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(29) If you know that He is righteous, you know
that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.
(3) And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies
himself, just as He is pure.
(9) Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for
His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.
(10) In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest:
Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does
not love his brother. (11) For this is the message that you heard from the
beginning, that we should love one another, (12) not as Cain who was of
the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his
works were evil and his brother's righteous. (13) Do not marvel, my brethren, if
the world hates you. (14) We know that we have passed from death to life,
because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in
death.
(1) Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is
born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten
of Him. (2) By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God
and keep His commandments. (3) For this is the love of God, that we keep His
commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. (4) For whatever is born
of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the
world—our faith.
(22) And whatever we ask we receive from Him,
because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His
sight. New
King James Version Change Bible versions
The application of Paul's statement in Ephesians 2:10 is becoming ever clearer. He writes that we
are indeed saved by grace
through faith.
However, he adds, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good
works, which God
prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." Sanctification is a process
involving a period of intense work: walking in love,
keeping the commandments, and overcoming sin
and the
world, as John's first epistle clearly stipulates. This process within a
relationship with the Father and Son brings us to completion.
Sanctification does not consist only of a lot of talk about religion. Nor
does it consist only of spending large amounts of time studying the Bible and
commentaries. As helpful as these might be, God also calls for a great deal of
action. The apostle John again supplies helpful exhortation: "My little
children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth"
(I John 3:18). It could not be stated more clearly that the
love of God is an action. Further, Jesus exhorts all His disciples, "If you love
Me keep My commandments" (John 14:15). "Keeping" indicates consistent effort to obey
as a means of expressing our love, loyalty, and submission to Him.
Paul writes in Romans 5:5, "Now hope
does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts
by the Holy
Spirit which was given to us." The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is
essential to salvation,
and God gives it to those who obey Him (Acts 5:32). As we saw earlier, Paul says in Romans 8:9, "Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of
Christ, he is not His." God gives His Holy Spirit for the very purpose of making
one His child. It also allows one to witness on His behalf, to produce the fruit
of the spirit in preparation for His Kingdom, and to glorify Him.
Jesus says in John 15:8, "By this My Father is glorified, that you bear
much fruit; so you will be My disciples." Sanctification is the period of our
converted lives when God expects us to provide evidence that we are indeed His
converted children. In fact, the fruit produced by our works, themselves enabled
by God, are the evidence of our conversion.
Some things in life are absolute certainties: Where the fruit of the labors of
conversion are, there the Spirit of God will be found. Where those fruits are
absent, the people are spiritually dead before God—they lack the life of the
Spirit. Put another way, where there is no holy living, there is no Holy
Spirit.
The works of sanctification are the only sure sign that one has been called
of God and imbued with His Spirit. Notice something Peter writes on this:
"[Christians are] elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in
sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus
Christ" (I Peter 1:2). Paul adds in II Thessalonians 2:13, "But we are bound to give thanks to
God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning
chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the
truth."
He also writes in Ephesians 1:4, ". . . just as He chose us in Him before the
foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in
love." When Paul saw the Ephesians' attitudes, their manner of life, and the
evidence of their conversion, he knew they were part of the elect of God. He
could thus honestly write to them with glowing praise. Many more similar verses
could be added to these.
Out of ignorance, weakness, or lack of understanding, a person may break some
of God's commands. However, anyone who boasts of being one of God's elect while
willfully living in sin is only deceiving himself—and his claim may very well be
wicked blasphemy.
Thus, because of the works that are performed during sanctification, it will
always be a visible condition. As Jesus says in Matthew 7:18-20: "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can
a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down
and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them."
— John W. Ritenbaugh
To learn more, see:
Is the Christian Required To Do Works? (Part
Four)
Related Topics:
Commandments, Keeping
Elect , The
Fruit, Bearing
Holy Spirit, Conditions for Receiving
Keeping Commandments
Keeping Commandments as Love
Sanctification
Works
Works as Evidence of Growth
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