“Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choice of you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble.”
Peter encourages us to be diligent to make certain of God’s calling and choice of us. That is a peculiar statement in light of other scripture. The Word of God is clear that we are saved through faith, yet Peter says our diligent obedience makes it more certain… You don’t hear many sermons on this, yet Peter speaks of it almost casually.
Salvation is by grace through faith, and that faith is a gift from God, so we have nothing to boast about. But this verse says our diligent practice of obedience confirms the certainty of that gift… That’s confusing because in Romans, Paul refers to his own “good works” as rubbish in acquiring salvation.
So how do we unite these two passages?
Let’s approach it this way… The appearance of apples on a tree… is not what makes it an apple tree, it simply proves that it is one. In the same way, our conduct is not what makes us Christians, but it offers proof that we are.
Christians aren’t perfect and are still badly in need of grace, but our faith is confirmed as we strive to be more like Christ… “Fire insurance” salvation, where you walk the aisle, recite a prayer, and just continue down the same road, is not found in scripture.
Jesus said, "follow me", and that means changing direction. Grasping the relationship between obedience and salvation is challenging. But study it anyway… As you grow consume the meat of the Word, not just the milk. Dig deep into scripture. Verses like this can be uncomfortable but our goal is not comfort… it is holiness. Christ offers to be your Lord and Savior; and those titles are inseparable – so be diligent about His calling.
As you grapple with Omnipotence, Holiness, and the myriad of other topics in scripture that can be hard to understand, make sure that you spend as much time obediently living out the things in His Word that you do understand.
“The Bible recognizes no faith that does not lead to obedience, nor does it recognize any obedience that does not spring from faith. The two are opposite sides of the same coin.” - A. W. Tozer
No comments:
Post a Comment