Sunday, April 8, 2018

Saved For Righteousness

Sometimes Christians need to be reminded periodically of just why they were saved by God.  Christians aren't saved just for the hell of it; they are saved so that they can have a restored relationship with God and so that they can act like it.  Paul states in Ephesians 2:10 that Christians are "created in Christ Jesus to do good works," a verse which conveys a message similar to that of Romans 6, where Paul affirms that redemption does not exempt the saved of their moral obligations--and in fact gives them a new ability to uphold those obligations since they have now "died to sin" (Romans 6:2).

This does not mean that someone ceases to sin entirely just by becoming a Christian.  Instead it means that he or she has been liberated from the ultimate cosmic consequences of sin and has a new identity rooted in a relationship with God.  It is this dying to sin that leads Paul to ask in Romans 6:2 "How can we live in it any longer?"  Sin no longer has the metaphysical power over the saved that it did prior to salvation, and the saved are free to aggressively purge sin from their lives.

Justification, becoming right with God, is the start of the journey of sanctification, the process of becoming more like God in terms of moral character.  Sanctification is obligatory for all Christians--it is one of the things they are saved for.  Abandoning sin and turning to righteousness is not a morally optional thing, as if someone's unwillingness to do so makes obligations vanish!  Moral obligations remain, in full force, once a person becomes saved, but they can then be pursued with renewed energy.

Indeed, the demands of morality do not disappear just because someone is now a Christian.  Some may not appreciate being reminded of this, but truth is unaffected by preferences, and it is not altered by a desire for ease.  But living righteously is possible.  It is not a logical impossibility that only unrealistic Christians aim for.  It is something demanded of all Christians.

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