Obedience as Preparation
In this season, I am learning about the merciful role of Christ’s righteousness in our sanctification journey. To the Lord, we are made blameless by the righteousness of Jesus (Ephesians 1:4; Colossians 1:22), that is, He looks at us and does not see the stain of sin that used to cover us, but rather the unblemished finished work of Jesus. So often we tend to slip into a legalistic, works-based mentality where we operate from a mindset of earning the blessings of God. We strive and rely on our acts to be the measuring stick for our faith and our righteousness, forgetting that righteousness is freely given. There are no promises given to us by God that we have to work for, there aren’t any blessings from Him that we have earn. The righteousness of Jesus takes us from a
Merit-Based Religion to a Mercy-Response Relationship
with God. So, what role does our works play in our faith-walk, if in fact “faith without works is dead” (James 2:14-26)?
Simply because we are made blameless does not give us the justification to continue to sin:
“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? Far from it! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:1-2).
Paul reminds us that there is another power at work within us, the power of sin that is of our natural state, influencing and challenging our will to be at war the Spirit of God (Romans 7:14-25). Evidence of our righteousness working itself out through us is the conviction we receive by the Holy Spirit. With our mercy-based relationship comes our own personal relationship with God, through Jesus, and His own personal assignment for His kingdom here on earth. He who knew us in our mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13), whose ways and thoughts are greater and higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9) and who knows our future and promises us hope (Jeremiah 29:11), knows us better than we can ever know ourselves. He is the one who fashioned us and molded us like clay (Isaiah 64:8) for His purpose, so any commands and/or instructions He speaks to us is a sure way for us to know it is Him completing what He has started (Phil. 1:6). These instructions are not intended to bore us but to provide us with a life of excitement and expectation. They are not meant to be just another rule to dull our fun, but to keep us on the path of fulfilling our destiny and were created to be. Furthermore, they are to prepare us.
What I am increasingly learning is God’ s word is truly inevitable. What He has promised will surely come to pass (Hebrews 10:23), it is just a matter of His timing, and we do not know when that will be, but will we be prepared for when it does? Obedience is not for God, it is for us. Every act of obedience is evidence of our faith, trust and surrender to His will. This surrender softens our heart further to God’s will and plan for our lives and impacts what flows from it (our words, our behaviors, our desires, etc.). We are transformed by our heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26) and being prepared for the fulfillment of God’s word, so when it happens (not “if”), we will have the confidence, boldness and peace that comes with knowing God was preparing us for such a time as this (Esther 4:14). There would be little to no room for doubt, insecurities and unworthiness, because God would have worked all of that out in our hearts. We would be able to cast down every lofty spirit that attempts to set itself up high against His word by the evidence of His faithfulness we have seen. We would be able to take captive every thought that does not align with what He has told us by remembering the inevitability of His word. Remember friends! Remember His goodness and faithfulness towards you. Trust in His righteousness and be moved by His mercy. Allow yourselves to be transformed and prepared through obedience because He who has promised, is faithful…it will come to pass. Are you ready?
