Page 19 - Pastoral Epistles I & 2 Timothy, Titus
P. 19
We love other Christians.
1 John 3:14. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other.
We have a new sense of peace in our lives.
Romans 5:1-2. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God
1
through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in
2
which we now stand.
We enjoy doing good things for the Kingdom.
Ephesians 2:8-10. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from
8
yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s
10
9
handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
1 John 2:19. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged
to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to
us.
No one will ever live a sin-free life - but the pattern of our life should be decreasing sin and
increasing righteousness.
In their zeal to eliminate good works as a requirement for salvation,
some people have gone to the extreme of arguing that good works
are not even a valid evidence of salvation. They teach that a person
may be genuinely saved - yet never manifest a changed life.
Some have even taken the absurd position that a born-again person
may ultimately turn away from Christ into unbelief, deny God, and
become an atheist - yet still possess eternal life.
The Bible is clear that a saved person can never be lost but it is
equally clear that a true Christian will never fall back into total
unbelief.
Pastor John MacArthur
12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy,
appointing me to his service.
V12-17. Paul’s words matched his life. His life was changed.
How has your life changed since putting your faith in Jesus?
All Christians should be able to look back at their life, over a period of every six months or so, and see how
God is changing them. We are either getting rid of sin or we are adding godly habits, or both.
1:18-20. Remaining Faithful to the Call.
17
