Fruitless Christian...An Oxymoron?

This is something I've thought a lot about recently. Is it possible for someone to be a genuine believer in Christ and for there to be no sign of growth in his life? I would say no. We have been fooled in American churches into believing that salvation and sanctification are totally separate, with the latter being optional. The reality that Scripture describes is quite the opposite. Jesus certainly seemed to believe that faith was equated with a certain lifestyle as well. He called people to "follow him," "take up their crosses daily," to show love and compassion, etc. He wanted disciples--people who were going to follow him and submit to his leadership. A lot of times when we do evangelism, we put so much emphasis on Scripture's teaching that we are saved by faith in Christ--which is absolutely correct--that we fail to stress Scripture's teaching that repentance and submission to God are to be ongoing realities in the life of every believer. What we are calling people to is not just to accept a "get out of hell free card." We should be calling them to submit their life to the lordship of Christ. Being a disciple that desires transformation is not an optional step for the "mature" in faith to take at some subsequent step after salvation. In a very real sense, that is what salvation and conversion are--a radical surrendering of our life to the lordship of Christ.

So what about that person who claims to be a believer and claims salvation for himself because he has put his faith in Jesus--but with no change to show for it? That person has probably not truly been regenerated (born-again), and is therefore destined to an eternity apart from God. Because as James points out "faith without works is dead." Jesus said in John 15 that if individuals are not abiding in Him, the true vine, then they will wither and be burned. This should be scary news for many people in our churches today.

Believing in Christ = Submitting to Christ. Period.

I personally have realized that in doing evangelism I need to make this expectation clear up front. Just as Jesus did, I must call people to put their faith in Him, but part of that package is reorienting their life to live under His instruction and guidance. I don't want to mislead someone into thinking that they can receive salvation through Christ without really changing anything in their life. It's a free gift, but accepting it entails a life-time commitment.

What do you guys think? Do you disagree? Agree? Thoughts?