Now, may I ask, is there such a thing as human responsibility for Christians? What should we say to the person who says he’s leaving his sanctification completely in the hands of God, lest he rob God of glory and be guilty of adding his own works to his salvation?
I’ve compiled a list of what a significant portion of the New Testament says that believers should do. The essential component of human responsibility in the sanctification process is easily understood from the many scriptures that contain commandments and instructions. When we read them, we can no longer doubt that Christians are free moral agents who can will to be holy. Likewise, exposed is the folly of those who want us to believe that God is robbed of glory when we add our efforts toward sanctification. Clearly, God expects those who possess His Holy Spirit to do certain things by the power of the Spirit. Stated succinctly, we must strive against sin in all its forms (see Heb. 12:4). We must pursue the sanctification "without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14).
The following list reveals, from the four Gospels and the book of Romans, God’s expectations for our behavior. If the New Testament states that a certain behavior is wrong or sinful, then God obviously holds people accountable for such behavior, indicating that human responsibility is a factor in that wrong behavior.
Although you might be tempted to skip over the following list, for your own benefit I ask that you read it slowly. It can impact you in a way that could be life changing.
What does God expect us to do? Here is a list. Clearly, none of these things will happen in our lives unless we do what God says.
God expects us to:
Not tempt Him (Matt. 4:7).
Worship the Lord our God and serve Him only (Matt. 4:10).
Repent in order to be saved (Matt. 4:17).
Rejoice and be glad when we are persecuted (Matt. 5:12).
Let our lights shine before men so they may see our good works (Matt. 5:16).
Keep and teach God’s commandments, even the least of them (Matt. 5:19).
Not murder, hate, or harm another person in any way (Matt. 5:21-22).
Work toward reconciliation with those we’ve offended (Matt. 5:24-25).
Not commit adultery or be lustful (Matt. 5:27-28).
Remove anything that causes us to stumble into sin (Matt. 5:29-30).
Not divorce except for cases of unrepentant unchastity (Matt. 5:32).
Make no swearing oaths and never lie, but always keep our word (Matt. 5:33-37).
Not take our own revenge, but be extremely tolerant of others, even doing good to those who mistreat us (Matt. 5:38-42).
Love our enemies and pray for our persecutors (Matt. 5:44-47).
Strive to be perfect (Matt. 5:48).
Do no good deed for the purpose of receiving the praise of others (Matt. 6:1).
Give alms (Matt. 6:2-4).
Pray (Matt. 6:5-6).
Not use meaningless repetition when we pray (Matt. 6:7).
Pray after the pattern of "the Lord’s prayer” (Matt. 6:9-13).
Forgive others (Matt. 6:14).
Fast (Matt. 6:16).
Not lay up treasures upon earth, but lay them up in heaven (Matt. 6:19-21).
Serve God and not money (Matt. 6:24).
Not worry about our material needs (Matt. 6:25-32).
Seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness (Matt. 6:33).
Not judge others (Matt. 7:1-5).
Not give what is holy to dogs (Matt. 7:6).
Ask, seek and knock (Matt. 7:7-11).
Do for others what we want them to do for us (Matt. 7:12).
Enter by the narrow gate (Matt. 7:13).
Beware of false prophets (Matt. 7:15-20).
Do what Jesus said or face destruction (Matt. 7:24-27).
Beseech the Lord to send out workers into His harvest (Matt. 9:38).
Confess Jesus before others and not deny Him (Matt. 10:32-33).
Love Jesus more than our closest relatives (Matt. 10:37).
Take up our cross and follow Jesus (Matt. 10:38).
Lose our life for Jesus’ sake (Matt. 10:39).
Take Jesus’ yoke upon us (Matt. 11:28-30).
Be "for” Jesus and gather with Him (Matt. 12:30).
Not blaspheme the Holy Spirit (Matt. 12:31).
Do the will of the Father (Matt. 12:50).
Honor our parents (Matt. 15:4-6).
Not be defiled by evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, lying and slandering (Matt. 15:19-20).
Deny ourselves (Matt. 16:24).
Be converted and become like children, humbling ourselves (Matt. 18:3-4).
Not cause any child who believes in Jesus to stumble (Matt. 18:6).
Cause no one to stumble (Matt. 18:7).
Not despise any children (Matt. 18:10).
Rebuke in private any brother who sins against us (Matt. 18:15).
Obey Jesus’ instructions regarding church discipline (Matt. 18:16-17).
Forgive our brothers from our hearts (Matt. 18:35).
Love our neighbor as ourselves (Matt. 19:19).
Be the servant of others (Matt. 20:26-28).
Pay our government’s rightful taxes and give to God what is His (Matt. 22:21).
Love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls and minds (Matt. 22:37).
