Mat_5:16 "Let YOUR light so shine before men, that THEY may see your good WORKS, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." (KJV)
1Pe_2:12 "Having your conversation HONEST among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by YOUR good WORKS, which they shall BEHOLD, glorify God in the day of visitation"(KJV)
Eph 2:8-9 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."
The gospel is the promise of salvation for all by grace through faith, not of works. I find it the most interesting thing to observe how men seem to be fixated on that one part of the story to the neglect of the life after that great miraculous experience we call salvation. After all, how many salvation experiences does one go through in this earthbound lifetime?
Let's get some things out of the way first...You are not more righteous because of what you do after salvation for Christ is our righteousness and there is no adding to His perfect righteousness.(Philippians 3:9) You are not, in the same vein, less righteous because of what you do. That is the great mystery of salvation. So the question is, if what I do doesn't add or deduct from the state of my righteousness, what then is the reason to worry about how I live? Good question.
1Co_15:34 "Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame."
We cannot forget that in the great scheme of things there are two kingdoms which are vying for territory and influence in the lives of people. The kingdom of darkness, and the kingdom of light. This is a very critical basic understanding for anyone to understand the concept of works after salvation. When we are numbed to this truth (which is one of the great aims of the enemy), we tend to live out our days as believers in blissful drift and lethargy. In this article, I will define works as the lifestyle, speech, thought and associations of a believer.
In 1 Cor 15:34, Paul admonishes the believers to awake to righteousness! This is a hearty admonition to a group of people whom the Apostle believed to be asleep in their righteousness. And the state that he awakes them from, is apparently a state of sinning (missing the mark). It is indeed possible to experience genuine salvation and still fall asleep, marked by a lacklustre Christian walk.
I have found that the hostility towards Christians adhering to a certain code of ethics and morality is rising, and this from within the Church. For men have followed after their lusts to the neglecting of the bare fact that the life of the righteous does have standards. Not rules to righteousness, but works that attest to this righteousness. Christ put it well in Matt 5:16 (above quoted). It is not in any kingdom interest to tell people that they can live in any way they want, as long as they are saved. Neither is it prudent to abuse the grace of God as the banner under which all manner of folly should reside.
Rom 6:1-2 "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?"
The most obvious reason why we should strive to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the life we profess to reside within us is that it is an evangelical tool in itself. There is nothing more powerful than the life of God in action. The gospel should be lived as much as it should be preached. To stand and say "it is no longer I that lives but Christ that lives", means that people who look at you can also concur. Jesus goes to the extent of saying that the heathen (they) will glorify God(worship) because of your good works.
With that in mind, it would be good to look at how we carry ourselves, how we talk to others, what entertains us etc. For many they can purchase, promote, propagate material that is clearly sensual, carnal, anti-God, and they see nothing wrong. However, this is the reason why the heathen feels no conviction in observing the life of the Christian. There is little, if anything, to aspire to. For many the difference in appetites pre-salvation and post-salvation is the addition of gospel music to the playlist shared with all the other music that is derogatory to the tenets of the Christian faith. I use music only as an example for this issue cuts across the vast spectrum of Christian activities. For some, the jury is still hung on whether they actually got saved on that day when they said the "prayer".
The worst I have heard, I think, is some brashly claiming, that "it doesn't matter how bad you are living, as long as you have settled your destiny". That is the height of carnality. To render powerless the life of God and to hold it selfishly to yourself. Throughout the Pauline Epistles, Paul(the Apostle of Grace as he is fondly known), is found appealing to the moral fibre of his listeners, their conduct as Christians mattered to him. It seems to me, that for Paul, the Church was by design meant to live as light and demonstrate a higher standard of morality than the world. And this isn't strange for indeed this is the body that men nicknamed "little Christs" or Christians. In Galatians he spells out the kind of fruit that develops on the branches that are the recreated human spirit, love joy, peace, meekness, longsuffering etc. This fruit develops only because we have allowed the life in the Vine to flow through us.
Col 1:10 "That ye might walk WORTHY of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;"
I find it rather beyond imagination to see Christ bumping and grinding to Beyonce's latest in the name of artistic appreciation, nor marvelling at the awesomeness of Kanye West's lyrical prowess. Even more disturbing a picture is that of the King of Righteousness sitting comfortably as men spew all manner curses and obscenities. Alarmingly, we are in the days where Christians attend secular concerts in order to get "inspiration" for their "gospel" albums. It, unfortunately, doesn't look like the Christ I see in scripture. But that is me. Bear with me in my "old-fashioned" Christianity.
Php 4:8 "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
Finally brethren, let us aspire to a life that is ambassadorial, a life that speaks of and identifies with the kingdom that we so violently claim to be part of. I would have gone into how even the very Bishopric has so callously trodden down the expectations of this Way, in spite of the very clear call to blamelessness that Paul made, however, we are after all supposed to be gracious. Until the next blog, keep growing into the measure of the stature of Christ.
Yours in His Royal Service
George Mwamlowe
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