Unlimited: Righteousness Leads to Holiness
Oct 31, 2022 615
Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness (Romans 6:19b).
Some people can be very devoted to their impurity and wickedness. The apostle is telling us here is that as children of God, we are to be as passionate about right Christian living as non-Christians are about pursuing wickedness.
Wickedness and righteousness are not static in our lives. When we are a slave to wickedness, it will always steadily increase in our lives. When we are a slave to righteousness, it will always lead to ever-increasing holiness. We cannot be complacent. If we are not growing in holiness, then we are growing in wickedness.
We should offer ourselves to God and surrender to his righteousness.
The goal of this is “holiness.” The Greek word used here is the same word that is translated as “sanctification.” Many people wrongly think that “sanctification” means achieving a defined level of obedience and perfection in our flesh, but that’s not what it means at all. “Sanctification” means “being set apart” for God. It means to be set apart for God’s purpose. We are set apart because we follow Jesus, reveal him in the way we live, and share his message (the Gospel) to those around us.
The apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonian church, in the context of avoiding sexual immorality:
For this is the will of God, your sanctification… For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness (1 Thess. 4:3,7, NKJV.)
Spiritual Application
The issue in this verse isn’t that you should monitor and manage your levels of wickedness or righteousness, for this is impossible. The issue is that we should offer ourselves to God and surrender to his righteousness. Which one are you focusing on?
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