Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of evil. Avoid it, do not travel on it; Turn away from it and pass on- Proverbs 4:14-15 NKJV

One of the longest running and most quarrelsome debates in Christianity centers around what Christians should and shouldn’t do. This debate has literally been raging since the dawn of the Christian age (Acts 15). 

There are those who sincerely believe it’s wrong to attach any behavioral “shoulds” to the Christian faith. Many (not all) of these folks believe any restrictions on Christian behavior is an encroachment on God’s “grace” and “works” theology (Galatians 2:16, Romans 3:28).  These folks tend to teach (whether they intend to or not) that grace is a bottomless bucket of forgiveness we can dip into anytime the need arises. This view oftentimes results in folks seeing sin as less than ideal, but not something to get overly wound up about.

On the other side of the debate are the rule-followers. 

Rule followers hate sin and will do everything in their power to avoid it. Rule-followers sincerely believe Christian “rules” are like fences. They are protective in nature.  In their minds rules protect Christians from sin, trouble and moral destruction. Sometimes these folks are termed “legalists” because they want Christians to follow “the law” or “the rules”. The rules don’t necessarily have to be biblical; they are just meant to keep us out of trouble. 

One thing is totally true:

 There is only way to get right with God (and into heaven). We get right with God by choosing to have faith in the substitutionary work Jesus did on the cross and His subsequent resurrection (Ephesians 2:8-9, Galatians 2:16, Romans 1:17, Hebrews 11:6). 

Okay, so. 

Historically, this whole debate tends to get very cantankerous and passionate. Both sides insist they are right, and that the other side is a horde of grubby heathens. With all due respect to the well-intended lovers of Jesus on both sides, I think we should allow the Apostle Peter weigh in on the subject. 

 He walked with Jesus and he knows things.

1st Peter 1:10-13 is unequivocal: salvation is by grace and grace alone. This simply means no one earns their salvation. It’s a gift (Ephesians 4:8). No one works for a gift. If they did it would no longer be a gift, it would be wages earned (Romans 4:4). 

But here’s the thing (and it’s a big thing):

Peter also gives us his readers (you and me) “a list” of behaviors and attitudes he felt all Christians should strive to do (2nd Peter 1:3-11).  The list is quite extensive. Furthermore, Peter is clear, we are to go after these things with “all diligence”. This means no half-hearted efforts, no lame attempts.  We are to be all-in on going after the following:

Living a life of purity and virtue.

Becoming knowledgeable about our faith.

Attaining self-control.

Persevering in our faith despite hardship or difficulty.

Pursuing godliness (holiness)

Treating fellow Christians with kindness.

Learning to love others (especially other Christians). 

Okay so Peter, wasn’t shy about attaching some shoulds to our Christianity. Peter is so absolutely convinced his “list” of “shoulds” are correct, he promises that if we go after the things on “the list” there will be two guaranteed results. First, we will never fail morally (1st Peter 1:10). That’s a great big encouraging promise.  The second promise is even bigger and more encouraging. He says that if we “do” the list we will receive a rich welcome into the Kingdom of God when we die (2nd Peter 1:8, 2nd Peter 1:10-11). He then states that anyone who does not do “the list” is self-blinded and may have even forgotten what it means to be a Christian (2nd Peter 1:9).

Yikes. 

It gets even yikesier. In chapters two and three of 2nd Peter, Peter warns that false teachers would (in his time and in the future) discourage true believers from worrying about their behavior or making too big a deal out of intentional sin. 

They do this by saying things like:

God loves you no matter what you do.

We are saved by grace, not works of righteousness.

God will forgive you no matter the sin. 

All the above statements are one-hundred-percent true. 

However, we are also warned about putting God to a test (Acts 5:9, 1st Corinthians 8:1-11) and we are cautioned about the spiritual dangers of refusing to grow spiritually (one aspect of growth is giving up sin) and intentional sin after salvation (Romans 6:12-14, Hebrews 6:1-8, Colossians 3).

The whole notion of God’s grace is very much emmeshed with forgiveness. We are forgiven when we receive God’s grace at the moment of our salvation. However, when we boil grace down to something as rudimentary as mere forgiveness, we miss the greater and more powerful meaning of the word. It’s like saying marriage is nothing more than a legal contract. It is that. But is so much more. Grace is the same. It is categorically not a list of man-made rules or fences. Titus 2:11 tells us God’s grace acts as a teacher. It teaches us to live godly lives. This means that if we truly understand grace, we will go after Peter’s “list” with all diligence, fully aware of the fact that we cannot do “the list” or any other good thing without God’s assistance and empowerment (Philippians 4:13, 2ndCorinthians 12:9). Prayerfully and diligently doing “the list” does so much more than just avert moral failure and guarantee eternal reward. Going after “the list” causes us (over time) to look and act a lot more like Jesus. Anytime we look and act like Jesus we impact our world powerfully and that is a total game changer for Christians.