Because of the fall of man under Adam, mankind is by nature subject to the corruption that is in the world through lust. When a person comes to Christ and becomes His disciple, they are freed from that bondage and given power through the Holy Spirit to escape that corruption and become partakers of the divine nature. 

This is not just a figurative or “positional” escape, but a real one and must bear the fruit of a changed and transformed life in order to be valid. We do not just get stamped with a label and considered “escaped” irregardless of our behavior as Christians, but are given power by the Holy Spirit and expected to employ the tools given us to actually make that escape. In other words, it is not automatic. It takes a steadfast faith and patience in yielding to the promptings of the Spirit, resisting temptation and fleshly desires, and to walking in the Spirit. That is what it means to “escape the corruption of the world” and is the mark of a true child of God. 

For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God (Rom 8:13-14).

We are told in Heb 6:12: That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Once a believer commits themselves to this charge of escaping the lust of the world and walking in the newness of life, the Holy Spirit works in them to see it through. They will see and joyfully recognize the power of the Spirit working in them to that end. How do you know that you’ve made that escape? You no longer participate in the deeds of darkness, you will have a real and tangible sense that you have put them behind you and are on a new and glorious path that leads to eternal life. To them who by *patient continuance in well doing* seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life (Rom 2:7).

If you profess to be a believer, but still have a continual sense of your own ongoing “wretchedness” and corruption, then it’s possible that you are still under bondage to sin and have not yet made the escape. As it states in Rom 6:16 – Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? It’s remarkable that modern day Christendom practically celebrates ongoing corruption as almost a badge of honor and humility, it is not. Our testimony as believers should *not* be one of continual stumbling and failure, but one of progressive victory over corruption as we faithfully yield to the power of the Holy Spirit working in us. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life (Rom 6:22).

Apart from Christ, our righteousness is “as a filthy rag” but once we are in Christ and are walking by faith, our practice of righteousness is no longer a filthy rag, but becomes a blessed and needful fruit of our redemption. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled (Matt 5:6). 

As the title verse implies, becoming a “partaker of the divine nature” is predicated on escaping the lust of the world. It is imperative that we each individually make that escape so that we take on the divine nature and then Christ be formed in us. That’s the goal of our redemption, to restore our fellowship with God and to be conformed to the image of Christ. Much is said today about Christianity being a “relationship” rather than a religion. Which is true, but we have to be careful that we don’t lose sight of the fruit that this relationship should naturally produce. We can talk all we want about intimacy with Jesus, but if it doesn’t produce a stark hunger for righteousness, godliness and a literal transformation of our character, attitudes and demeanor, then we’ve missed it altogether. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Cor 3:18).

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The Apostle John begins his first epistle with a very succinct and clear statement on the necessity of a Christian to “walk in the light”, following the example of Jesus and how He walked during His time on the earth. 

1 Jn 1:5-7 – This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

The word used for “walk” specifically refers to how we conduct ourselves and the actions that we take in our day to day life: to live, deport oneself, follow, go, be occupied with, walk (about). John makes it very clear that in order for us to be a genuine believer and have fellowship with Him, we must put off any lingering deeds of darkness, and actively follow Him by walking in the light. Only as we each individually give ourselves to that pursuit can we truly have Christ centered fellowship with each other as brethren and only then does the blood of Jesus continue to cleanse us of all sin.

We are told in Heb 12:14-15 to: Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God. Jesus implored His followers to: Seek ye first the kingdom of God, AND His Righteousness (Matt 6:43). It’s important to note that even though, when a person comes to faith in Christ, we are at that point “made holy” and are imputed with Christ’s righteousness, we are still told to “follow after” holiness and “seek” righteousness. This refers to more than just a “recognition” or mental acknowledgment of what Christ has made us, but the active and actual living out of the new identity. There is an intense daily focus needed in the believer’s life to this pursuit, and there is not really any other option for the believer, it is the walk of faith. The Apostle James said: “ Show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith BY my works” (Jam 2:18). Modern day theology and teaching focuses almost exclusively on the “position” as if by itself it is sufficient, and overlooks the actual and necessary working out of that in our lives. It is only when we “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling” that God will “worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Ph 2:12-13). It doesn’t happen any other way. Here we see the cooperation between our faith and God’s grace; we trust Him and follow His leading in faithfulness and the obedience of sonship, and then He works in us to accomplish His purpose for our lives. As much as we might like to think that it happens automatically for a Christian, it does not, which is why scripture is filled with instruction, admonishment, exhortations on how to conduct ourselves as believers and warnings of what happens when we don’t follow His leading.

