We evangelicals need a better handle on the relationship between justification by faith and the pilgrimage of spiritual growth which produces good works. If believers can't and don't merit salvation, whence the biblical command for good deeds?
Often I've heard that Christians should live obediently because they should feel gratitude for the saving work of God. Without wanting to neglect the place of gratitude in the Christian life, I've become convinced that this reasoning is inadequate. Far better, in my mind, to reason that the forgiveness of sins and the path of spiritual growth and good deeds are simply a package deal. In other words, the nature of salvation itself is such that when we sign up for it (i.e., convert to the Lord and his gospel) we're signing up not only for the forgiveness of sins but also for the power of the Holy Spirit to grow in obedience to God. An excerpt from Calvin:
"We confess that while through the intercession of Christ's righteousness God reconciles us to himself, and by free remission of sins accounts us righteous, his beneficence is at the same time joined with such a mercy that through his Holy Spirit he dwells in us and by his power the lusts of our flesh are each day more and more mortified; we are indeed sanctified, that is, consecrated to the Lord in true purity of life, with our hearts formed to obedience to the law."
(Institutes, III, xiv, 9)
What might this understanding of salvation, spiritual growth, and good deeds do to our sharing of the gospel? Perhaps make it a more holistic in the sense that we make sure a listener is aware of the fact that conversion is conversion to the whole package, not just to the forgiveness of sins? Thoughts?
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