Like John, Jesus Christ said we must bear fruit. "He who abides
in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit . . . By this My Father is glorified,
that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples" (John 15:5,8).
Some are confused because Jesus clearly expects us to produce fruit.
They interpret this to mean that we somehow earn our salvation. Earning
our salvation, of course, is impossible. Salvation is a free, undeserved
gift from God. We could not earn salvation in a hundred lifetimes of
performing good deeds.
We are not saved by our works. Only the sacrifice of Christ's shed
blood can cleanse us from our sins. Our thoughts cannot accomplish this,
nor can any other actions we can take. Because Christ is alive and actively
involved in converting us, we will be saved by His life.
Paul made this clear: "But God demonstrates His own love toward
us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more
then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from
wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to
God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled,
we shall be saved by His life" (Romans 5:8-10 ). Christ living
in us enables us to do good works (Galatians 2:20).
Grace, works and obedience are complementary rather than contradictory
terms. The word grace comes from a Greek word that means "gift" or "favor." Salvation,
or eternal life, is a gift we receive by grace (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8,9). No amount of works or effort on our part could ever earn us
eternal life. However, eternal life is not free. Christ paid for it
with His life so we could receive the gift of salvation (Acts 20:28).