Obviously it is a process to root out the deeds of the flesh and to practice walking in the newness of life, but it is something we need to be actively giving ourselves to and what it means to be a “doer of the Word”: Therefore putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. (Jam 1:21-22).

It is also what it means to “walk in the Spirit” which is the ever important condition placed on the familiar, often quoted promise from Rom 8:1 – There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, WHO *walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit*. It is crucial for the believer to “walk in the Spirit” and necessary in order to claim the promise of no condemnation and to distinguish us as the children of God. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God (Rom 8:14).

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James 2:20 – But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

It’s pretty commonly understood in Christianity that performing “good works” apart from faith in Christ, is “dead” as far as eternal salvation is concerned. Salvation cannot be obtained by adherence to the Mosaic law, or any other level of good deeds or behavior, it is only through faith in Christ that salvation is granted unto mankind and obtained. That is the essence of Eph 2:8-9 – For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

But what seems to be much less understood, and even rejected in many Christian circles, is the other side of the coin, that Faith apart from works is also “dead” and just as unable to save. Works, apart from faith in Christ are “dead works”, but so also Faith, apart from the resulting fruit of good works is “dead faith”. The Apostle James went into great detail in his epistle to make sure believers understood that fact and would not be duped by false teachers who would eventually come along and try to introduce any notion that a person can claim to have eternal salvation, yet not exhibit the fruit of good works that are a natural result of saving faith. He even calls men vain and foolish who would entertain such a notion: But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? (Jam 2:20). The NASB version puts it this way: But are you willing to acknowledge, you foolish person, that faith without works is useless? James 2:14 states: What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can that faith save him? The obvious answer is No, it cannot. He finishes driving this point home by concluding with this: For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. (Jam 2:26).

Some argue that this plain reading from James chapter 2 must be wrong, that there must be some alternate explanation, because to state that works *must* result from our faith appears contradictory to the point of Eph 2:8-9 and introduces a “works based” salvation. But that is not the case, Eph 2:8-9 is simply stating that salvation is not “based on” the performance of good deeds or works of the law, but only by faith in Christ. But if that faith is real, genuine and effective unto salvation, it becomes the key that unlocks the door and by which we enter. But that is not all that happens when we are saved, a divine transaction then takes place. Christ inhabits us, transforms us, and makes us a new creation. 2 Cor 5:17 – Therefore if *any man* be in Christ, he is a *new* creature: old things are passed away; behold, *all things* are become new. If that is not the case for someone who claims to believe, if there is not a true transformation of the life, then it is likely that that transaction never actually occurred and they are still outside of the faith, possessing nothing more than mere mental assent or agreement with Christ as savior, but not faith. Real, saving faith will *always* result in a changed life and that changed life will naturally produce the fruit and evidence of good works. Those “good works” are not the basis of salvation, but the fruit of it. The very next verse after Eph 2:8-9, verse 10 confirms this necessity: For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

James is not the only one who made this point about saving faith and the necessity of fruit as a result. Jesus himself made this point clear in John chapter 15: Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit (Jn 15:2). I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned (Jn 15:5-6).

The fruit of a transformed life is not optional, but mandatory for anyone claiming Christianity and possessing eternal salvation. This has always been the common understanding and teaching of our forebears in faith throughout most of the Church age until very recently, beware of any false teaching and teachers that would attempt to explain this away and introduce a counterfeit narrative to these vital truths.

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