Holiness & Obedience

¹¹So you too must count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ¹²Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires. ¹³Do not present the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and present the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness. ¹⁴For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

¹⁶So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

²²Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves. ²³For anyone who hears the word but does not carry it out is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror, ²⁴and after observing himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so—not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer—he will be blessed in what he does.

³By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments. ⁴If anyone says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵But if anyone keeps His word, the love of God has been truly perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him: ⁶Whoever claims to abide in Him must walk as Jesus walked.

¹¹For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to everyone. ¹²It instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives in the present age, ¹³as we await the blessed hope and glorious appearance of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. ¹⁴He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

¹“I am the true vine, and My Father is the keeper of the vineyard. ²He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, and every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes to make it even more fruitful. ³You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. ⁵I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing. ⁶If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, proving yourselves to be My disciples. ⁹As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Remain in My love. ¹⁰If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love.

¹⁷So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. ¹⁸They are darkened in their understanding and alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts. ¹⁹Having lost all sense of shame, they have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity, with a craving for more. ²⁰But this is not the way you came to know Christ. ²¹Surely you heard of Him and were taught in Him—in keeping with the truth that is in Jesus— ²²to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³to be renewed in the spirit of your minds; ²⁴and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. ²⁵Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one another. ²⁶“Be angry, yet do not sin.” Do not let the sun set upon your anger, ²⁷and do not give the devil a foothold. ²⁸He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing good with his own hands, that he may have something to share with the one in need. ²⁹Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen. ³⁰And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice. ³²Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.