Obedience of the Proof

From Walking with Christ in the Details of Life by Patrick Morley via the Life Lessons in my Devotional Bible:

According to Gallup surveys, confirmed by other polls taken over the past fifteen years, 33 percent of all Americans over age eighteen indicate they are evangelical or "born again" Christians. That translates into 59 million Christians, or one in every three adults, who experienced a turning point in their lives as they made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ.

This information should grip us with terror. It means that the greatest revival in history has so far been impotent to change society. Is revival without reformation. It's a revival which left the country floundering in spiritual ignorance. It's a change in belief without a corresponding change in behavior...

How did the building blocks of the gospel become glued together with the cement of self-centeredness? The American gospel has evolved into a gospel of addition without subtraction. It is the belief that we can add Christ to our lives, but not subtract sin. It is a change in belief without a change in behavior. It is a spiritual experience without any cultural impact. It is revival without reformation, without repentance...

The proof of religious conversion is to demonstrate that we have both added a relationship with Christ and that we have subtracted sin (repentance). And we multiply proof to a weary world by what we do - our deeds, our obedience. What we do must confirm what we say. Our deeds are the proof of our repentance...

A changed life is one that has added Christ and subtracted sin, that attracts a world weary of worn-out words. Obedience is the proof.