Presented Blameless

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,  just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

Ephesians 1:3-6 NASB

Following my previous post, I would like to start with one more passage where we see that God, before the creation of the world, has chosen us who believe, to holiness. It is His gracious intention to take sinners and turn them into saints. When God saves an individual He transforms that individual's life (2 Corinthians 5:17). One who previously lived a wicked sinful life, now through the inner working of the Spirit of God lives an upright life, doing what is good and holy in the sight of God

This theme appears again in Paul's first letter to the Church in Thessalonica.

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your Spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He will also bring it to pass.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 NASB

And Jude also refers to this as well.

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen

Jude 1:24-25 NASB

The common theme is that of God's faithfulness to bring us through this life that we now live, set apart, and blameless when we stand before Him. 

To be blameless does not mean we have never sinned, or that we will never sin, but it means to be morally upright, to walk in integrity. Yes, the possibility of sin exists, even for a believer, but we can be victorious over it through Jesus Christ. And if and when we do sin, repentance and confession is the step we must take to place that sin under the blood, and have it cleansed.

Paul writes to believers in Ephesus, telling them,

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the Church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.

Ephesians 5:25-27 NASB

Again, this is God's purpose for us. He desires a people whom He has taken and purified, so that they are pure in His sight, and in the sight of the world around them, so that He might be glorified in what He has done.

Just as we read above, it is Jesus, who gave His life for us, to accomplish this within us. Paul also writes this,

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

Titus 2:11-14 NASB 

For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, and enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.

But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life 

Titus 3:3-7 NASB

Now I would like to clarify a few things here. There are two "ditches" that we must be careful to avoid as we walk out our salvation. On one side of the road we have the ditch of "legalism", and on the other side we must avoid "antinomianism".

A legalist will try hard to follow the rules. They will depend upon their good deeds to save them. But we have just read that our righteous deeds are not the basis for our salvation, but the mercy of God.

The other extreme is antinomianism, the idea that because salvation is a free gift, not dependent on works, good works do not matter. Antinomianism is a term used to describe a "lawless" salvation. Someone who holds to this error believes that they can live however they please, and it will not affect their eternal state one way or another.

Both of these heresies are fatal to our spiritual life. Just as it is true that no one can be justified by the works of the law (Romans 3:20), it is equally true that no immoral or impure person has an inheritance in God's kingdom (Ephesians 5:5). 

God has undertaken to change us from the inside out, yet we must cooperate with what He is accomplishing in our lives. This where we must make our calling and election sure (2 Peter 1:10), work out our salvation (Philippians 2:12), walk by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16). We must put action to our belief. That is the definition of a faith that is legitimate (see  James 2:14-26).