MUST THE FRUITS OF OBEDIENCE ACCOMPANY FAITH?

Does a saving faith bear fruit? According to Jesus, it does. He likened a faithful and godly heart to a good tree:

·       “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matthew 7:15-19 ESV)

A tree which fails to produce good fruit was to be thrown into the fire. It was disqualified for salvation. This doesn’t mean that obedience or fruit are conditions for salvation, but they clearly are the inevitable fruit of salvation, as apples are the inevitable fruit of an apple tree.

However, this issue remains contentious among sincere Christians. In the first chapter of “Freely by His Grace,” Michael D. Halsey wrote that it is wrong to conclude that salvation requires the fruit of salvation and faith:

·       [This] becomes a “deal” in which God does His part, and man upholds his end of the bargain with its complete obedience and total surrender. (6)

Halsey understandably objects to anything that might make salvation seem to depend on anything apart from faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). However, the opposition doesn’t deny this. Instead, they claim that salvation, which requires only faith and grace, will produce the fruit of obedience if there is a real faith.

It is as simple as this – If I trust in my doctor, I will do what he tells me to do. If I don’t, it means that I really don’t trust in him as I claim to. The same pertains to saving faith. If we trust in the Savior, we will do what He tells us to do, as a good tree will inevitably bear good fruit. Of course, as Halsey notes, there is an intense struggle (Galatians 5:17) that stands in opposition to true faith. Consequently, from a human standpoint, the fruit might not appear acceptable. However, God knows our struggles and sees our obedient heart!

As a real tomato seed will produce tomatoes, a real faith will eventually produce obedience. Scripture will not allow us to disconnect faith from its fruit of obedience, a connection we find throughout the Scriptures. To demonstrate this point, I will just cite verses from the Book of First John for the sake of brevity:

·       This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:5-7)

If we practice disobedience, we are not in fellowship with our Savior. Neither do we have faith. Instead, we are liars who are terribly deceived. To be “cleansed of our sins” requires a real faith that “walks in the light.” A faith that refuses to walk in the light is not a real faith. A real faith wants to follow its Savior. If we claim to be in Him by faith, we are a liar if we do not follow Him:

·       And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. (1 John 2:3-6)

If we do have a real faith, we will not practice sin. John claims that if we do practice sin, this is evidence that we are the children of the devil and not of God:

·       No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. (1 John 3:9-10)

These verses demonstrate that a real faith will eventually produce fruit in season. Also, if we have a real faith, we will endeavor to love the brethren. If we don’t, it means that we don’t have a real and living faith:

·       We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. (1 John 3:14-15)

If we refuse to love, it means that we do not have faith and the Lord:

·       Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:7-8, 12)

To hate the brethren is also to hate God and to demonstrate that our faith is a fraud:

·       If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. (1 John 4:20)

Similarly, if we consistently refuse to help our brethren in any way, this suggests that we don’t have a living faith.

·       But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? (1 John 3:17)

Again, if we refuse to keep His commandments, it is likely that we do not trust in Him or abide in Him:

·       Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us. (1 John 3:24)

I know that these verses can provoke painful doubts. However, instilling fear, when appropriate, might be the most loving thing to do. Why? Because a false hope can keep us from a real hope! More importantly, there is a remedy available to all of us:

·       If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

Some of us also have a very tender conscience and will fear that we aren’t doing enough to be saved. However, John realizes this danger and counsels:

·       By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. (1 John 3:19-20)

God is the final judge and not our heart. But how are we to “reassure our heart?” John answers in two ways:

·       Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. (1 John 5:1)

Faith is the condition of salvation. We are saved by grace through faith alone apart from any of our deeds. It’s a free gift available to any who call upon God. However, as we love the brethren, we grow in the assurance that we have a saving faith. If we are not living for the Lord, we will not have the assurance that we are His. If we don’t really care, it means that we lack a saving faith and won’t humble ourselves before the Lord to confess our sins. If we truly care and confess our sins, it is likely that we do have a saving faith.

A real faith and trust will want to obediently please the Savior. If it doesn’t want to do this, then something is amiss.