One sister asked: “Is it possible to have true faith in God
without a lifestyle that shows it?” This question doesn’t ask if we are saved
by our lifestyle or good deeds? It is merely asking whether true faith or a new
life in Christ will be accompanied by the fruit of obedience and an obedience
lifestyle? Jesus addressed this very question:
·
“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.
Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. (Matthew 7:15-20 ESV)
According to Jesus, a true prophet or teacher will
produce the appropriate fruits, as an apple tree which produces apples. (Notice
also that the fruit don’t produce the apple tree, but the apple tree produces
the fruit. Likewise, fruit doesn’t produce salvation but salvation produces the
fruit. I merely mention this to point out that we are not asking about the
cause of salvation but whether every saved person will produce fruit.) There
are many other verses that conclude along with Jesus that a true faith, which
leads to salvation, will produce fruit – the evidence of a true faith:
- If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out 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, purifies us from all sin. (1 John 1:6-7)
- We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. (1 John 2:3-4)
However, this
question about fruit is more nuanced. How? There are other verses that teach a
good tree doesn’t always produce good fruit. Paul provided an example of
ministers who had saving faith but were not always faithful to the Gospel:
- For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ… If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames. (1 Cor. 3:11-15)
Evidently, their
faith was genuine. It was a saving faith, but their faithfulness was lacking.
Others had saving faith, but they often failed to reflect this faith:
- For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world. (1 Cor. 11:29-32)
It is disturbing to
see that God had taken the life of some believers so that they wouldn’t suffer
condemnation. We are reminded of Ananias and Saphira, whom God had struck down
(Acts 5).
How do we put these
two sets of truths together? Scripture promises that there will be fruit of
salvation but that it will be a mixed bag. For one thing, we all continue to
sin:
- We all stumble in many ways. (James 3:2)
· If we say we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If
we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1
John 1:8-10)
Clearly, Scripture
does not teach that we will achieve perfection in this life but only when Jesus
returns for us (1 John 3:2). Consequently, we can resolve what seems to be a
contradiction by understanding that an apple tree will not always produce
apples. On occasion, it will produce poor quality apples. Besides, fruit is
only produced in season. Therefore, when someone claims to be a prophet or a
teacher, he is also claiming to be in season. Therefore, he needs to be able to
show adequate fruit, although an apple need not be dangling from every branch.
Lot, Abraham’s
nephew, was termed “righteous”:
· …He rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed
by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among
them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless
deeds that he saw and heard) (2 Peter 2:7-8)
However, Lot had
been leading a compromised life. Not only had he chosen the sinful Sodom as his
home, after it’s destruction, his two daughters had gotten Lot drunk to have
sex with him – not exactly the best of fruit.
The Corinthian church had been quite carnal (1 Cor. 3:1). Paul reprimanded them because they were living, on occasion, as the world was living. However, they had saving faith
The Corinthian church had been quite carnal (1 Cor. 3:1). Paul reprimanded them because they were living, on occasion, as the world was living. However, they had saving faith
· Or do
you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not
be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men
who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor
revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were
washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)
Although they were
behaving as those who would “not inherit the kingdom of God,” they were
different. They had saving faith. I would also assume that they had fruit, but
their fruit was immature. In Paul’s Second letter to the Corinthian church, he
was a bit more upbeat about their fruits, describing the brethren as “a letter
from Christ delivered by us” (2 Corinthians 3:3). Their fruits were becoming
more apparent.
God’s measure of
fruit and of faith is gracious. Even though the Israelites were in full
rebellion against both God and Moses when they heard the Egyptian chariots
approaching (Exodus 14), God perceived fruit where we wouldn’t have:
· By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on
dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.
(Hebrews 11:29)
In God’s eyes, Israel
had exemplary faith. It led them through the Red Sea to safety. This act of
obedience was also fruit.
I thank God that He
sees fruit where we do not. Let this be a lesson for us to be slow to judge.
Of what does this fruit consist? Should we
expect fruit from new and immature believers? I think we should expect some minimal fruit. Even though it might not be their
season to bear fruit, there should be the fruit of their mouth, which
accompanies water baptism:
· Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves
you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good
[cleansed] conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 3:21)
Of what does this
appeal consist? Confession and repentance from sin, faith in Christ and the commitment
to follow Him! Without this, water baptism is unthinkable.
· …if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is
Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be
saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one
confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him
will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek;
for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.”
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:9-13)
This doesn’t mean
that we aren’t saved until we make a public confession “that Jesus is Lord.”
The last two verses indicate that we merely have to “call on Him” in faith,
according to who He is. This is because salvation is a free gift of God “lest
any should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). It is granted apart from obedience (good
deeds):
· Then what becomes of our boasting? It is
excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For
we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. (Romans
3:27-28)
Must new believers also continue to repent of their sins as evidence (fruit) of
salvation? The dispensational theologian, Lewis Sperry Chafer,
taught that even a refusal to repent did not impact the question of salvation.
Instead, insisting on repentance for salvation violated the Gospel:
- Scripture is violated and the whole doctrine of grace confused when salvation is made to depend on anything other than believing. The divine message is not “believe and pray”…”believe and repent”…If they were as essential to salvation as believing they would never be omitted from any passage wherein the way to be saved is stated. (Major Bible Themes, 187).
However, there is a
wealth of verses that indicate that repentance is required for salvation:
· Then he [Jesus] opened their minds to
understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the
Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that
repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all
nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” (Luke 24:45-47)
- When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, "So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life." (Acts 3:19; 2:38; 8:22; 11:18; 3:36; 5:31; 17:30-31; 20:212; 2 Cor. 7:10; Tim. 2:24-25).
Some wrongly allege that repentance is an additional
requirement, which turns salvation into a work of the law enabling us to boast.
Instead, repentance is a product of the gift of new heart which gives rise to both faith and repentance, opposite
sides of the same coin. We can’t turn to something without turning away from
something else. To turn to God in faith is also to turn from the old life in
repentance. Paul contrasts repentance from the work of repentance (Acts 26:19-20) in the same way that faith is
contrasted from its work through love.
Besides these fruits, we commit to follow our Lord
(Galatians 5:24), however difficult this might be and however many times we
must repent of our failures. If we refuse to repent, we demonstrate that we
lack saving faith, since repentance must accompany faith:
·
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. (1 John 3:9)
To continue in deliberate sin is a refusal to repent, and it
serves as evidence that saving faith is lacking. It is also a refusal to
confess sins and receive forgiveness and cleansing (1 John 1:9). This makes us “sinners”
as opposed to those who sin but have been justified and sanctified (1
Corinthians 6:11).
When we repent, we are saved, restored into fellowship (Luke
17:3), into the church (2 Corinthians 2:5-11), and to God (Jeremiah 3:12-14).
We are also given a fresh start (1 John 1:9). True repentance is also an
acknowledgement that we have failed to follow our Lord and a commitment to
follow Him. Therefore, I think that a true repentance fulfills the requirement
to seek the Lord before all else (Matthew 6:33). Repentance fulfills the most
basic Scriptural requirement and eventually obedience to our Lord (1 John 1:6-7;
2:3-5; Job 42:1-8; Psalm 32, 51).
Repentance is the dividing line. It is the one act that
makes the angels in heaven rejoice. Jesus concluded a parable about a lost
sheep this way:
·
Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in
heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who
need no repentance. (Luke 15:7)
Repentance is the supreme evidence and fruit of salvation,
the ultimate victory.
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