Experience in Holiness and Righteousness

2009-04-01

A lot of times there is stress on the sufficiency of Christ and eternal security without proper consideration of righteous living. Though the Sermon on the Mount sets an extremely high bar of perfection to show us our need for a Savior, Jesus also explicitly stated that he came not to abolish the law. He also stated that those who teach against the law will be considered “least” in his kingdom. We are in the position of righteousness because we are Christ’s. However, God desires that we become experientially righteous as well.

The evidence for this is ample. We are to be righteous for the sake of the world, that we might be a supernatural testimony of God’s goodness (Leviticus 19:2; John 13:34-35). We are to be salt and light in the middle of the kingdom of darkness. We are created in God’s image, and therefore ought to reflect his glory.

I think that sometimes we do not even attempt to pursue righteous living, myself included, as we ought because we refuse to believe that God can make us into experientially righteous people. I also believe that we are often not willing to make the sacrifice necessary to be disciples as opposed to spectators. Those who followed Jesus had to think outside the box and believe that God was doing a work far beyond their capacity of understanding. We need to believe the same.