When Obedience Flows From the Wrong Source — An Interlude Before Resurrection Life

Obedience becomes exhausting when we try to be the source of the life God has already given.

Before we move into Romans 6:8–11 and the language of resurrection life, it is wise to pause. Not to slow progress, but to clear away a confusion that often rises quietly in the hearts of sincere believers.

Whenever God’s finished work is emphasized, whenever rest in Christ is spoken of with clarity, a familiar question often surfaces.

“So am I supposed to work out my salvation?”

That question rarely comes from rebellion. More often, it comes from a deeply formed framework, one that assumes the believer must remain the functional source of Christian living. Responsibility has been emphasized, often rightly. But the source of that responsibility has quietly gone unquestioned.

Scripture does not deny responsibility.
But it does relocate the source.

Philippians 2:12–13 is frequently quoted as a corrective to grace, yet when read carefully, it explains how grace actually operates. Paul does not say that God assists human effort. He says that God Himself is at work in the believer, producing both the willing and the working according to His good pleasure.

That distinction matters.

The Christian life does not advance because we work harder with God’s assistance. It advances because God Himself becomes the one acting within us. Obedience does not flow from self-effort supported by grace. It flows from shared life.

This is where many believers become weary. Not because they resist obedience, but because they have been carrying the wrong role. They have been trying to be the source.

Romans 7 gives voice to this experience. The will is present. The desire is sincere. The effort is real. And yet the result is frustration and fatigue. Scripture does not diagnose this condition as moral failure. It diagnoses it as independence.

When Christ is treated primarily as Helper rather than Life, obedience becomes management. Holiness becomes effort. Progress becomes pressure. The believer remains central, and Christ remains supplemental.

But Scripture presents something far better.

When Christ becomes the source, obedience becomes expression. Holiness becomes fruit. Responsibility remains, but the burden shifts. The believer is no longer generating life. He is sharing it.

This is why Romans 6 does not end with death. It moves immediately to life. Not a life the believer produces, but a life the believer participates in. Resurrection life cannot be understood until the source question is settled.

As we move forward, keep this in mind.

You are not being asked to produce something new.
You are being invited to stop being the source.

With that clarification in place, resurrection life can finally be heard for what it is. Not another demand, but a gift already given.