Gospel & Obedience

Kris Lundgaard, in his book The Enemy Within, says:

If your mind sees the gospel only as a source of pardon from sin, and not also as the source of deliverance from the power of sin, you will be more easily attracted by the pleasure of sin, convinced that any threats of danger have been carried away in Christ. The flesh will have you singing its corrupted gospel theme song,

Saved by grace–
Oh blessed condition!
I can sin all I want
and still have remission!

It is a sly scheme of the enemy to tempt people with the very gospel to sin and confess later! May this scheme never succeed in our lives. We can rightfully praise God for His love and forgiveness when we sin, and we can rightfully praise God for saving us because of Christ’s work rather than our own. But God’s grace as revealed in the Gospel is no license to sin. God’s demand for us to worship/obey Him is not nullified by the Gospel! Rather, “the grace of God … teaches us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age” (Titus 2:11-12), and Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commands” (John 14:15).

Christians must lead the world in worship/obedience to God. Indeed, it is our joy to do so!