Imagine a scenario where a pastor says to a congregation, "You must
be righteous, you must live a holy life, you must obey God's commands."
Probably such a statement would result in some head nodding and some
head shaking among the congregation. The head shakers would proclaim
that the pastor has abandoned salvation by grace alone; the head nodders
would affirm the importance of obedience in the Christian life.
What
are we to make of this word "must"--particularly as it applies to
Christians. Can we say that a Christian must obey, must be righteous?
As it stands, it may be true, or it may be false, depending on how that
phrase is understood. Let's imagine some true and false endings of the
phrase.
You must be righteous, in order to earn eternal salvation from God. FALSE. Salvation is based on grace, not works.
You must be righteous, or God will stop loving you, or will love you less. FALSE. God's love is based on Christ, not us.
You must be righteous, because this is God's calling for you as a Christian. TRUE. We have been recreated in Christ, to do good works.
You must be righteous, because a life of continual disobedience reveals an unsaved heart. TRUE. True Christians truly obey.
It is true that Christians must be righteous, but why this is so is crucially important as well. Let's make a comparison to a much greater "must" in the Bible.
Jesus
Christ must return to gather his bride, the church, and make her
spotless for eternity. Now, we can affirm that this future event is a
certainty. There is no chance Jesus will fail to return. It is as
certain as if it had already happened. Yet, does this truth mean that
Jesus need not actually return for his bride? Since he will return, does that mean any less that he must return?
In
a similar way, we can say that truly saved Christians must obey God.
Some Christians and even some teachers are uncomfortable with the word
must (or some similar phrase) in talking about the responsibilities of
Christians. They might prefer to say that Christians "may" obey or
perhaps even that Christians "will" obey (and therefore discussing it is
unnecessary). But acknowledging that Christians will obey as an
increasing pattern in their life, or even that they will disobey in some
ways until the final day, does not contradict the truth that they must
obey.
Jesus must return, even though we know he will. Christian must
obey, even though we know they will, and that their occasions of
disobedience do not cost them salvation or alter God's love. God has so
arranged it that his people must do things that he will not punish them
if they don't do. The consequence of failing the "must" is, for the
Christian, failure, but not punishment, sin, but not wrath,
disobedience, but not alienation. For true Christians, this consequence
is consequence enough. In increasing ways, they will do what they must
do.
To the Christian who asks, "Must I
obey the commands of the Scriptures in the way that they apply to me as a
new creation in Christ?" We must respond: God will love you no less
when you don't, you're not saved by your works when you do, you will
increasingly obey through the power of the Spirit, and......yes, you
must.
