It’s a wonderful thing to have such utter confidence in the fact that our freedom from law and sin has allowed us to share in God’s own righteousness. And that’s not all! Our redemption is set in stone—a salvation and heavenly reward that no one can strip away from us. But standing in such a marvelous and rock-solid hope carries the danger of breeding complacency. “Now that I’ve got my ticket to heaven, what more do I need? Why worry about it?”

Such an attitude is always rooted in the self-centered belief that, at the end of the day, our relationship with God amounts to little more than making a better life for ourselves here and now, with the added bonus of a fabulous heavenly life later. Sadly, this is the way many Christians think about God and His purpose for their life. But it really shouldn’t surprise us much; multitudes of voices unrelentingly and convincingly preach this very message.

This watered-down gospel, though, has no real basis in Scripture. Quite the opposite actually: devotion, selflessness and discipline bear the true mark of a godly person. “Godly? Who said anything about godly? I’m just glad I’m saved!” Well, saved is wonderful, but our reconciliation with God encompasses a whole lot more than merely our initial regeneration—no matter how dramatic our born-again experience might have been.

The primary reason for God doing all He has through Christ Jesus is to pave the way for godliness to become the standard of our life in Him. Salvation, then, is merely the starting point in our walk with God. Through redemption, we are provided the framework essential to choice. And choice by faith is the very heart of our life—and growth in that life—as Christians.(Titus 2;11-12)