The Way To Goodness

It was Mark Twain who said: "Man is the only animal that blushes or needs to." There is a human awareness of the difference between right and wrong. There is a distinction between "is" and "ought". Most of the world's philosophies and most of the world's religions are concerned with changing the world that "is" into something they claim "ought" to be. In the 19th century there was liberal evolutionism. This said that the problems of existence were due to history itself - it just hadn't evolved enough. Time itself was seen as redemptive. The better, some people said, is the more evolved. When the first world war broke out in 1914 the nonsense of this view was exposed for what it was. Then there was Marx. He said the problem of life was not history but economics. Marx saw the problem in society rather than in individuals and in the struggle to apportion material goods between the classes. Also this century there has been Freud. He saw the problem in the individual and the frustration caused by unfulfilled desires for sex, nutrition and power. But the bible says that these world views are all basically false because the fundamental problem is the problem of sin. The bible says there is a God; he is our creator; and he is our heavenly Father. But human beings want to live as though he didn't exist. And that in essence is sin. And that is why the world is in a mess. No wonder! It's like getting into the cock-pit of a Jumbo jet when you have no idea about flying aeroplanes and trying to take off. It is virtual suicide. You need first to learn how to fly. Millions are trying to fly the plane, so to speak, of their own lives. But they have not bothered to be learn how to fly; and they ignore the one manual - the Bible. So what does the Bible see as the way to goodness? Listen to Jesus' words - John 6:29:

The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.

Everything begins with faith in Christ. Rom 10:9:

if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

That is the way to salvation and sorting out life's problems - faith in Christ, the risen Lord, who is alive today. And you can still put your trust in him. You will then be forgiven for the wrong you have done especially your rejection of God and not believing in his son, Jesus Christ. Who needs to do that tonight - to trust in Christ - even for the very first time? But you say, "what is faith?" The bible makes it clear that there are two sorts of faith - a dead faith and a living faith; a faith that does not lead to good works and good character; and a faith that does. Paul says in Gal 5.6:

The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

James says in James 2.17:

In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

And that is our subject tonight - faith that leads to goodness. And to help us think about this more carefully, I want us to look at a verse we had in our Epistle - Hebrews 12.14. Let me read it to you again: Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. There is a great deal there that we can learn from.And my headings are three simple questions, first, WHO? secondly, WHAT? and thirdly, WHY? First, WHO? Who is this command, "make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy", addressed to? Answer: to those described as "sons". Look at verse 7:

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons.

This whole section is about being a "son" of God. So it is the person who is a "son of God" that has "to make every effort ... to be holy". Now you are a son only by faith in Christ. You are accepted, forgiven, and justified - to use a technical word Ian Garrett was explaining two weeks ago - by grace through faith. You are not accepted because you have been good. We are all sinners. We all fail God. Nothing we do is good enough for God. No, you are accepted simply because Christ has died for you on the cross as we remind ourselves at every communion service. He, the righteous one, has died for us, the unrighteous ones. As the theologians put it, his righteousness is imputed to us. It is a mystery. Yet it is good news. We are accepted without improving ourselves - just as we are. But - and it is a big "but" - when that happens, and if your faith is genuine, you will want to make every effort to be holy and to be good from then on. And the good news also is that now that is possible because you have the strength of the Holy Spirit to help you; you have new life; you have new possibilities. This "making every effort" to do good is called sanctification. Remember how Jesus prayed, as we heard in our Gospel reading tonight, for his disciples and followers to be "sanctified":

(John 17:17-19) Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. {18} As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. {19} For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

But you need to keep separate in your mind what it is to be justified from what it is to be sanctified. Nor is this just arguing over words. It is important. So let me explain something about justification and sanctification. First how they are similar and then how they are different. First, then, how they are similar: both justification and sanctification are due to God's free grace; both are necessary to salvation; you need to be both forgiven and renewed to enter heaven. Both are found in the same person - those who are justified must be sanctified; and those sanctified must be justified. In all those respects they are similar. But they differ because justification is reckoning you righteous for the sake of someone else - Jesus Christ; sanctification is making you righteous in reality - however weak and imperfect your goodness and holiness is. The righteousness of justification is not our own, but Christ's and perfect; the righteousness of sanctification is what the Holy Spirit works out in our own lives - and this side of heaven it will be imperfect. And they differ because in justification there is no room for what we do - simple faith in Christ is all that is needed; in sanctification what we do is all important - we are told to make every effort to be holy. They differ in that justification is finished and complete the moment you believe. But sanctification is progressive and is not completed until heaven. Paul prays for his converts to be sanctified. He never prays that they may be justified. In 1 Thess 5.23 he prays:

May God himself ... sanctify you through and through.

Who, then, is commanded to make every effort to be holy? Answer - the sons [and daughters] of God, people who are already adopted, accepted, forgiven and justified. Secondly, WHAT actually is the holiness that you have to aim for? Here are several answers. One, it is the inevitable result of a believer's relationship, by faith, with Jesus Christ. Jesus said, John 15.5:

If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit.

Two, it is the inevitable result of being born again as you believe in Jesus and have new life by his Holy Spirit. 1 John 3.9:

No one who is born of God will continue in sin.

