But thank God that although you used to be slaves of sin, you gave wholehearted obedience to the teaching that was handed down to you, which provides a pattern. Now that you have been set free from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness. (I’m speaking with ordinary metaphors because of your limitations.) Once, you offered the parts of your body to be used as slaves to impurity and to lawless behaviour that leads to still more lawless behaviour. Now, you should present the parts of your body as slaves to righteousness, which makes your lives holy.

Romans 6:17-19 (CEB)

The blessing of the new covenant is the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to us and our sins to Him. This is the basis of our justification and sanctification. Being one and united in Christ, we are turned from "slaves to sin" to "slaves to righteousness". This means God will not treat us as sinners, but as sons and daughters who are righteous before Him.

It is through the renewing of our minds that we realise we no longer exist to please ourselves, but rather to please God and to reflect His glory. When the Apostle Paul used the metaphor of our slavery to Christ, he was describing how we have been set free from the slavery of fear and sin to become children of righteousness. Now we can live and act righteously because God's grace has made us righteous.

The focus of the new covenant is Jesus and because we are grafted and rooted in Him, the richness of His life and righteousness in us will produce His abundant fruits of holiness and righteousness. All feelings of inadequacy and not measuring up will fade because you can confidently trust God to complete the good work He has started in you. It is this explicit trust that makes our obedience possible and joyful.

Obedience is the God-given ability to hear the gospel and act accordingly.

We are not hearing the gospel correctly if we try to make the Christian life about meeting standards and expectations. Obedience is not about following rules, but about allowing the life of Jesus to permeate every aspect of our lives.

Christ is our perfect source, standard, and perfecter of faith. He will enable us to do far more than what the law requires because His power is at work in us. We enjoy greater freedom, faithfulness, and fruitfulness when our conduct and character are in line with the truth of who we are and what we have in Christ. This comes by walking in the light of the gospel and fully resting your identity in Christ.