“Sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it” (Gen. 4:7, emphasis added).
As was pointed out in the previous chapter, our sanctification is a joint effort on the part of God and ourselves. We grow to be progressively more like Jesus as we cooperate with the Father. He provides our ability and motivation to be holy. His “divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3, emphasis added). He gives us a new nature and leads us by His indwelling Spirit. But He still leaves something for us to do. We still have a free will. We must follow the Spirit who indwells us, and this every true Christian does to some degree. Otherwise, he shows himself to be a counterfeit believer (see Rom. 8:5-14).
It is also our responsibility to renew our minds with God’s Word, for we must know His will before we can do it. Even in that, God helps us through the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit and through divinely-anointed human teachers. As our minds are renewed with His truth, we are transformed (see John 8:31-36; Rom. 12:2). And, of course, we also have the responsibility of being not just hearers of the word, but doers (see Jas. 1:22).
This balance we must maintain. Although Scripture speaks of both human and divine responsibility, too many emphasize one at the other’s neglect. Historically, to the one side are the pietists, who strive to be holy in their own strength. To the other side are the quietists, who are abhorred with the idea of human striving, and who leave everything in God’s lap. Both sides are armed with long lists of scriptures, and if they’d each only take a look at the other side’s list, they’d realize they’re both right and both wrong. The truth lies in the middle, where both lists are given equal honor. Perhaps no single scripture expresses this balance better than Philippians 2:12-13:
So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (emphasis added).
The fruit that the Spirit produces within us is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, but only with our cooperation will these fruit be manifest in our lives. We must do something, because, according to Scripture, there are at least three forces that oppose the fruit:
(1) God has allowed us to remain “in the world,” a world that tempts us to be unloving, downcast, anxious, impatient, unkind, evil, unfaithful, harsh and self-indulgent.
(2) Although God has filled us with His Spirit, given us a new nature and broken sin’s power over us, He has also allowed a residue of the old sinful nature to remain in us, what Paul called “the flesh.”
(3) Although we have been delivered from Satan’s kingdom and are no longer his spiritual offspring, we find ourselves, like the Christians of old, in an arena filled with roaring lions who desire to devour us (see 1 Peter 5:8). Satan and his demons harass and tempt us to do what God forbids.
These three are our enemies: the world, the flesh, and the devil.
Why Has God Left Us in Enemy Territory?
If God desires our holiness, why has He allowed these enemies to live among us? What divine purpose do they serve?
Like the wicked nations God permitted to remain in Israel’s land after Joshua’s death, our enemies are also allowed to remain that God might test us (see Judges 2:20-3:1). By them our love and obedience, and thus our faith, are tested. Faith can only be tested where unbelief is possible. Love can be tested only when hatred is an alternative. Obedience can only be tested where disobedience is possible.
To the ancient Israelites God said:
If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God is testing you to find out if you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him (Deut. 13:1-4).
Incredibly, God tested His people by means of a false prophet! But does He not possess all knowledge as well as perfect foreknowledge? Why then is there need of a test?
The reason is this: in order for God to foreknow the outcome of a free moral agent’s test, that free moral agent must be tested at some point in time. Only what can be known in time can be foreknown before time. Consequently, our temptations, tests and trials, limited by time and space, serve a purpose in the plan of the One who lives outside time and space. They provide the means whereby our faith is proved genuine. Peter wrote to Christians under fire:
In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ....Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation (1 Pet. 1:6-7; 4:12-13, emphasis added).
If for no other reason, we should rejoice under persecution because it allows us the opportunity to show our enduring faith. Saving faith perseveres, but faith can persevere only if there is opposition and temptation not to persevere.
What is Our Responsibility?
Because modern evangelical theology has become so contaminated with antinomian ideas that distort God’s grace and nullify human responsibility, today too many professing Christians piously pass off their biblical responsibilities to God. Beguiled by false teaching about grace, to them any mention of human effort is considered anathema, and under the subtle guise of defending God’s glory, they label any teaching about holiness as legalism. Works is a dirty word that doesn’t belong in a Christian’s vocabulary. And certainly we don’t want to entertain any thought that we must do anything now that Christ’s work is finished. That would be adding works (God forbid!) to our salvation!