Three, it is therefore the only certain evidence that a person is born again by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit always bears fruit that is seen - Galatians 5.22:

the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

Four, it is where there are degrees of holiness and being good. The bible makes it clear that you are to "grow in grace" (2 Peter 3.18). And Paul writes to the Thessalonians:

(1 Thess 4:1) brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.

There are not degrees of being justified. But there are degrees of being holy. Five, it is not an end to spiritual conflict. Some people get this so wrong. The bible teaches that once you become a Christian there is an internal spiritual warfare that wasn't there before. You have a new nature; and your old nature doesn't like it. Gal 5.17 puts the situation so clearly:

the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.

And that is said to, and of, Christians. But as you have the Spirit in your life, you can begin to have victories. Oh! yes; often you lose and you have to seek forgiveness and fight again. It is a fight of faith. And growth in holiness occurs as you continue the fight. So a deep sense of struggling does not mean you are not being sanctified. Far from it. This is healthy and evidence that God is at work by his Spirit and making you more like Christ. Wasn't it Oscar Wilde who said the easiest way to deal with temptation is to give in? He ought to know as he was a bi-sexual child-abuser, and totally debauched, in spite of current attempts to reglamourise him. The spiritual struggle was and is the very opposite to our natural sinful disposition - that sinful disposition Wilde gloried in. So don't be surprised when your friends say there is nothing wrong with sleeping around and doing many other things. Giving into sin is the way of the world. Fighting against sin and sometimes finding the struggle hard is the way to goodness. Six, your good deeds and actions - your holiness - can never justify you. Even the best you do is defective and has some impure motives. That is why it deserves God's judgement. That is the message of Romans 3 - read it when you get home. But the efforts of believers nevertheless still please God. Hebrews 13.16 says:

do not forget to do good ... for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

It is like a parent that is pleased with the efforts of their child - even though what they did is very inadequate. Seven, it is not all talk - this holiness. I John 3.18:

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

No! It is rather a practical seeking to live by God's law - those ten commandments and applying them as Jesus did in the Sermon on the Mount. The same Holy Spirit who uses the law to show us our need of a Saviour and forgiveness because we disobey the law, is the same Holy Spirit who uses the law to guide us to do God's will. So Paul says in Romans 7.22:

in my inner being I delight in God's law;

Eight, it is seeking to do Christ's will as we see it in the Gospels. Jesus said, John 15.14:

You are my friends if you do what I command.

Nine, it is seeking to live up to the standards Paul sets for the early Christians in the second half of many of his epistles. Ten, it is seeking to live positively for Christ by actively doing what is good. Someone seeking holiness will try to make the world a better place, to alleviate suffering, to lesson sorrow, and to increase happiness where that is possible. Eleven, it is seeking to live positively for Christ as you submit to God's will and his "pressures". This may seem strange. But there is a large amount in the bible about God wanting us to be forebearing of other people even when they drive you up the wall; and also about patience and being attacked for Christ's sake and not seeking revenge. Isn't it true that these "passive graces" as they are called have a great impact in the world. The martyrdoms of Christians, for example of men like Dietrich Bonhoeffer under Hitler, in the 20th century, have had a profound effect on others. As you suffer for Christ and come through it, others notice. This is being so like Christ - 1 Peter 2.21-23:

To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps ... When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.

And this is what you have got here in Hebrews 12.7:

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?

Verse 11:

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.

So that is one of the ways God helps you towards righteousness and goodness - by allowing you to suffer. Who knows all about that her tonight? Perhaps you are going through a very difficult time. And you are tempted to doubt God. Don't. It is proof that he loves you. He is wanting your long term best. You see our God is a god of means - he provides and uses means to achieve his purposes. And allowing suffering is one of his means. So, twelve, it is a holiness and goodness that can grow as we make use of God's means - bible reading, prayer, meeting regularly like this and in smaller groups with other Christians, coming regularly to the Lord's Supper like tonight; and if you've never been baptized you should be - there is an opportunity for that next Sunday evening - baptism is a means God provides. Never forget God's appointed means. All that is what we need to make an effort about. Finally, WHY? Why must you make every effort to be holy? Verse 14 couldn't be clearer:

without holiness no one will see the Lord.

On the judgment day holiness of living is the one thing that will be evidence of faith. You will be justified by faith; but you will be judged by your works - not because your works will give you a passport to heaven. Certainly not. But they alone will show whether your faith is genuine. The issue on the judgment day will then not be, "how have we talked?" It will be, "what have we done?" These are very solemn matters. That is why I have laboured some of these points tonight. If one thing is certain, it is that there will be, one day, a judgment day. 2 Cor 5:10:

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

Yes, Christ will be fair. Yes, he will understand why we haven't grown in holiness as much as we might have done. Yes, we need fear no condemnation if we turn to Christ and trust him. But there is a judgment seat that even Christians will appear before. And holiness will then be an evidence of faith. That is one reason why we must make every effort to be holy. The second reason is that this is the only proper way to prepare for heaven. Heaven is a holy place. If you are not ready for heaven it would be cruel forcing you to go there. Nor can you rely on purgatory as some do. A place of purgatory after death, where you can be "purged" for heaven, is nowhere taught in the bible. That is why you must be trained and prepared for heaven while you are still alive and why you must grow in holiness and goodness. That is the second reason why you must make every effort to be holy. I must conclude. I do so by simply reading again Hebrews 12.14:

Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.