Obligated to Obedience? (Romans 6:1-14; Lord's Day 32)
It is tempting to think that when one is saved by grace, they are free to live as they desire to live. However, the catechism teaches that while we are saved by grace, we are also obligated to live for Christ. This obligation is not a burden but a joy. This sounds strange because we do not think that living for someone else, and having someone else define us empowering.
However, the Apostle Paul assures us that there are two types of slavery. We can be slaves of sin or slaves of righteousness. Either way, we are slaves. We will either live under the domain of death in Adam or we will live under the domain of life, empowered by the Holy Spirit, in Christ Jesus. There are two historic precedents that set our identity. We are either under the domain of Adam, death, of the domain of Christ, life.
This is why the Apostle Paul exhorts believers to live for Christ, acknowledging the struggle against sin. This struggle is not about human effort but about the Spirit’s power working in us, transforming us into the image of Christ. We are called to present our bodies as instruments of righteousness, not wickedness, living in the knowledge that we are alive in Christ and secured by His grace.
When you read Paul’s exhortations, he does not tell us to try harder. No, Paul spends much of his time laying out the historic reality that Christ has overcome death. He spends his time making clear that Christ is ascended in resurrection victory. We might think that this is irrelevant because we know this truth. However, Paul then applies the historic work of Christ in a key point: we are united to our savior. This victory is ours as we take hold of Christ by faith, as a people who are grounded in that historic reality. So, we do not live as a burden to a demanding savior.
Living for Christ is a privilege, not a willful act, but joy that is empowered by the resurrection Spirit. Let us view ourselves as redeemed people, living out the Gospel. People who have the joy of being slaves of righteousness.