Actions Reflecting Your Knowledge Of God
They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
Titus 1:16
Good works cannot save you (see Titus 3:5), but the absence of good works can effectively deny what you claim to possess (see Titus 1:16).
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God saved you not by good works but for good works. John Calvin explores this as he explains why true knowledge produces correct actions.
WALK WITH JOHN CALVIN
“If we want to know how our life should be regulated, let us examine the Word of God; for we cannot be sanctified by outward show and pomp, although they are highly esteemed among men.
“We must call upon God in sincerity and put our whole trust in him; we must give up pride and presumption and turn to him with true lowliness of mind so that we will not be given to fleshly affections.
“We must hold ourselves under subjection to God, and flee from gluttony, excess, robbery, blasphemy, and other evils. Thus we see what God would have us to do, in order to have our lives well regulated.
“When people try to justify themselves by outward works, it is like covering a heap of filth with a clean linen cloth. Therefore, let us put away the filthiness that is hidden in our hearts. Thus we may see wherein consists the true knowledge of God! When we understand this correctly, it will lead us to live in obedience to his will.”
WALK CLOSER TO GOD
Actions are no substitute for knowledge, as John Calvin suggests. Rather, they are a reflection of knowledge—or lack of it.
People may be fooled for a time by your profession, but God is never fooled. Without the proper knowledge of him, “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6).
First things first. In the matter of becoming a Christian, it’s not what you do but whom you know. Take God at his word and you won’t be fooling anyone—least of all yourself.
