Going the extra mile to earn it

Speaking of checklists, Doug McHone has written a good Romans 12:1 post at CoffeeSwirls:

Much of the Christian life is mistaken for a list of rules. Do this, don’t do that. Yes, there are expectations placed upon us by God, but these never have been able to find us acceptable in the eyes of God. And as we sense this, we will often go the extra mile in an attempt to be even more stringent than the law would command. In doing so, we undermine the power of the gospel as we work to attain that which is a gift freely offered, and received through a great price that we do not pay.

Amen.