Grace that is righteous

"Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have a new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God's grace." 

Romans 6:13-14

Is that not the best and most freeing thing you have ever heard?! No more law. No more bondage. No more slavery. No more sin. Just grace and freedom! Why would I ever turn to anything else? This gift is free, as opposed to sin that is so expensive. Sin costs my peace. My identity. My relationships. It consumes the thoughts of my mind and words that come out of my mouth. I become lost within myself instead of being lost in the goodness of God.

I have heard and been taught a lot about grace growing up in the church and in the world, and I'm tremendously grateful for lessons in both those environments. I have seen, even simultaneously, the effect of two extremes in both settings. 

1. I've seen sin confronted with the complete absence of grace. Actions were confronted, but the heart remained untouched.

2. I've also seen grace used as leniency to continue living in sin. Grace was taught, but sin went unaddressed.

The result? A polarized understanding of God, and wounded people deeply wounding other people. Both approaches are wrong. Yet those extremes, as opposite as they are, have the same flaw in common: the choice of bondage over freedom. The Word refers to this repetition as "returning to ones own vomit."

Ouch. And ew. (Insert Jimmy Fallon GIF here)

I've struggled my whole life to find where that middle ground was. Neither of those extremes reflects the fullness of what grace is intended to be. There was an element somewhere in between that was so clearly missing. I knew grace had no condition. It's unmerited, which contradicts the first extreme I mentioned. Actions can't earn it. It's free. God says so. Because grace has no condition, our debt has been paid with no interest. We're not obliged to our sin and mistakes, nor any sin that has been committed against us. We're completely divorced from our wounds! This contradicts the second extreme. So we have grace and freedom but, as I've continued reading in Romans, there is something else God gives us. 

Righteousness.

"But now, apart from the Law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, as attested by the Law and the Prophets. And this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no distinction." 

Romans 3:21-22

The Law was fulfilled when Jesus died for us and we're made righteous by choosing faith in Him and in that sacrifice. Jesus was righteous because He did what was good and perfect. When we choose Him, when we choose the gift, we're empowered to do what is good and perfect because we have also been made righteous. We can't fulfill the Law but, because He did, we're empowered not to sin! We cannot live like this world if He inhabits us. We are empowered to turn away from our filth! That is groundbreaking!

See, grace is not just the payment of a debt or a mere act of humility. The gift of righteousness, through grace, imparts the greatest strength we could hope for in this life. We've been given everything we need to walk this thing well. Don't shortchange it by choosing one extreme or the other. His grace gives us the power of righteousness, the promise of eternity, and a perfect existence with Him. Let's reflect the truth of that power.

Copyright 2018 ->Renee Sunberg