In hopes to remedy this unscriptural reasoning, I’ve compiled a list of what a significant portion of the New Testament says that believers should do. The essential component of human responsibility in the sanctification process is easily understood from the many scriptures that contain commandments and instructions. When we read them, we can no longer doubt that Christians are free moral agents who can will to be holy. Likewise, exposed is the folly of those who want us to believe that God is robbed of glory when we add our efforts toward sanctification. Clearly, God expects those who possess His Holy Spirit to do certain things by the power of the Spirit. Stated succinctly, we must strive against sin in all its forms (see Heb. 12:4). We must pursue the sanctification “without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14).
The following list reveals, from the four Gospels and the book of Romans, God’s expectations for our behavior. If the New Testament states that a certain behavior is wrong or sinful, then God obviously holds people accountable for such behavior, indicating that human responsibility is a factor in that wrong behavior.
Although you might be tempted to skip over the following list, for your own benefit I ask that you read it slowly. It can impact you in a way that could be life changing.
What does God expect us to do? Here is a list. Clearly, none of these things will happen in our lives unless we do what God says.
God expects us to:
Not tempt Him (Matt. 4:7).
Worship the Lord our God and serve Him only (Matt. 4:10).
Repent in order to be saved (Matt. 4:17).
Rejoice and be glad when we are persecuted (Matt. 5:12).
Let our lights shine before men so they may see our good works (Matt. 5:16).
Keep and teach God’s commandments, even the least of them (Matt. 5:19).
Not murder, hate, or harm another person in any way (Matt. 5:21-22).
Work toward reconciliation with those we’ve offended (Matt. 5:24-25).
Not commit adultery or be lustful (Matt. 5:27-28).
Remove anything that causes us to stumble into sin (Matt. 5:29-30).
Not divorce except for cases of unrepentant unchastity (Matt. 5:32).
Make no swearing oaths and never lie, but always keep our word (Matt. 5:33-37).
Not take our own revenge, but be extremely tolerant of others, even doing good to those who mistreat us (Matt. 5:38-42).
Love our enemies and pray for our persecutors (Matt. 5:44-47).
Strive to be perfect (Matt. 5:48).
Do no good deed for the purpose of receiving the praise of others (Matt. 6:1).
Give alms (Matt. 6:2-4).
Pray (Matt. 6:5-6).
Not use meaningless repetition when we pray (Matt. 6:7).
Pray after the pattern of “the Lord’s prayer” (Matt. 6:9-13).
Forgive others (Matt. 6:14).
Fast (Matt. 6:16).
Not lay up treasures upon earth, but lay them up in heaven (Matt. 6:19-21).
Serve God and not money (Matt. 6:24).
Not worry about our material needs (Matt. 6:25-32).
Seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness (Matt. 6:33).
Not judge others (Matt. 7:1-5).
Not give what is holy to dogs (Matt. 7:6).
Ask, seek and knock (Matt. 7:7-11).
Do for others what we want them to do for us (Matt. 7:12).
Enter by the narrow gate (Matt. 7:13).
Beware of false prophets (Matt. 7:15-20).
Do what Jesus said or face destruction (Matt. 7:24-27).
Beseech the Lord to send out workers into His harvest (Matt. 9:38).
Confess Jesus before others and not deny Him (Matt. 10:32-33).
Love Jesus more than our closest relatives (Matt. 10:37).
Take up our cross and follow Jesus (Matt. 10:38).
Lose our life for Jesus’ sake (Matt. 10:39).
Take Jesus’ yoke upon us (Matt. 11:28-30).
Be “for” Jesus and gather with Him (Matt. 12:30).
Not blaspheme the Holy Spirit (Matt. 12:31).
