No Such Thing (Protestant/Evangelical Devotional)

“You are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?” (v. 3). - 1 Corinthians 3:1–4

For the last several decades, the evangelical church has had to deal with an unbiblical teaching that downplays the lordship of Christ with respect to our obedience to Him and our salvation. Perhaps you have heard someone say something like, “I received Jesus as my Savior when I was fifteen, but I did not really make Him my Lord until I was forty.” Or, maybe you have known people who believe they are going to heaven because they responded to an altar call years ago, even though their present life does not show any evidence of a concern for following Christ. Both of these examples reflect what has often been called “carnal Christianity,” a teaching that suggests that people can have Jesus as their Savior without ever seeking to obey His commandments. The movement believes that one is saved by confessing Christ even if there is no change of life.

Some of the motivation for this teaching is a desire to preserve the teaching that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone. Yet while this desire is a good one, “carnal Christianity” is actually a perversion of the biblical teaching on salvation. The truth of the matter is that Scripture refers to good works as a necessary fruit of our redemption. We do not place hope in our obedience as a means of securing the righteousness we need to stand before the Lord unafraid. We are justified by faith alone, apart from works (Gal. 2:16). Yet the faith by which we are justified is a living faith, one that produces good deeds of service to Christ and neighbor (James 2:12–26). These works do not justify us, but they do justify our faith—they prove that we have genuine trust in Christ. If we are truly in Christ, we will seek to follow the way of Christ. If we really love Him, we will endeavor to obey Him (John 14:15). This obedience will never be perfect on this side of glory, but if we have no desire to obey, we demonstrate that we have an empty profession of faith that can save no one (Matt. 7:21). Simply put, there is no such thing as a “carnal Christian.”

Christians are engaged in a war against the remnants of sin that remain within (Rom. 7:13–20; Gal. 5:16–24), and sometimes the flesh appears to be gaining the upper hand (1 Cor. 3:1–4). But this does not mean we are not saved. Only those who have been regenerated by the Spirit and given the gift of faith will feel such a conflict, so the war within as we endeavor to put the flesh to death and obey the Lord proves that we belong to Him. It is evidence that sin does not have dominion over us, for if it did, we would not fight it (Rom. 6:1&-14).

It is hardly possible to be in Christ without having a desire to serve Him. When Christ sets a person free, he is free indeed, and he has an inner drive to resist the bondage of sin that once held him fast. Those who do not show any desire to resist sin and pursue a life of loving discipleship should have no confidence that they belong to Christ. Be encouraged that you are in Christ if you are striving against sin and endeavoring to live faithfully for Him.

6 So the posts went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, Ye children of Israel, turn again unto the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you, that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria. 7 And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, which trespassed against the Lord God of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation, as ye see.

8 Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the Lord, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever: and serve the Lord your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you.

Jeremiah 13:Thus says the Lord to me, “Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it around your waist, and do not dip it in water.” 2 So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the Lord, and put it around my waist. 3 And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, 4 “Take the loincloth that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.” 5 So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me. 6 And after many days the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” 7 Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the loincloth was spoiled; it was good for nothing.

8 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9 “Thus says the Lord: Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10 This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is good for nothing. 11 For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Hebrews 10:24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and ball the more as you see the Day drawing near.

I have some dear friends who so badly want to believe that someone who made a verbal profession is saved, that they will excuse a lifestyle of blatant sin, not recognizing it as an indicator that the person never had a genuine heart conversion.

Romans 10 states that we must believe in our heart AND confess with our mouth that Jesus is LORD and God raised Him from the dead.

Lots of people want fire insurance and confess with their mouths Jesus as SAVIOR, but when they go on for decades never having shown any fruit, then they can’t be saved.

Jesus also referred to those who say *Lord, Lord,.....* and then appeal to their mighty works and miracles and yet Jesus says He doesn’t know them.

I appreciate someone’s desire to see people get saved, but there’s a real lack of discernment there.

EVERYONE struggles with sin, that particular area of their weakness. The sin that so easily besets us.

My temptations are not someone else’s but as long as I am not satisfied to have it, the it doesn’t matter what it is.

Yup.

I once heard a Lutheran pastor describing sin as a pool full of inflated beach balls you are trying to keep under water.

You get one ball under water and then try to do the same to the next ball and the first one pops right back up to the surface.

Well stated, sir. Being born from above puts the individual in a family as a newborn. If truly a member in that family the child of God's Holy Spirit work will be turning to His leadership at every instance where 'how do I behave as a member of this family' arises in their heart. If that message is not bubbling up from inside, due to His indwelling the person then that one is not yet one of His family members. Brothers and sistes indeed! This should put to rest the specious accusation that just believing allows one to go on as before, in the world and part of it. When Paul says we are to be in the world but NOT of it, he is referring to our behavior, as family members or not int he family.

Now, that said, reconcile the parable of the ten bridesmaids with the reality of the Birde ... please.

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