Taking the Path to Righteousness

“What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means!  Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?  But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance.  You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” (Romans 6:15-18 NIV)

There is a narrative among many Christians that since we are all sinners, sin is just a part of life and we shouldn’t make that big of deal of it.  The need for obedience to the God’s commands fades in the midst of His abundant grace and love.  A call to repentance is viewed as condemnation and judgment.  Like many of the Roman Christians were proclaiming, sin is viewed as an opportunity for God’s grace to abound.

But what is lost in this narrative is God’s desire for us to become righteous, not just forgiven.  And, as Paul states here, righteousness is formed along the path of obedience.  Yes, any sin can be forgiven, but is it better to sin and gain forgiveness rather than be obedient in the first place?  To that Paul answers a resounding “NO!” 

Perhaps this is the reason the Church is so weak; the emphasis has been skewed too far toward forgiveness at the expense of calling people to obedience.  Paul was no slouch on grace, but it seems he saw the danger of people using it as an excuse to sin and resist obedience.  And I have seen that as well.

When I first came to my present ministry, I found a lot of students claiming to follow Jesus, but who felt free to get drunk and sleep with their significant others because they were already “saved.”  One student leader proclaimed when I confronted her, “Jim, we’re college students,” as the excuse for such behavior.  They had the mistaken belief that grace was a license to live as they pleased.  

What grace provides is the way back to God when the road should have been permanently closed.  But once we get there, we are not free to just do as we please, nor should we want to be.  Rather, our desire should be to be like Christ and the only way we can achieve that is through obedience.  It is through obedience that the death march of the flesh begins.  “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature…,” Paul writes to the Colossians (3:5).  This is what obedience looks like.  It is not easy, nor does the flesh go quietly, but consistent obedience will lead to greater righteousness and maturity.

Today, recognize grace is your path to God, but it is not a license to do as you please. Instead grace is to lead you to a life of obedience in order that you can become more like Him. 

© Jim Musser 2015