In the middle of the first century AD, the church in Ephesus was having some real problems with false teachers stirring up controversy in hopes of making a profit (1 Timothy 6:3-6). To try and deal with this situation, the Apostle Paul wrote two letters from prison to Timothy, whom he had appointed head over that church. Part way though the second letter he reassures Timothy:
Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness” (2 Timothy 2:19).
Paul reminds Timothy with this statement that the foundation God had laid through the apostles is secure. Heretics and godless arguments can’t destroy what God has built; he knows his own people, and will not forsake them, even if some in the church fall away and become enemies again.
But immediately after writing “the Lord knows those who are his,” Paul adds the command that “everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.” In other words, those who call on Christ as the Lord must also treat him as their lord. “Jesus saves” can’t be separated from “Jesus is Lord.” If one is true, they both must be. As Christ himself said, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46). Is this saying here that salvation must be earned? To anyone familiar with Paul’s letters, the question is absurd. This is the same guy who wrote:
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).
But even there, he follows those words with:
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).
No, we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, just as the Scripture teaches. However, we are not saved merely from the consequences of sin, but actually from sin itself. We are saved to be God’s children in actuality, and not just as a legal fiction. We are saved specifically so that we can be made holy (Hebrews 10:13-14), and be transformed into the very image of God, so that we might reflect his glory to the world (2 Corinthians 3:18).
The point here is that the followers of Christ must remain faithful even if the church itself becomes infected with sin, as the church in Ephesus appears to have been. “Everyone else is doing it” is not an excuse we accept from children, yet how often we use the same argument to try and justify our own bad choices: “It’s just the culture.” “When in Rome.” “I don’t want to come across as some kind of weirdo.” To all of that, God answers, “everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”
The fact that some who claim to be believers are openly living sinful lives does not give me license to do the same. All they’re doing is bringing God’s judgment down on their own heads, and on the heads of anyone who follows them, even though that judgment may be delayed by God’s mercy (2 Peter 3:9). No matter what happens, God still knows who is faithful to him, and those who are faithful will continue to show it through the way they live. They will turn away from sin to follow Christ.
God is never fooled. In the end, “The Lord knows those who are his.”