THE NECESSITY OF SANCTIFICATION AND GOOD WORKS

 

By Gary Ray Branscome

 

          As Christians we need to continually be on guard because our “adversary the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone” he can destroy (1Peter 5:8). And, his attack on the doctrine of sanctification is twofold. On one hand he promotes the idea that one can live in sin and still be saved, while on the other hand promoting the idea that salvation depends on works. This has led to a confused debate over the question of whether good works are necessary for salvation. So let us look at what the Bible says.

         

          First of all, the Bible plainly tells us that a person can be saved without works. We not only have the example of the thief on the cross, to whom Christ said, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). We are plainly told that “A man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law” (Romans 3:28). We are also told that we “Are saved by grace through faith… Not of works,” and that, “if it [salvation] is by grace, then is it no longer by works” (Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 11:6). Therefore, the real question is not whether a person can be saved without works, but: Can a person who is living in sin – with no desire to change his sinful lifestyle –be truly repentant? And, the Biblical answer to that question is a resounding NO.

          The words, “Among you one hears of sexual immorality  And you are still puffed up. Shouldn’t you rather have been filled with sorrow? and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this?” tell us of a man who claimed to be saved, yet was unrepentant and living in sin (1Corinthians 5:1-2). The fact that the Holy Spirit instructed the congregation to deliver him “to Satan” tells us that he was not saved (1Cor. 5:5). And, the words, “Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor sex perverts, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor foulmouthed revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were: but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God,” tell us that those who are “sanctified” do not continue to commit those sins (1Corinthians 6:9-11). In addition, the words, “The law is not meant for a righteous man, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinful, for the irreverent and profane, for those who strike or kill their fathers or mothers, for murders, for those who sin sexually, for sodomites, for kidnapers and slave traders, for liars and perjurers, and for any other thing that is contrary to sound teaching,” tell us that those who engage in such sins place themselves back under the law, and thus under condemnation and outside of God’s grace (1Timothy 1:9-10).

          When the Bible says, “If we sin willfully or deliberately after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins remains, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and raging fire, that will devour the enemies of God. Anyone who despised Moses’ law died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses: How much more severely, do you think a man deserves to be punished, who has trampled the Son of God under foot, treated the blood of the covenant, by which he was sanctified, as an unholy thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, Vengeance belongs to me, I will repay, says the Lord. And again, The Lord will judge His people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God,” those words are a warning to anyone who would trample Christ “under foot” by twisting the forgiveness He offers into an excuse to sin (Hebrews 10:26-31). That warning from the book of Hebrews comes straight from the Old Testament, where we read, If any soul sins through ignorance, then he shall bring a she goat of the first year as a sin offeringBut the soul that does anything presumptuously, whether he is born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproaches the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people” (Numbers 15:27-31)

 

          The words, “He [Christ] is the one whom God has exalted to His own right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, to give to Israel repentance, and forgiveness of sins,” tell us that “repentance and forgiveness” go hand in hand (Acts 5:31). Now while it is possible for someone who is sorry for a particular sin to rationalize that sin rather than seeking forgiveness, because our faith is a “gift of God” it is impossible for someone who is unrepentant to truly have faith in Christ (Ephesians 2:8). It is impossible because the idea that a person can live in sin and still be saved is a false gospel, and God does not give anyone faith in a false gospel.

          Because one who is truly repentant will have, “A heart that is humbled and sorry for sin,” he will not want to sin (Psalm 51:17). And, his desire to lead a sin-free life will produce works. However, those works come after he repents, and thus after he is saved. For that reason those works are a fruit or by-product of repentance and salvation, not what saves us. They are necessary only in the sense that true repentance will always produce an improvement, but that improvement is not what makes us righteous, and it is not what saves us.

          Furthermore, because works cannot save us, they cannot keep us saved. On the contrary, the words, “Kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation,” tell us that we are kept by the power of God (1Peter 1:5). For even though the improvement in our behavior after we are saved is pleasing to God, the words, “All of our righteousnesses are like filthy rags,” tell us that it is only because the “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us of all sin,” that the improvement in our behavior is acceptable to God, without that forgiveness it is worthless (Isaiah 64:6, 1John 1:7).

          The following passages tell us that just as God has saved us by His grace, He will keep us by His grace. “He who hears my word, and believes on Him who sent me, has everlasting life, and will not come into condemnation; but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24). “The Lord is faithful, and will strengthen you, and keep you from evil” (2Thessalonians 3:3). “He who has begun a good work in you will continue it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him against that day” (2Timothy 2:12). “Now to Him who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before His glorious presence with great joy, To the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen” (Jude 1:24-25).