He Who Calls You is Faithful

“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 ESV)

One of the dangers of teaching on such small sections of Scripture as this is that the Scriptures can be taught erroneously if not taught in the context of the book they were written in, as a whole, and if not taught in the context of the teachings of Christ and of his NT apostles, as a whole. So this is just a word of caution here that this passage, for example, if taught independent of other passages of Scripture on the same subject, could be drawn to a wrong conclusion on how all this works.

For example, if I were to read these two verses independent of other Scriptures, I might come to the conclusion that God does everything for me and that nothing is required of me. I have no part in the process of my sanctification and in me being made holy and kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. All I have to do is just profess faith in Christ and he does it all for me. It doesn’t matter whether or not I am faithful, but just that God is faithful to me in making sure that I get into heaven.

But is that true? No! But can I do anything in my own flesh of my own will to be acceptable to God and to be saved from my sins and to have eternal life with God? NO! The faith to believe in Jesus Christ and our salvation from sin are gifted to us of God and are persuaded of God, and they are not of our own doing – not of the will nor of the flesh of humankind. We can’t even come to faith in Jesus Christ unless God the Father draws us to Christ and persuades us to forsake our lives of sin and to follow him in obedience.

[Hebrews 12:1-2; Ephesians 2:8-10; John 1:12-13; John 6:44]

So, how does this work then? Well, Jesus said that if anyone would come after him that he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for the sake of Jesus we deny self, die to sin daily, and walk in obedience to his commands in holy living, all in the power of God, and by his Spirit, then we have the hope of eternal life with God. For this is us cooperating with God’s work of grace in our lives.

And then we read that God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce (say “No!” to) ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. And Jesus said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God the Father. So, obviously we have a part in this sanctification process in our lives by us submitting to the will of God and obeying his will in his power and strength.

[Luke 9:23-26; Titus 2:11-14; Matthew 7:21-23; Romans 6:1-23]

So, it is God who saves and sanctifies and forgives and gives eternal life. And it is Christ’s sacrifice on that cross for our sins that brings deliverance from slavery to sin so that we can now live holy lives, pleasing to God. But God does not force his will upon us, and he doesn’t do the work within us without our cooperation with him and our surrender to his will and us walking in obedience to his commands in the forsaking of our sins. He provides, and he leads the way, and he empowers, but we must obey.

For we read in 1 John that if we say that we are in fellowship with God but while we walk (in conduct, in practice) in darkness (sin, wickedness), we are liars. And if we claim that we know God, but we do not keep (obey) his commandments (New Covenant) in practice, we are liars. And if sin is what we practice, and not the righteousness of God, and not obedience to our Lord, then we are not born of God, we do not know God, we are not saved from our sins, and heaven is not our destiny, for we are of the devil.

[1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; cf. Galatians 5:16-21; Romans 2:6-8; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 6:7-8; Ephesians 5:3-6]

So, we need to take all of this seriously. We are not promised salvation from slavery to sin and eternal life with God on the basis of lip service to the Lord alone. We must walk the walk, in the power of God. We must forsake our sins to follow Jesus in obedience. We must choose God’s choices for our lives, and we must obey them in his power. For if we don’t, and we keep on in deliberate and habitual sin, and not in walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commands, then we will not inherit eternal life with God. 

So, is God still faithful? Absolutely! He is faithful to all that he said he would do. And many will stand before him on the day of judgment calling him, “Lord,” and claiming all that they did in his name, and he is going to turn to them and say, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness,” because they did not obey the Lord, but they went their own way, instead, and they continued living in sin and for self and not for God and for his righteousness (Matthew 7:21-23).

Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:27-30 ESV)

My Sheep  

An Original Work / June 24, 2012  

Based off John 10:1-18 NIV

My sheep hear me. They know me.

They listen to my voice and obey.

I call them and lead them.

They know my voice, so they follow me.

They will never follow strangers.

They will run away from them.

The voice of a stranger they know not;

They do not follow him.

So, I tell you the truth that

I am the gate, so you enter in.

Whoever does enter

Will find forgiveness and will be saved.

Nonetheless whoever enters

Not by the gate; other way,

He is the thief and a robber.

Listen not, the sheep to him.

Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,

Who laid his own life down for the sheep.

I know them. They know me.

They will live with me eternally.

The thief only comes to steal and

Kill and to destroy the church.

I have come to give you life that

You may have it to the full… 

They know my voice, so they follow me.

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