Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:
13No longer be presenting your members [as] tools of unrighteousness to the sin, but present yourselves to God as ones living out of dead ones and your members [as] tools of righteousness to God, 14for sin will not rule over you (pl.), for you (pl.) are not under law but under grace.
Before I progress on into chapter 7, there is one more thing I’ve been pondering since studying chapter 6 some time ago, and that is this business of “righteousness.” In v.13, the Lord wants us to present our members to Him as “tools of righteousness.” He wants us to be “righteous.”
On the one hand, we might glibly respond, “Well, of course.” However, I think there is a point of confusion here that perhaps rarely gets acknowledged or decisively answered. That is the problem where we started, that we are not righteous. This is the whole point of the Gospel, all the way back to 3:19,20: “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.” At that point in our Bible, any true believer acknowledges, “Yes, it is true. I am not righteous. I never have been and, no matter how hard I may try, I never will be.” To be right means to do right, to have done right, to continue to do right, and how do we know what “right” is? The Law tells us. It is the standard of “right.”
But we’ve already concluded that the Law
only condemns us, precisely because we cannot keep it, precisely because we are
not righteous! “Through the law is the knowledge of sin.” Law only
condemns. Again, at this point, any true believer cries out, “Jesus!” That is
the whole point of the Gospel, the great “But now” of Romans 3:21,22. “But now a
righteousness of God without law has been made known… This righteousness
is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.”
Hallelujah. We revel in the wonderful truth that Jesus paid the debt of my sin
and now the Lord has forgiven my sin and declared me righteous.
That’s all well and good (actually wondrously great!), but then we pass on to the reality of our everyday lives. It is still true, even as a born-again, Spirit-indwelt person, that I am not righteous. I am still a sinner. I still fail constantly. If the standard is that God wants me to be righteous, then I’m in big trouble. I still can’t. If the judgment seat of Christ is still about me “measuring up,” I’m still in trouble.
So I came to Jesus because I’m not righteous and cannot be, but now He wants me to be righteous. Hmmmm. Seems I have a problem here.
What is the answer?
I believe the answer is to be found in understanding there is a HUGE difference between legal righteousness and what I will call grace righteousness.” Legal righteousness is simply that—here’s the rules and you should keep them. Here’s the rules and, if you keep them perfectly, you are righteous. If you fail in the tiniest point, you have failed completely and are hence unrighteous. “Whosoever shall kep the whole law and offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” If keeping the law is what we mean by “righteousness,” then I would suggest there still is no answer. If that is the standard in any way, then we’re all still back in 3:19,20, guilty and condemned. We’re still hopeless failures.
However, 6:14 tells us “You are not under law but under grace.” What does that mean? I want to suggest that it means there is a righteousness that is not legal, that there is such a thing as grace righteousness. What do I mean? The Law says to us, “Do this and live,” then mocks as we die because we cannot. Grace says, “Live and do this!” In other words, grace first gives us life, then enables us to do it. Grace starts with a love relationship between me and my Father. Grace starts with me being indwelt by the very Holy Spirit of God. Grace starts with me knowing that, whether I succeed or fail, I will still be eternally loved. Grace knows that Jesus already paid the penalty of all of my sin. Grace means that, when I hear what the Lord desires of me, because He loves me, I want to do it. Grace means I already know I can’t but that He can through me, and so I say, “Help me, Jesus. Somehow, by your grace, right at the moment when I need to say the right thing, do the right thing, help me.” Then when I actually did succeed at something, there’s no pride in it. There’s no patting myself on the back. There’s only the thankful, praising heart that says to the Lord, “You are wonderful. Thank you, thank you, thank you for helping me.”
That’s grace righteousness. Not me “succeeding,” but rather me the branch “abiding in the Vine,” knowing that, “without Him, I can do nothing,” but that in Him and by His power, I can actually be and become who He wants me to be, actually be fruitful for Him, actually rise above my selfish, petty, fearful, proud self.
Please understand what I am saying, you and I can live righteous lives. Righteous still means right. It still means to live right. That is still God’s desire for you and me. But it is only possible under grace. This is exactly what He means when He says, “Sin shall not be your master, for you are not under Law but under grace.” Grace enables me to actually do right, but also is there with loving arms to catch me when I fall. Grace allows me to try.
Can I suggest one of the best illustrations of grace is a loving parent teaching their little child to walk. Grace encourages the child to try. Grace holds their little hands and in fact holds them up at first until the child begins to be able to stand themselves. Grace keeps saying, “You can do it!” and cheers even the slightest success. Grace is there to care when they stumble and help them up again, and grace just keeps loving until the little child actually takes that first step on their own. Does the parent want the child to walk? Of course, but it is not the cold, harsh legal, “Do it or else!” It is the wise and good love that wants the very best for you and me and will stay with us until in fact it is accomplished. “He who has begun a good work in you will continue it, until the Day of Jesus Christ.”
Grace righteousness.
May God help us all today to draw near to His heart, to strive to walk minute by minute in constant fellowship with Him, knowing all while that, though we fail, He’ll still love us, but if we succeed, it will always be to His glory. And through it all, what are the gifts we’ll enjoy? “Love, joy, peace, patience…”
May we all live grace righteousness today!
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