Christ in Me
February 6, 2022
The deeply unsatisfying message of Gal. 2.15-21 is that we cannot force ourselves to become righteous. We can’t optimize our life in just the right way to ensure we will be righteous. We can’t find or follow “8 simple rules for being righteous.” There’s no diet for it, no app for it, no surgery for it.
If there was ever a sure-fire way to become righteous, it would have to be following the Law. Embrace circumcision, reminding yourself that the sinful flesh is to be cut off. I’m not sure how that is supposed to help women, but if it worked for Abraham and Sarah, surely it will work for us! Embrace Sabbath, spending a day every week resting and reflecting on the work of God, forcing yourself to trust that God will keep life going, even when you can’t. Crops need tended, animals need fed, but one day a week you let God take care of it all. Embrace food laws and regulations that drive a wedge between you and the sinners outside the community of God, ensuring you remain unspoiled by their corrupting ways. How could these things not be effective in bringing about righteousness? Aren’t they good spiritual disciplines? Aren’t they wise?
Perhaps, but they cannot be universalized. They may legitimately be helpful for individuals. The real problem is deeper, however. The change God is after is in the heart. These spiritual disciplines will help modify behavior, and that may very well shape your heart, but they cannot be used as a sure-fire method. You can avoid eating with sinners all you want, but that doesn’t mean your heart won’t long after the sins they embrace.
No, if you want to be righteous there is only one way—be crucified with Christ, so that it is no longer you who live, but it is Christ who lives in you. This happens through faith and is enacted (or reenacted) in baptism. It is a life-long process of allowing the Holy Spirit to shape and mold us into the image of Christ, so that we may become people in whom righteousness is at home. It’s not something we can force, but it is something we can participate in. To that end, I suggest two prayers from the Book of Common Prayer.
Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Almighty God, Give us grace to cast away the deeds of darkness, and put upon us the armor of light. (see Rom. 13.12)
—John Coffey