Do the will of the Father (Matt. 12:50).
Honor our parents (Matt. 15:4-6).
Not be defiled by evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, lying and slandering (Matt. 15:19-20).
Deny ourselves (Matt. 16:24).
Be converted and become like children, humbling ourselves (Matt. 18:3-4).
Not cause any child who believes in Jesus to stumble (Matt. 18:6).
Cause no one to stumble (Matt. 18:7).
Not despise any children (Matt. 18:10).
Rebuke in private any brother who sins against us (Matt. 18:15).
Obey Jesus’ instructions regarding church discipline (Matt. 18:16-17).
Forgive our brothers from our hearts (Matt. 18:35).
Love our neighbor as ourselves (Matt. 19:19).
Be the servant of others (Matt. 20:26-28).
Pay our government’s rightful taxes and give to God what is His (Matt. 22:21).
Love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls and minds (Matt. 22:37).
Allow no one to call us “teacher,” or “leader,” and call no one our father but our heavenly Father (Matt. 23:8-10).
Not exalt but humble ourselves (Matt. 23:12).
Hinder no one from entering God’s kingdom (Matt. 23:13).
Never take advantage of widows (Matt. 23:14).
Never influence others to act hypocritically (Matt. 23:15).
Not neglect the weightier provisions of the law, such as justice, mercy and faithfulness (Matt. 23:23).
Not be hypocritical in any way (Matt. 23:25-28).
Not be frightened about wars and rumors of wars prior to Jesus’ return (Matt. 24:6).
Not fall away, or betray or hate a brother (Matt. 24:10).
Not allow ourselves to be misled by false prophets (Matt. 24:11).
Not allow our love to grow cold because of the increase of lawlessness (Matt. 24:12).
Endure to the end (Matt. 24:13).
Not believe false reports about the return of Christ (Matt. 24:23-26).
Recognize the true signs of Christ’s return (Matt. 24:32-33).
Be on the alert for Christ’s return (Matt. 24:42).
Always be a faithful and sensible slave, anticipating our Lord’s imminent return, never backsliding but always obeying Him (Matt. 24:45-51).
Utilize the time, talents and treasures that God has entrusted to us for His service (Matt. 25:14-30).
Provide food, drink, shelter and clothing for impoverished Christians; visit sick and imprisoned Christians (Matt. 25:34-40).
Partake of the Lord’s Supper (Matt. 26:26-27).
Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that Jesus commanded (Matt. 28:19-20).
Take care what we listen to (Mark 4:24).
Not neglect the commandments of God in order to keep traditions (Mark 7:9).
Not be ashamed of Jesus or His words (Mark 8:38).
Be at peace with one another (Mark 9:50).
Not hinder children from coming to Him (Mark 10:14).
Have faith in God (Mark 11:22).
Believe that we have received all things for which we pray and ask (Mark 11:24).
Beware of religious teachers who wear clothing that makes them stand out, who like respectful greetings, chief seats and places of honor, who take advantage of widows and pray long prayers for appearance’s sake (Mark 12:38-40).
Not be anxious about what we are to say when put on trial for our faith, but say what the Holy Spirit tells us in that hour (Mark 13:11).
Be baptized (Mark 16:16).
Bless those who curse us (Luke 6:28).
Give to everyone who asks of us, and not demand back what others have taken from us (Luke 6:30).
Lend to others, expecting nothing in return (Luke 6:35).
Be merciful (Luke 6:36).
Not condemn others (Luke 6:37).
Give (Luke 6:38).
Not point out the speck in a brother’s eye when we have a log in our own (Luke 6:41-42).
Not call Him “Lord” unless we do what He says (Luke 6:46-49).
Receive God’s word in our hearts and hold it fast so that we bear fruit with perseverance (Luke 8:12-15).
Hear God’s word and do it (Luke 8:21).
Receive children in Christ’s name (Luke 9:48).
Not look back after putting our hands to the plow (
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