Christian duty often evades me. According to God's word, works have no bearing on salvation. In Paul's letter to the Ephesians, he wrote "for it is by grace you have been saved, through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). As Christians, we have no more comforting promise. Nothing that we have done, are doing, or will ever do earns our salvation. We cannot buy our way into the Kingdom. Rather, it is because of God's unmerited favor that we are blessed to be called children of God.
Evidences of God's grace pour forth from His word. Scarcely a page of scripture may be read without being overwhelmed by His monergistic love of His people. Alongside His amazing promises, however, we are exhorted to act in certain ways. The New Testament epistles are filled with practical wisdom. As I read these righteous behaviors that are expected of Christians, I wonder, if God saved me apart from any works or righteous acts, how can I be expected to perform them now?
This morning, as I was reading in 1 Thessalonians 5, I came across another list of righteous behaviors. In fact, in 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22, there are 17 specific directives for the Thessalonian brothers and, by extension, for us. Nevertheless, Paul wrote on, shedding light on how we are able to grow in righteousness. "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). In other words, if we called by God and saved by grace, we are also sustained by God and upheld by grace. "God Himself" works in us to perform those tasks that are impossible by human merit.
We are kept blameless, not because we are faithful, but because God is.
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