Allow no one to call us "teacher,” or "leader,” and call no one our father but our heavenly Father (Matt. 23:8-10).
Not exalt but humble ourselves (Matt. 23:12).
Hinder no one from entering God’s kingdom (Matt. 23:13).
Never take advantage of widows (Matt. 23:14).
Never influence others to act hypocritically (Matt. 23:15).
Not neglect the weightier provisions of the law, such as justice, mercy and faithfulness (Matt. 23:23).
Not be hypocritical in any way (Matt. 23:25-28).
Not be frightened about wars and rumors of wars prior to Jesus’ return (Matt. 24:6).
Not fall away, or betray or hate a brother (Matt. 24:10).
Not allow ourselves to be misled by false prophets (Matt. 24:11).
Not allow our love to grow cold because of the increase of lawlessness (Matt. 24:12).
Endure to the end (Matt. 24:13).
Not believe false reports about the return of Christ (Matt. 24:23-26).
Recognize the true signs of Christ’s return (Matt. 24:32-33).
Be on the alert for Christ’s return (Matt. 24:42).
Always be a faithful and sensible slave, anticipating our Lord’s imminent return, never backsliding but always obeying Him (Matt. 24:45-51).
Utilize the time, talents and treasures that God has entrusted to us for His service (Matt. 25:14-30).
Provide food, drink, shelter and clothing for impoverished Christians; visit sick and imprisoned Christians (Matt. 25:34-40).
Partake of the Lord’s Supper (Matt. 26:26-27).
Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that Jesus commanded (Matt. 28:19-20).
Take care what we listen to (Mark 4:24).
Not neglect the commandments of God in order to keep traditions (Mark 7:9).
Not be ashamed of Jesus or His words (Mark 8:38).
Be at peace with one another (Mark 9:50).
Not hinder children from coming to Him (Mark 10:14).
Have faith in God (Mark 11:22).
Believe that we have received all things for which we pray and ask (Mark 11:24).
Beware of religious teachers who wear clothing that makes them stand out, who like respectful greetings, chief seats and places of honor, who take advantage of widows and pray long prayers for appearance’s sake (Mark 12:38-40).
Not be anxious about what we are to say when put on trial for our faith, but say what the Holy Spirit tells us in that hour (Mark 13:11).
Be baptized (Mark 16:16).
Bless those who curse us (Luke 6:28).
Give to everyone who asks of us, and not demand back what others have taken from us (Luke 6:30).
Lend to others, expecting nothing in return (Luke 6:35).
Be merciful (Luke 6:36).
Not condemn others (Luke 6:37).
Give (Luke 6:38).
Not point out the speck in a brother’s eye when we have a log in our own (Luke 6:41-42).
Not call Him "Lord” unless we do what He says (Luke 6:46-49).
Receive God’s word in our hearts and hold it fast so that we bear fruit with perseverance (Luke 8:12-15).
Hear God’s word and do it (Luke 8:21).
Receive children in Christ’s name (Luke 9:48).
Not look back after putting our hands to the plow (Luke 9:62).
Ask for the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13).
Watch out that the light in us may not be darkness (Luke 11:35).
Not love seats of honor and respectful greetings (Luke 11:43).
Not weigh down other people with hard burdens that we are unwilling to personally bear (Luke 11:46).
Not persecute His prophets (Luke 11:49).
Not take away the key of knowledge or hinder people from entering into true knowledge of God (Luke 11:52).
Beware of hypocritical religious leaders (Luke 12:1).
Not be afraid of those who can only kill us physically (Luke 12:4).
Fear Him who after He has killed has authority to cast into hell (Luke 12:5).
Not speak against or blaspheme Jesus or the Holy Spirit (Luke 12:10).
Beware and be on guard against every form of greed (Luke 12:15).
Not lay up treasure for ourselves but be rich toward God (Luke 12:21).
Sell our possessions and give to charity (Luke 12:33).
Bear fruit (Luke 13:6-9).
Strive to enter by the narrow door (Luke 13:24).
Never take a place of honor, exalting ourselves. Rather, we should humble ourselves, taking the last seat (Luke 14:8-10).
Love Him much more than our loved ones (Luke 14:26).
First count the cost of becoming His disciple (Luke 14:28-32).
Put all our material possessions under His control (Luke 14:33).
Rejoice when God shows mercy to sinners in saving them (Luke 15:1-32).
Be faithful in small things and with money (Luke 16:9-11).
Have compassion on the poor (Luke 16:19-31).
Rebuke a brother if he sins and forgive him if he repents (Luke 17:3-4).
Consider ourselves unworthy slaves even when we’ve done everything we’ve been commanded (Luke 17:7-10).
Pray at all times and not lose heart (Luke 18:1).
Not trust in ourselves that we are righteous, nor view others with contempt (Luke 18:9).
