Read 1 Chronicles 21, Zechariah 13:2-9, and 1 John 3.
This devotional is about 1 John 3
We are saved by grace alone. When a sinner comes to Jesus for salvation, the sinner repents–that is, he changes his mind about his sin, and comes in faith to Christ for forgiveness. No human works are necessary for someone to be saved. In fact, anyone who thinks his works plus his faith are necessary is unsaved because he is not trusting in Christ alone for salvation.1
Although good works do not save or even contribute to our salvation, you will do good works if you are truly saved. In other words, good works don’t save you but, if you are truly saved, you will do good works. That’s because salvation involves a spiritual resurrection called “regeneration”–the giving of spiritual life to the spiritually dead. Because God makes us alive with Christ when he saves us, we start to live like God. That’s what John wrote here in 1 John 3:9: “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.” The phrase “God’s seed remains in them” is key! John is saying there that God made us alive spiritually so we have a new nature that desires righteousness just as God is righteous, which is almost exactly what John wrote in verse 7b.
Throughout Christian history, people have struggled to understand the relationship between faith and works. On one side, there are people who believe that a person can be saved and never do good works at all. On the other side, there are people who believe that faith in Christ and good works are both necessary for salvation. But both of these sides are wrong. God saves you apart from any good works, but once you’ve been saved, you will do good works.
John teaches this explicitly here in 1 John 3. In verse 6 John wrote, “No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.” There are many people who have prayed to receive Christ but have never even started to live like Christ. They profess to be Christians but their lives show no evidence of Christianity in the way they live. Their words and their actions are just as sinful as they were before they prayed to be saved. People like this are not saved; they are self-deceived. John wrote here in 1 John 3:3, “All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.” And, again in 1 John 3:6, John wrote, “No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.”
As a Christian, then, you can look back on your life and see growth. There are sins you used to commit that you no longer commit, and there are Christlike character traits in you now that didn’t use to be in you. Is that true of your life? Do you see yourself putting off sins and putting on righteous desires and righteous words and actions?
If you do see evidence of salvation, how actively are you pursuing righteousness in your life? Again, verse 3 says, “All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.” Are you purifying yourself like this verse says? Are you working on the stubborn sins in your thoughts, attitudes, words, and actions? Or, have you become complacent–even spiritually lazy–about them?
Ultimately, when we see Christ, the work of changing us will be finished. Verse 2c says, “But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” This is our hope, as verse 3 says. Until then, be ruthless about removing sin from your life. Do whatever it takes to stop indulging in your sins, not because you’re trying to earn salvation but because you have the Spirit of God in you (v. 24) and, therefore, want to please God with your life.
- See Galatians 5:4, among other scriptures. ↩︎