear
from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Anyone who breaks
one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the
same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices
and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of
the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter
the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus
taught that in order for us to enter the kingdom of heaven, our righteousness
had to surpass that of the Pharisees
and the teachers
of the law. None of the commandments in the Law and the Prophets would
disappear “until everything is accomplished.” We believe
that everything was in fact accomplished when Jesus died on the cross
for
our sins,
thus abolishing in his flesh the Law with its commandments
and regulations (Ephesians 2:15). When we put our faith in him and
his atoning sacrifice for us on the cross, then we receive God’s
perfect righteousness which surpasses that of the Pharisees.
But does
that mean that we do not need to grow in
personal and practical righteousness in our daily lives?
Is personal righteousness important?
After
that, Jesus taught his disciples about the judgment for being angry
with one’s brother---the fire of hell. He taught
that the consequence of lusting after women was being
thrown into hell. He taught
about the sin---in some cases---of divorce and remarriage. He commanded
his disciples to love their enemies. Finally, Jesus concluded with
the following command.
Matthew 5:48 Be
perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Are we
to conclude from all this extensive teaching that being perfect is
entirely optional? If that is the case, why should
we bother to teach
God’s people to avoid anger, lust, divorce, and hate? Is it only
for the sake of having a blessed life on earth? No, there is more to
it than simply earthly blessings. Personal holiness is not optional.
We are in fact expected to grow in
holiness
after we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior.
It takes every effort on our part
Leviticus 11:45 I am the LORD who brought you up out of Egypt to be
your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.
After Jesus Christ delivers us from slavery to sin in Egypt, he commands
us to be holy, because he is holy.
Throughout
the New Testament epistles, there is exhortation after exhortation
to live a life which is worthy of the calling we
have received. This takes actual effort on our part.
2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life
and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own
glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great
and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in
the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by
evil desires.
5 For this very reason, make
every effort to add to your faith goodness;
and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to
self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to
godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For
if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep
you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our
Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted
and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past
sins.
10 Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to
make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you
will never fall, 11 and you will receive
a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
How to never fall
Peter
concludes his exhortation by telling us that we will never fall if
we obey his teaching. We may reasonably conclude conversely that
if we do not add to our faith goodness, knowledge, self-control,
perseverance,
godliness,
and so forth; we might in fact fall. Note that we begin
with faith. But to that faith we must add the listed qualities in increasing
measure in order to make our calling and election sure.
We see therefore that we must expend effort in order to receive a
rich welcome into the kingdom of God. What kind of effort?
Paul teaches
us how not to be disqualified for our heavenly prize. Whatever “the
prize” means in the following teaching, certainly no disciple
of Christ wants to risk being disqualified for it.
1 Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners
run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They
do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown
that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like a man running
aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27 No, I
beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others,
I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
The Olympic Games
Paul uses
the metaphor of a highly-trained athlete preparing to compete for
Olympic gold. In such training, the athlete treats his
body most strictly and harshly. He
does not give in to its desires (although he does give it proper nourishment
and rest), but “beats
it and makes it his slave.” In this way he will not be disqualified
for the gold.
Exactly
what is Paul beating into submission here? He is certainly not referring
to his physical body. To find the answer,
let’s
see what he says in his very next breath.
1 Corinthians 10:1 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact,
brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they
all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in
the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4
and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual
rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless,
God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered
over the desert.
6
Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our
hearts
on evil things as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters, as some of
them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and
drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry.” 8 We should
not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day
twenty-three thousand of them died. 9 We should not test the Lord, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. 10 And do
not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying
angel.
11 These
things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings
for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages
has come. 12
So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t
fall!
Putting our flesh to death by the Spirit
Paul is
teaching us to “beat our body” by
putting to death the works of our flesh. Before we followed Christ,
we were slaves to
our sinful nature and were powerless to stop sinning. But after being
born-again by faith in Christ, we are able by the Spirit to put to
death the misdeeds of our body (Romans 8:13). It is essential for us
to exercise authority over the works of our flesh in order to live
a holy life. Scripture teaches us to rebuke our flesh with spiritual
violence. If we do not, both Peter and Paul teach that we might fall.
To learn
how to exercise authority over our flesh and make it submit to us,
please click here.
After such a harsh warning, Paul balances his teaching with a word
of comfort. God is faithful and will help us. But this certainly does
not absolve us of the responsibility doing our part in putting the
works of our flesh to death.
13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And
God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can
bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that
you can stand up under it.
Conclusion
We are
indeed forgiven of our sins when we put our faith in Christ as Lord
and Savior. But after that we must be sanctified and grow up
to become like Him in holiness. If we do not, our salvation may be
in doubt. Definite effort on our part is involved in our salvation. We
are not talking about doing "dead works" to earn our salvation, but
growing the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our personal lives as the outward
evidence and fruit of our salvation.
Galatians
5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Hebrews 10:12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice
for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. 13 Since that time
he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, 14 because by one
sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
Now
we can better understand the seeming paradox between believers who
have been made perfect forever by Christ's atoning sacrifice---yet
who are still being made holy.
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