““But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? May it never be!….. “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” Galatians 2:17, 20 LSB https://bible.com/bible/3345/gal.2.17-20.LSB
The tension in Christianity is the needlessness to obey God to be saved and the necessity for obeying God if we are indeed saved. Saved from what? The judgment to come either upon God’s return to earth or our return to God upon our death. God will judge each person according to His standard revealed to us in His Scripture so that all of us are without excuses for knowing God and obeying His commands. The Scripture is clear that men have never fully obeyed God and cannot do so because of our sinful nature, our spiritual DNA from birth that rebels against God. We need a Savior, for the perfect requirements of God cannot be met by our imperfect deeds. And God has sent such a Savior. Born of a virgin, so without the sinful nature, Jesus lived a perfect life to offer Himself as a perfect sacrifice to God the Father for the sins of men. His offering was accepted. He was crucified for our sins and rose again from the dead, proving His sacrifice was acceptable to God. Now, this Jesus is Lord and Judge of all Who requires all men to confess Him with their mouths and believe upon Him with their hearts while surrendering to Him their lives in total submission to His Lordship. We who love Him are now to live like Him, obedient to God the Father by obeying all of the commands of God the Son. We obey because we love Him, we obey because we seek to glorify Him among men, we obey because we were made for such a purpose, and we will fully obey when we are no longer subject to life in this rebellious body. Obedience to God is required not to earn God’s favor but to demonstrate God’s love for men as demonstrated by God in Jesus, Who loved us and gave His life for us.
