Grace vs. Obedience?

I was just returning from taking my son to get his learners permit at the local DMV, and I decided to ponder the thought of, "Grace verses Obedience". I do not consider myself an expert on this by any manner of speaking; however, with a look at the Word of God perhaps can shed some light on this controversy. I say controversy because it really seems as of late that with the current thought that are emerging within this, "ME" generation, is the understanding of grace which allows the option of living a sinful life. I have heard those who profess to be Christians say, "that is the point of grace, I can't fight my sin. So I'm not going to try, besides it is too hard to be obedient". I have heard the understanding expressed that, "I can not change therefore, God will be glorified through my continued sin." Even the comment, "I know better but I just want to do what I want to do. I want to be happy!" Hmmmm, there is something that irritates me about that, and while I don't want to come off judgemental, and have been told so by some people that I do(oh well!), there has to be truth in the word concerning grace and obedience. Does God not require obedience anymore? Are we relieved of any accountability of right doing simply because we are wrong beings and that is all that God can expect of us? Why did Jesus come to die anyway? Shall we live in this life in lethargy, void of any real hope or power to change? What ever happened to the integrity of the Christian?

Well, as far as the question, "Does God require obedience anymore?", we can look to the book of Romans chapter six. This is exactly what Paul was faced with, people who were basically seeing grace abused but with out a clear understanding had to raise the question of should we sin or obey? The chapter begins with that very question. In chapter six we read:

Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?

So here we see Paul addressing this in a little bit different light. Did you catch it? If you keep reading you will. The people are concerned about what they should do as in what actions they should take, again to right and wrong. Paul continues in the following verses explaining that it is no longer about what we do but rather who we are. This is no longer a performance issue but an identity issue. Paul goes on to say that we have been buried with Christ in death and risen to new life with him as well. Paul states in verse six that, we are no longer slaves to sin. We are not controlled by sin we are now controlled by the life of Christ that is in us. We were dead before not even having the desire to do right because we were slaves to sin. But now we are alive because we are slaves to Christ. I love verses 15 and 16:

Well then, since God's grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! Don't you realize that you become a slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.

Now what I find interesting is that Paul was not talking to unbelievers here, was he? This is the letter to the church in Rome isn't it? So we as believers still have the choice to make as to if we are going to become a slave to sin or a slave to Christ. It doesn't appear to me to be speaking about Salvation because in verse 14 we read:

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.

I believe the direct result of you choosing to align yourself with Christ, is obedience. Which would also mean the opposite as true also, with those who decide to align themselves with sin the result being death. It really is not a judgemental, or hypocritical thing here it is a matter of the heart. If you choose to love and serve God then you will naturally obey him, that is written upon your heart. But those, remember we are talking about Christians here, who decide they are going to love themselves and serve their fleshly sinful desires, will grow hardened in their hearts and grow in pride and self-centeredness. It is the natural result of the choice. The hypocritical thing about it is when a Christian decides to become a slave to sin, because they have already committed themselves to Christ so they are acting the opposite of their identity. The Bible says we are, a new creation in Christ Jesus, and if we have been given a new life that is free from the power of sin and death , it would be hypocritical to continue living in a state that we have been freed from. It would be hypocritical to say that we have no power to stop sinning when we have been freed from that slavery into life. It would be hypocritical to act in opposition to your true identity, wouldn't it? It would be hypocritical to take only grace without the natural result of obedience, they are inseparable. James says in 2:26:

Just as the body is dead with out breath, so also faith is dead without good works.

The natural result or proof of faith is works. The natural result or proof of grace is obedience. If a person was able to take the grace and leave the obedience was there ever true grace held? Think about it!

To be continued...