This is Part 3 of 3. You can read Part 1 here. You can read Part 2 here.
Recap
In yesterday’s post, I quoted Heath Lambert as saying that sanctification involves striving and moral effort (trying to be good). My contention, and that of others, is that our sanctification, godliness, holiness, power over sin, and pleasing God are all taken care of in Jesus (His perfect life, death, resurrection, ascension, and seating), and we have no striving to do to accomplish it; we are only to look to Him in faith for all these things to be accomplished.
But Lambert uses several Bible verses to support his point (laid out in Part 2), so it’s important to look at them all. Here they are, with my commentary.
Lambert’s verses to support striving theology
1 John 3:3
verses 2-3) Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
How can we purify ourselves? How can we possibly purify ourselves? It is a hopeless mission, as I expressed in my 1994 Bible note in Part 1.
The only way our spiritual purification can take place is through the means Heath Lambert suggested when he cited 2 Corinthians 3:18.
Therefore we all, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord with uncovered face, are transformed from glory to glory into the same likeness, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
We are purified not by works or effort or striving, but by faith. We purify ourselves by looking to Him alone.
2 Corinthians 10:5
(verses 3-5) For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God for the destruction of strong holds), casting down reasonings and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and leading captive every thought into the obedience of the Christ.
How are thoughts led captive to Christ? Is it by “moral effort,” as Heath Lambert said? No, it is by looking to Christ in faith. Our weapons are not the works of the flesh or the human mind, but they are the spiritual weapons of faith.
Colossians 1:10
(verses 3-14, with verse 10 boldface) We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the charity which ye have toward all the saints,
for the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens, of which ye have already heard by the word of the truth of the gospel,
which is come unto you, as it is in all the world, and brings forth fruit, as it does also in you, since the day ye heard it and knew the grace of God in truth. . . . For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, asking that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that ye might walk worthy of the Lord, pleasing him in everything, being fruitful in every good work, and growing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might, according to the power of his glory unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness, giving thanks unto the Father, who has made us worthy to participate in the inheritance of the saints in light, who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the remission of sins.
How is fruit brought forth from a tree? How are grapes produced from a vine? How does a garden produce its . . . produce?
This article has now been truncated because it has been editing and incorporated into the book . You can find that book here.
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May i learn to live as “ABIDING in JESUS IS MY ONLY WORK”!!!!!!
“”I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.
I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.”
John 15:1-2, 5, 8 NASB
http://bible.com/100/jhn.15.1-2,5,8.nasb
Yes. That’s it. Exactly. Love to you, Quietrunner.
Thank you for this blog (and the previous two). I am still learning to rest and abide in Jesus and believe that my sanctification and holiness is already accomplished by Him instead of by my striving and working. Thank you for the beautiful and freeing truths you so clearly showed.
I’m blessed to hear they’re an encouragement, Kayla. Thank you!
Oh my! The power of the Truth. Thank you for stringing these verses together to create a pathway to the inner courts of heaven and my soul. Good-bye striving. Hello abiding. =8-D
Love this! Thank you, Sandra!
Oh, yes! It is a transformed heart–the new creature regenerated through the power of the Holy Spirit- which even DESIRES to be pure and holy.
Jesus taught that He is the vine and we are the branches (John 15) and without Him we can do nothing. Striving is useless in our own power. As Paul write in Philippians, “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure”.
God alone can transform our hearts and minds, and enable us to desire to please Him with FAITH and it is His Spirit in us which enables us through grace to actually allow Christ to live and love in and through us.
We joyfully unite with Christ in living our daily life, consciously practicing His presence, so our words and deeds, reflect His love.
That is not striving. It is resting IN HIM. Knowing He does it all.
As Paul also wrote in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Speaking to Jesus with my first conscious thought each morning helps me to be aware of Jesus’ presence with and within me, and to ask Him, by His grace through faith to “unite my thoughts, wirds, and deeds, in joyful presence with Him”.
Thus I am enabled to live wrapped in His righteousness and love alone.
Before sleep at night, I review the day with Him, examining myself and rejoicing with Him in what He has accomplished in and through me. If He reveals an area where I could let Him love more in and through me, I ask Him to do so, knowing I am already forgiven and equipped to live a life pleasing to Him.
Yes, I love this. So beautiful and freeing. Thank you, Mary.
Rebecca, your blog series relates well with my recently discovered truth about our salvation.
Here is my reply to a discussion about pickjng up our crosses & dying to self on our salvation journey:
Jesus has done it once for all. It’s time to break the shackles. We have a spiritual death and a resurrection. We can’t fully comprehend either in our fallen state. In between, we live our lives, loving our Savior as best we can, and should rest comfortably in the arms of God, trusting in the end, his love is enough.
It’s time to stop putting impossible crosses on ourselves and each other. Our salvation gives us the truth of God’s conscience in the Holy Spirit. We should know when we’re wrong. When we reflect on our behavior and change course, we accept responsibility for our lives. That’s the only cross I see to pick up.
There is NO dying about it. We are to live fully and pursue God’s goals along the way.
He knows our hearts, the good and evil at play in our thoughts. No one can lie to God; though we often try by making excuses.
But, his consummate love is beyond us. It’s our daily honesty before God that weighs our hearts at the throne, not the judgements or expectations of others.
If you know you’re good with Him, you’ll be good with everyone.
I was told many times by religious leaders “to take up my cross, suffer, and die to myself” (striving) as I worked out my own salvation, in my abusive marriage. I desperately strived for decades under this yoke of oppression, to the point of despair and near defeat.
It wasn’t until I abandoned it all that God brought me back to this core truth: It is finished in Jesus the Christ. God’s love made it all happen. And that’s all I, or any of us, need.
Thanks for you insightful words.
Yes, I very much agree with you, and have written a series on the unBiblical teaching of “dying to self.” Here is the first post in that series: https://heresthejoy.com/2017/07/dear-christian-your-marriage-is-not-supposed-to-kill-you/
Not sure if anyone still sees comments (2024!) but I have always struggled with a striving mentality (expecting God to answer prayer for salvation of family. I have such a fear of not being able to fast (feel awful physically) yet constantly think that the Lord will not save our son or other family members BECAUSE of my refusal to do so. That in the end they will look at me and say “WHY didn’t you love me enough to fast?” I get ashamed and think that I am not loving my adult son/New Age sister enough because I can’t seem to overcome this.
I’ve been saved 50 years! I love Jesus but feel like the ball is in my court. I pray and decree scripture etc. I know I am saved by faith (not my works) but struggle so with feeling “disobedient”.
This does sound like a terrible struggle, Phyllis, and I’m so sorry. I pray you’ll be able to rest in the love of the Lord for you, as you trust Him with the souls of your son and sister.