Bible Studies

ADDICTED TO RIGHTEOUSNESS!

by Luella Campbell
07/21/14
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ADDICTED TO RIGHTEOUSNESS!

"What then? Shall we sin because we are not under 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.

Another irrational argument! The first one - the more I sin, the more God's grace is revealed! What a terrible misunderstanding! That one doesn't hold water because I died with Christ when He died on the cross - symbolised by my baptism. Death set me free from sin to live a new life. It is up to me to live as though I were dead, and risen to a life without the ravages of sin.

The second one - shall I keep on sinning because I am no longer under the law? Since God's grace has replaced the law, can I going on living any way I please because God's grace has made provision for my sin and He will keep on forgiving me? Another terrible misunderstanding! To continue to live in sin isn't just about doing what I like when I like; it's about being the slave of the one I serve.

When I serve sin, I am enslaved by it; my old selfish nature dictates what I do and, unfortunately, the consequences are part of the deal. Death! Sin is like a habit-forming drug. The more I sin, the more I want to sin, and the less able I am to resist gratifying the demands of my sinful nature. The more I fulfil my own lusts, the less appetite I have to love and obey God. My appetite is formed by whatever I eat.

Have you ever seen a child who feeds on junk food have an appetite for vegetables! Of course not. His appetite is developed by what he eats. The same applies in the spiritual realm. If I continually feed my spirit on "junk food", activities that gratify my selfish and fleshly appetites, I will lose my appetite for God.

God's grace has freed me from slavery to sin. I am no longer under obligation to do what my old master demands because I have died to it and am alive to my new Master, Jesus Christ. He has provided forgiveness for living to please myself; He broke the power my old nature had over me and set me back on the path that leads to wholeness and eternal life.

"But," you ask, "what's all the fuss about sinning or not sinning anyway? Why can't I keep living as I like because Jesus has provided forgiveness, and I will go to heaven when I die?" You don't understand. God created man in His own image to resemble Him in His character and to be one with Him, in harmony with what He thinks and what He desires. It was in that state of perfection that man was fully human.

The moment the first pair broke their union with the Father through disobedience, they lost their connection with their source of life; they died spiritually, and began to die physically. What killed them? Sin. Sin dehumanised them. They were no longer fully human. We think that being human is being subject to weakness. "After all," we argue, "I'm only human." No, you are human only when you have been restored to fellowship with God and are being renewed in knowledge after the image of your Creator.

God cannot die because He cannot sin. The grave could not hold Jesus because He was God's sinless lamb. God sacrificed His sinless Son not only to provide forgiveness but to restore our union with Him so that we can become fully human again. Why would we want to keep on sinning when sin will kill us all over again?

Instead of seeing God's forgiveness as something that deprives us of the "pleasures" of sin, we need to view it as a lifeline that rescues us from the jaws of death and an open door to the true pleasures of living in His presence and being made fully human again. As we eat the bread of His Word instead of the junk food of sinful indulgence, our appetite for God and His ways will increase. Then, Paul says, we will be "slaves" to righteousness, addicted to doing what pleases our Father.

That's an addiction I want to have. Don't you?

Acknowledgement

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.