Many today seem to possess a sort of "watered-down" approach to the Gospel and to the righteousness that it speaks of. Friend, let's recognize this is no casual righteousness. The holiness that Jesus continually accredited during His earthly ministry is to be taken very seriously. True Gospel righteousness is never to be tainted with purposeful and outright lasciviousness; it is never to be a perverted form of abused grace. May we gag on such greasy grace! Many misinterpret God's grace as a substitute for holiness, when, in actuality, grace is the avenue towards holiness. The word "grace" means, "the divine influence upon the heart; divine enablement". May we never casually declare "Well, God paid it all, so let us eat, drink and be merry!" The fruit of genuine justification is never to be a going backward or a remaining stagnant. On the contrary, the fruit of real salvation is to be the birthing of a forward hope! Paul has said, "Therefore being justified by faith, we ...rejoice in hope of the glory of God" (Rom 5:1-2).
The hope we have is eternal, substantial and real (Heb 6:18-19), as opposed to the passing hopes of the unregenerate: "For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?" (Job 27:8; Isa 45:16).
We must understand, however, that such a forward and hopeful progression is easily halted when we, as believers, decide to abuse the grace of God and consciously live in sin. Jude references this type of person in his epistle: "These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots" (Jd 12).
Jesus also spoke of this type of person, and the result of such negligent behavior: "And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection" (Lk 8:14).
So just what is the measure of righteousness the Bible tells us to pursue? You may be surprised:
"...for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness" (Rom 6:19).
In other words, let the surrender of your members to holiness be as abandoned, radical, sincere and unrestrained as your surrender to sin once was! Looking back upon the heartiness with which you served sin, and the gross lengths you went through to be stimulated, now should we possess similar zeal and similar exuberance in the service of a better Master! WOW! Can we even imagine such a radically obedient life? Can we comprehend the implications of being fully given over to righteousness? Thank God that His grace is our empowerment.
Paul goes on to say, "For when you were the servants of of sin, ye were free from righteousness" (Rom 6:20).
In other words, when we were in the world, our minds were wholly set upon worldly things. We were "free from righteousness" because we were fully given over to sin and carnality, even as a slave to sin. BUT NOW, let it be just the opposite. As we inhabit our new kingdom, let us be servants to righteousness. As a servant, we will (by definition) give all of our attendance to righteousness, even to the same extent as we previously gave attendance to sin.
The Bible encourages such radical obedience, and for good reason! As we choose to obey, real fruit is formed. As we choose to devote ourelves wholly to Jesus, real and evident holiness comes forth: "now being made free from sin, and become SERVANTS to God, ye have your fruit unto HOLINESS and everlasting life" (Rom 6:22).
Do you want to be holy? Real personal holiness is simply the fruit that is birthed from a position of sincere devotion (see Ps 92:12-14). As we obey the Word of God, we bear "fruit unto holiness". In other words, as we willingly and lovingly turn our faces to Jesus, His grace teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts (Tit 2:11-12). All He asks of us is our surrender!
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