Receive the kingdom like a child (Luke 18:17).
Keep on the alert at all times, praying in order that we may have strength to escape the trials preceding Christ’s return and stand before Jesus (Luke 21:36).
Proclaim repentance for the forgiveness of sins in Christ’s name to all nations (Luke 24:47).
Be born again (John 3:3).
Believe in Jesus (John 3:16).
Worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:23-24).
Honor Jesus (John 5:23).
Seek glory from God (John 5:44).
Believe Moses’ writings (John 5:46-47).
Not to work for the food that perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life which is given by Jesus (John 6:27).
Eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ (John 6:53-54).
Not judge according to appearance, but with righteous judgment (John 7:24).
Abide in Jesus’ word (John 8:31).
Keep Jesus’ word (John 8:51).
Serve Jesus (John 12:26).
Love one another, even as Jesus loves us (John 13:34).
Believe that He is in the Father and the Father is in Him (John 14:11).
Do the works that Jesus did and greater works (John 14:12).
Love Jesus and keep His commandments (John 14:15).
Abide in Jesus’ love (John 15:9).
Ask Him for anything in Jesus’ name (John 16:24).
Take courage in tribulation (John 16:33).
This ends Jesus’ commands found in the Gospels. These are the things that we’re supposed to be teaching Christ’s disciples to obey (see Matt. 28:20).
The commands and instructions given to believers in the epistles are essentially no different than what is found in the Gospels. We next consider human responsibility from just the book of Romans.
God expects us to:
Not suppress the truth (Rom. 1:18).
Not be guilty of idolatry (Rom. 1:23).
Not exchange God’s truth for a lie (Rom. 1:25).
Not be involved in homosexual behavior (Rom. 1:26-27).
Not be greedy, envious, deceitful, malicious, insolent, arrogant, boastful, disobedient to our parents, untrustworthy, unloving or unmerciful (Rom. 1:29-31).
Not gossip or slander (Rom. 1:29-30).
Not give our approval to those who practice sin (Rom. 1:32).
Not think lightly of the riches of His kindness, forbearance and patience (Rom. 2:4).
Persevere in doing good (Rom. 2:7).
Seek for glory, honor and immortality (Rom. 2:7).
Not be selfishly ambitious (Rom. 2:8).
Not to curse or speak bitter words (Rom. 3:14).
Consider ourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ (Rom. 6:11).
Not let sin reign in our bodies, obeying its desires (Rom. 6:12).
Not go on presenting the members of our bodies to sin as instruments of unrighteousness (Rom. 6:13).
Present ourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and our members as instruments of righteousness to God (Rom 6:13).
Not covet (Rom. 7:7).
Not live according to the flesh, but put to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit (Rom. 8:12-13).
Present our bodies a living and holy sacrifice (Rom. 12:1).
Not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom. 12:2).
Not think more highly of ourselves than we ought (Rom. 12:3).
Exercise our gifts according to the grace given to us (Rom. 12:6).
Love others without hypocrisy (Rom. 12:9).
Abhor what is evil and cling to what is good (Rom. 12:9).
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love, giving preference to one another in honor (Rom. 12:10).
Not lag behind in diligence (Rom. 12:11).
Be fervent in spirit as we serve the Lord (Rom. 12:11).
Rejoice in hope (Rom. 12:12).
Persevere in tribulation (Rom. 12:12).
Be devoted to prayer (Rom. 12:12).
Contribute to the needs of the saints (Rom. 12:13).
Practice hospitality (Rom. 12:13).
Bless those who persecute us and not curse them (Rom. 12:14).
Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep (Rom. 12:15).
Not be haughty of mind but associate with the lowly (Rom. 12:16).
Not be wise in our own estimation (Rom. 12:16).
Never pay back evil for evil to anyone (Rom. 12:17).
Respect what is right in the sight of all men (Rom. 12:17).
Be at peace with all men as far as possible (Rom. 12:18).
Never take our own revenge (Rom. 12:19).
Feed our enemy if he is hungry and give him a drink if he is thirsty (Rom. 12:20).
Not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good (Rom. 12:21).
Be subject to the governing authorities (Rom. 13:1).
Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another (Rom. 13:8).
Lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light (Rom. 13:12).
Behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, sexual promiscuity and sensuality, strife or jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts (Rom. 13:13-14).
Accept those who are weak in faith (Rom. 14:1).
Not judge our brother or regard him with contempt (Rom. 14:10).
Not put an obstacle or stumbling block in a brother’s way (Rom. 14:13).
Pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another (Rom. 14:19).
Bear the weakness of those without strength if we are strong, not just pleasing ourselves (Rom. 15:1).
Accept one another, just as Christ accepted us (Rom. 15:7).
Keep our eyes on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to biblical truth, and turn away from them (Rom. 16:17).