Steps to Holiness, Part Four

Have you heard the story of a poor Scottish fisherman named John? He had a wife and many children, but the family lived in extreme poverty because John spent all their money getting drunk. Then one day Jesus found John, and he transformed this miserable bad tree into a good tree. Old John became new John. He stopped drinking and gave all the money he earned to his wife. There was now enough for food and even new clothing. John’s wife said, “If you are going to behave like this, let’s move into a better apartment.”

John agreed and told the landlord that he wanted to move into a new rental place.

The landlord exclaimed, “You old drunk! Why would I allow you to move into a new place?”

John replied. “I am not the old John; I am the new John, and here is the money.” John’s family soon moved into their new apartment.

Those who are in Christ Jesus experience this kind of drastic, fundamental change in their belief and in behavior. They are “a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor. 5:17). They now bear new fruit for the glory of God. For example, of such a person Paul writes, “He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need” (Eph. 4:28). That is true Christianity.

Our lives are like a field. The question is, what kind of harvest will we produce in the end? In Romans 6:19-22, Paul speaks of only two kinds of fruit: eternal death or eternal life. Our lives will produce either shame or glory.

We all must give an account to God on the last day. What have you done with your life? Did you please God, or did you please yourself? Are you a bad tree producing an abundance of bitter, bad fruit, or a good tree producing lots of sweet, good fruits? God controls the span of our lives; he numbers all our days. When our time is up, we must depart from this world. John the Baptist warned: “The ax is already at the root of the trees” (Matt. 3:10). Jesus himself stated, “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matt. 7:19). In the story of the fruitless fig tree, the word had already gone out from the owner: “Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?” Yet in God’s mercy and longsuffering, one more year was granted (Luke 13:7-9). We must repent and produce good fruit, more fruit, and much fruit-the fruit of righteousness leading to holiness unto eternal life.

Like the life of John, the converted drunkard, a Christian’s life of limited years is divided into two segments-his past shameful life (the old John) and his present life that is pleasing to God (the new John). We will first examine the fruit of our past life-the old John.

The Old John

In the past, we were slaves of our former master called sin. We had no choice but to obey him implicitly, yet we liked it, glorying in our life of sin. We were bad trees always producing bad fruits. We were living illustrations of the words of Jesus: “For from within, out of men’s hearts come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly” (Mark 7:21-22).

What a variety of bad fruits we produced as we freely offered ourselves-our minds, our wills, our affections, and the parts of our bodies-to sin. (PGM) While praising sin and sinners, we mocked God, his saints, and his truth. We daily gratified the cravings of our flesh and dutifully obeyed its desires and thoughts. Paul says of such people, “Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame” (Phil. 3:19).

Those who serve sin know God, but they refuse to glorify him by doing his holy will. Therefore, their thinking becomes futile and their foolish hearts hard. Because they exchange the glory of God for the shame of idolatry, God gives them over to shameful lusts and a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. Their lives are ever spiraling downward into the depths of the sewer. Describing such people, Paul says, “They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them” (Rom. 1:29-32).

In Romans 6, Paul reminds these Roman Christians of their sinful, shameful past: “Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness. . .” (v. 19). As sinners, these people worked hard, day and night, toiling and sweating in the service of sin and Satan. They offered their bodies and souls, minds and monies, to the service of Master Sin for temporal, glandular excitement. Slaves of uncleanness, they were filthy and prided themselves in doing filth. They were like some people today who even abort their own children for the temporal pleasures of sin.

Not only were they were slaves of uncleanness, but they were also slaves of lawlessness. They hated God’s law. They mocked God and his holy, spiritual, righteous and good law by violating it. Their lives spiraled downward from uncleanness to lawlessness.

This describes our life as the old John. When we were slaves of sin, we had absolutely nothing to do with God and his righteousness. Our total commitment was to sin and to sin alone. We were a stench to God.

We served sin with great demonic power. Like the man who was possessed of a legion of demons, we worked very hard in the service of sin and self-destruction. Everyone who refuses to confess Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord is a slave of sin. He is not free or autonomous. A sinner serves Satan by sinning.

The psalmist declares, “Those who make [idols] will be like them, and so will all who trust in them” (Psalm 135:18). So a sinner ultimately becomes like Satan-uncouth and miserable. All unbelievers change from one degree of wretchedness to another until he becomes like the devil.

