1 Peter 2 - Saved for Obedience
The actual righteousness verse is 1 Peter 2:24, which reads as follows:
24He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
It’s a simple verse, but there’s a lot to it. Primarily, what does Peter mean by living for righteousness? Is he referring to believing, or to obeying? In short, to obeying, because he speaking to a crowd that already believes, as he opens in his letter (emphasis mine):
 1Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
      To God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood:
      Grace and peace be yours in abundance.Â
So, these people clearly believe in Jesus, their purpose being clearly obedience. In fact, they are Jews who have realized that the Messiah they had awaited their entire life has come and gone, and it was Jesus. However, notice that God did not simply choose these people for entry to Heaven; He chose them for a purpose here on earth: obedience. And as we know so well on this blog, after God accounts righteousness to you for believing in Him, your proper response is obedience, through which righteousness can be seen by others. As Moses wrote, your obedience is your righteousness. This is why Peter opens His letter to these faithful Jews, telling them the reason for their sanctification is that they have been chosen as examples of Christ’s obedient.
So, going back to verse 2:24 knowing that the targeted recipient of this letter is a believing Jew, chosen for obedience to Christ, Peter is telling this person that Christ’s very purpose was so that “we might die to sins and live for righteousness”. And in fact, that is what happened.
We know from Paul’s letter to the Romans that once we are alive in Christ, we are dead to the Law, meaning simply the Law has been ultimately fulfilled in our life with a sin offering that never need be offered again. We (for I, too, am Jewish) are no longer obligated to give offerings because I am now seen as righteous by God for my believe in Jesus as my sacrifice. Whereas before Christ, my sin created a distance between me and God, it is now Jesus who spans the distance between me and God; there is now no distance, and He will stretch as far as He has to to ensure it. From Paul’s perspective, Jesus is now my “sin”, my distance from God; from Peter’s perspective, I am dead to sin. Sin has no power in my life, because though I might do wrong, though I might take a step away from the Father when I do wrong, Christ stretches just that much further, and my action creates no gap… I am dead to sin.
When Paul wrote of this phenomenon in Romans, He noted that every time we sin, Christ’s redeeming power was activated, and that such power was an ultimate good in this world, a good that only Christ can do. However, he then cautioned us that this was by no means a reason to continue doing wrong, just so that “more good” might come from Jesus. Such a reaction would be a distortion of what God had in mind to do with that righteousness He accounted to us for our belief. Apparently, Peter had such a problem to deal with in his letter as well, for he really hits this point hard. In our verse 2:24, he exhorts these people that “we might die to sins and live for righteousness.” We believe, now let us obey. He even gives a reason for our hope, that “by his wounds you have been healed.”
This letter points out a very important point about many Christians in general. We accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We believe. But then we do not obey. We do not let the righteousness God has account us show in our lives. Well, God is a just God. We risk turning to evil, lest we do something good, and God will judge us by how we finish. Believing is just the beginning. You may be able to sustain your belief through your death despite the sin you continue to commit, but it is not easy because you open yourself to Satan’s tricks, and it is not your purpose in living your life on this earth. So, take your righteousness and show it to those around you, lest your faith do no good for those around you. Instead of letting the unbelievers think you are simply one of them, essentially letting them continue living in the hopelessness they think is theirs, obey God in righteousness, lest even you turn away. You may never turn away, despite such folly, but it is a pointless risk you take… you were saved for obedience.