The Only Way To DO What's Right

"Awake to righteousness, and do not sin..." -1 Corinthians 15:34

So what about sin?
If we're made right with God by faith...and we are...
And if that righteousness doesn't depend on what we do....and it doesn't...
...then doesn't that mean we can get away with anything we want and still be righteous?

That is completely the wrong question to be asking. Don't ever allow yourself to ask it again!
If you truly believed that you've been made into a righteous person, then the correct question is: What would a righteous person want to do?"

You see, the reason Christians still struggle with the desire to sin is that they haven't embraced the righteousness that's already been given to them. They still view themselves as sinners that are trying to reform themselves. If that was the truth, then of course the desire to sin would still be a problem for them.

Look back up at the phrase from 1 Corinthians 15:34 and read it carefully.
According to this, the only way to stop sinning is to awake to righteousness.

True Conviction

Have you ever heard someone talk about conviction as a gift from the Holy Spirit? Sure you have, we all know that one of the Holy Spirit's jobs is to convict us. We've actually gone so far as to identify a guilty conscience as the Holy Spirit convicting us. But convicting us of what?

If you've been brought up in religion, you probably believe that His job is to convict us of sin. It's as if He's saying, "You shouldn't have done that - you dirty sinner! How could you do something that stupid! Do you have any idea how much that's going to cost you? You better drop to your knees and beg Me to forgive you...maybe I'll be gracious enough to allow you to live!"

(This may be exaggerating what most Christians think of "conviction"...but not by much.)

"Convicted" means to be convinced of something beyond all doubt. This is why sometimes you hear people talk of their convictions...which is to say, the things that they hold to be true. How does this definition of conviction apply to sin? And how does conviction of sin apply to a believer?

Pay attention to this passage from John 16:8-11 - look at what Jesus says about the Holy Spirit:

"And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement: of sin because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged."

From this passage, we see that there are three groups being convicted - and also three separate convictions given by the Holy Spirit - a unique conviction directed at each group:

1 - The World is convicted of Sin.

"...of sin, because they do not believe in Me..."

2 - We are convicted of righteousness.

"...of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more..."

3 - Satan is convicted of his pending judgment.

"...of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged..."

So who is the Holy Spirit convicting of sin? Not the believers...but the unbelievers.

Then what is He convicting us of? Our righteousness!

His conviction sounds like this: "Don't do that, Son. Righteous people don't do that. This isn't what a righteous person wants to do. You've been made right with Me...that sin isn't for you anymore! This righteousness is your new nature now!"

That's a little bit different from the conviction you were taught, isn't it?

The Holy Spirit's ministry inside a believer isn't to remind them of sin....it's to convince them of their righteousness!

Serving From A Clear Conscience

This is the ONLY way we can effectively serve God!

Not out of guilt.

Not out of shame.

Not out of a feeling of debt.

And not even out of fear of "messing up."

If we're going to truly serve God, we have to do it like Paul described in 2 Timothy 1:3 - "I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience..."

He just said that it was a pure conscience that enabled Him to serve God. Paul - formerly a religious zealot and (what we would call) a terrorist - just declared that he served with a clean conscience! How could he do that?

"...how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" - Hebrews 9:14

We've got this all wrong in the church!

You can't serve God because you feel guilty for sin.

Actually, you can't serve serve God when you feel guilty for sin. 

You can't even serve God out of the fear of falling back into sin!

Only righteous people will keep themselves out of sin!

It's only faith in the gift of righteousness that will keep you from sin.

So let me echo the words we read at the very beginning: "Christian, wake up! You've been made righteous! Believe that truth, and stop sinning!"