Paul then asks the probing question, “What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of?” (Rom. 6:21). Paul is addressing our consciences. Let us look back ten, twenty, or thirty years. When we lived in sin, what fruit did we produce before we repented and believed in Jesus Christ? Then we gloried in our sin, but now we are ashamed. We were so proud of our adultery, idolatry, disobedience, and atheism, and we encouraged others to do the same: “Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve those who practice them” (Rom. 1:32).

We are now ashamed because we are the new John. By God’s grace we now see the reality that our pre-regenerate life was wasteful and shameful, destructive of ourselves and of those around us. It was a life of loss, sorrow, guilt, depression, and restlessness.

We are living at a time when shame is popular. It is no longer in the closet; it is in the living room, on display for all to see. Yet even this lack of shame is not new. The prophet Jeremiah asks, “Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when they are punished, says the LORD” (Jer. 8:12).

What was the final outcome of our serving sin? What did it profit us? The harvest of living sinful lives is shame, uncleanness, lawlessness, wickedness, disease, destruction, depression, divorce, destitution, and death. Paul states, “For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death” (Rom. 7:5). Our sin produces the fruit of physical, spiritual, and eternal death. “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23).

The Bible speaks of the second death: “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death” (Rev. 20:14). Those who remain in their sins will die, but he who lives forever will raise them up and throw them into the lake of fire. The risen Lord declares: “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars-their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death” (Rev. 21:8).

Paul wants us to pause, think, and reflect on the bad, bitter fruit that we produced as sinners. Jesus asked, “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36, KJV). We may live seventy or eighty years-what will we have to show for it? Only waste, loss, death, and shame, if we are outside of Christ.

Moses warns much of the fruit of doing evil in Deuteronomy 28:15-68. For example, he says, “The LORD will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke” (v. 20); “The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness, confusion of mind” (v. 28); “Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart. You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life. In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening!’ and in the evening, ‘If only it were morning!’-because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see” (vv. 65-67). What fruit were we producing? Uncleanness, lawlessness, wickedness, and death.

The New John

But now the old John is gone; the new John has come! Thanks be to God for the great change that happened to us. Thank God for his saving action in Jesus Christ. Thank God for the Spirit’s regenerating work in us and making us good people. We were bad trees bearing bad, bitter fruit of shame and death. But God made us good trees, good people. Now we bear good fruit by doing good works. Now we serve our master in righteousness and obey from the heart the gospel to which we have been delivered. Now, by God’s grace, we enjoy everlasting life. Let us now examine the fruit of our present Christian life.

By the miracle of God we are born again into the family of God. We are justified, adopted, and permanently set free from sin and Satan. We are kept by the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit. We are indwelt and empowered by the Spirit of God. By God’s grace we are now able not to sin and able to love God and keep his commandments. We are children of God with free access to our Father. We now worship God and read his word with a voracious appetite. We pray to God in the name of Christ, and God truly answers our prayers. God gives us sufficient grace to abound in every good work.

Before, we were dead in sins; now we are dead to sin and living for God. Before, we had nothing to do with righteousness; now we are joyful slaves of righteousness. Before, we were sons of disobedience; now we are children of obedience. Before, we were working hard in the service of sin; now we work hard in the service of righteousness. Before, we were ashamed; now we are truly proud of our new status as slaves of our Savior. We boast in God who came to our hell and transported us to heaven. He destroyed our death by his death on the cross and gave us eternal life. To obey God is now a joy for us, for in our new nature we delight in God’s law.

We are proud of being given the great dignity of being enslaved to God himself. We had no glory, but now we are given glory as slaves of Christ. Paul himself gloried in this slavery, and so he introduced himself to the Romans as “Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called apostle, set apart unto the gospel of God” (Rom. 1:1, author’s translation).

Thank God for the amazing change in our lives. Thank God for the past and present division in our lives. We were bad trees, but now we are good trees, bearing good fruit. We were sinners, but now we are saints of God. Paul calls the Roman believers “called saints.” Let the people of this world slander us, lie about us, or mock us-God calls us saints. He also calls us friends and brothers. He calls us sons of God, for we have received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry, “Abba, Father.”

