There's a false notion going around that Jesus loves His children without expectations.
The Bible teaches a no-works salvation, but the Bible does NOT teach a no-works Christian life.
This false notion has three huge flaws:
1. It assumes you can love Christ without obeying Him. But Christ says, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments" (John 14:15).
2. It assumes you're saved for heaven alone, not for earth. But "we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10).
3. It assumes Christ's love is permissive, tolerating sinfulness. But Jesus said, "Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent" (Revelation 3:19).
If we aren't interested in showing our love for Christ by doing things that please Him, we need to heed the warning in 2 Corinthians 13:5: "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves."
Great post. You succinctly say what it would take me many more words to. There is a constant tension between understanding our salvation by grace and expressing our faith that "it is finished" in our works. We have to have a complete picture of God's purposes and plans to live this out in our lives. Ruth
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