Thank God for Jesus’ incarnation. The “But now” of Romans 3:21 introduces this gospel age-the messianic age, the age of salvation, the age of deliverance, the age of the cross. Jesus Christ has come to redeem us from sin. Look at Romans 6:19: “But just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now. . .” Or look at verse 22: “But now you have been set free.”

Thank God for the cross. Christ died for our sins and was raised for our justification. In this messianic age, there is now regeneration, redemption, freedom, justification, and sanctification. In this age of the Spirit, the Spirit dwells in us and teaches us the will of God. This same Spirit empowers us to work out with fear and trembling our salvation, which God himself is working into us. We are set free from sin and enslaved to God. We are not fruitless trees; we are branches united to the vine and so we bear fruit. And we are being constantly pruned by God’s grace to bear more fruit and much fruit to our Father’s glory.

We are enabled to do all things for the glory of God. Justification leads to an obedient life. If it does not lead to holy living, we are not saved. If we are not sanctified, we are not justified. We are the same old drunk, lying, lazy, wicked John, committed to uncleanness and glorying in filth.

We are saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved. Jesus is our righteousness, sanctification, and glorification. We are new creations in Christ. What is the purpose of this new life? “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph. 2:10).

If sin is lawlessness, then obedience is lawfulness. As God’s obedient children, we do good works and walk in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. We are not set free from the bondage of sin to roam aimlessly, doing our own will. We have heard the call of Christ: “Deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow me to death and resurrection.” In Romans 6:22 Paul assures us we have the fruit of holiness: “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.” We are producing our fruit by divine energy-the fruit of holiness, the fruit of good works, the fruit of the Spirit.

Examine yourself. Do you have fruit? If not, you are not saved, because no Christian can go to heaven without fruit. The fruit of sanctification is the proof of our salvation. Eternal life is based on both justification and sanctification. “Without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14). Jesus came to save us from our sins (Matt. 1:21).

If we are in Christ, we will bear fruit that abides, fruit that lasts to eternity, fruit unto eternal life. Our lives are fruitful-not a waste or loss. Paul writes, “And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work” (Col. 1:10). We have a good harvest coming, a harvest of righteousness. We are good people because God who is good has made us good, and we in turn do good and influence others for good.

As God’s children, we are disciplined and trained by our Father to do good. Paul speaks about such training: “You were taught . . . to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:24). Those who believe the gospel will have righteousness and holiness. Paul describes us as being “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ-to the glory and praise of God” (Phil. 1:11). The writer to the Hebrews also speaks about this divine chastisement: “No discipline seems pleasant at the time but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it” (Heb. 12:11).

We are called to live as Jesus lived (1 John 2:6). Paul writes, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight” (Eph. 1:4). That is God’s plan and purpose for our lives. Elsewhere Paul exhorts, “Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” (Eph. 5:25-27). Not only did God choose us to be holy and blameless, but he will also make us so.

The one who serves Satan becomes like Satan; the one who serves Jesus Christ becomes like Jesus Christ. From glory to glory he is changing us (2 Cor. 3:18). Even now we bear fruit unto holiness, resulting in eternal life. The end of a sinner is death eternal; our end is life eternal. Death for sinners begins here, to be experienced in its fullness in hell. Eternal life begins also for us here, to be experienced in its fullness in communion with God in the new heaven and the new earth. John writes about this glorious final state: “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling with God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away'” (Rev. 21:3-4).

How, then, can an old John become a new John? How can we be set free from the bondage of sin and Satan? We cannot save ourselves, nor can any religion, philosophy, politician, or scientist save us. Only Jesus can set us free: “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). Jesus declares, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35).

Come to Jesus! When the Father draws you, come. When the Spirit draws you, come. When Christ draws you, come, and prove yourself to be an elect of God. Receive the bread of life, that you may never hunger or thirst, and then start producing fruit unto holiness leading to the fullness of joy in God’s presence. All those who are justified by grace through faith alone will follow Jesus in the way of righteousness. They will be led by the Spirit to obey the Scripture taught faithfully by God’s holy church, and will ultimately produce a harvest of righteousness.

Thank God, we came when he drew us. We ate the bread of life, we drank the water of life, and we are made alive. The old John is dead, buried, and gone. We are a new John. May we believe in this truth and be transformed by it, even this day.