Is God's grace a license to sin?
Some people have asked the question "So because of grace people can continue to sin and do whatever they like?" This is the same thing that Paul was accused of preaching in the bible. It's borne of a lack of understanding of our salvation in Christ.
You see, Christ came to save us all. This salvation (in the original greek) is not just being saved from hell to heaven. It also encompasses God's protection; salvation from the power, pleasure and penalty of sin and addiction; deliverance from molestations by the enemy and deliverance from sickness, lack, fear, unbelief and all earthly ills. And much more that I don't know!
Ephesians 2 says "8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast."
Salvation, including deliverance from sin and addiction, is by grace! Our transformation to a life of right living is by the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18) and not by any dogged determination to stop sinning or doing "the right thing" which will always end in failure. Peter's denial of our Saviour is a lesson on this.
Also, regarding doing the "right thing," recall that Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and they died. They didn't just eat the evil part. This tree points to the law. When you are trying to keep the law, the good you do can kill just as fast as the evil you do. This is why a kind boss can do the "right thing" by rewarding a hardworking employee with a car and the employee could end up dying in a crash involving the same car after taking it for dedication in his church!
It takes grace to stop sin and live right. Under grace, you will not continue to sin. If your own salvation is by law-keeping and right doing and not grace, it is not of Christ! How can a Saviour who came to save us from our sins use the same sins He came to save us from as an excuse for not saving us?
Bear in mind that the "law is not of faith" (Galatians 3:12) and " "without faith, it is impossible to please God" (Hebrews 11:6.) Also, the gospel of grace is all about righteousness by faith - Philippians 3:9 "and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;"
You can never please God by keeping the law. Never.
You cannot mix law and grace. You cannot say "I will do my best and Jesus will understand and do the rest." You cannot have one leg on Mount Sinai (the law) and the other on Mount Zion (Grace). This is the lukewarm church that Christ spoke of in Revelation. Neither hot nor cold; neither under law nor under grace.
When totally under the law in its pristine condition where you have to cut off limbs and pluck out eyes when they cause you to sin as Christ said in Matthew 5, believers will realise the futility of keeping the law....and see the need for God's grace. None can be made righteous by the law in God's sight according to Romans 3:20.
Believers, in Christ, God gives us His righteousness as a gift (Romans 5:17) and not because we got our act together by being holy. If we could live a perfectly righteous life on our own, a life according to God's standard of righteousness and not the watered-down version of right living by self-effort where many 'holy' Christians are still going about with limbs and eyes that have caused them to sin still intact, we wouldn't need Jesus. No human can match this standard. All have sinned. All fall short.
As the righteousness of God in Christ, the good or bad things we do cannot make us earn or lose our right standing with God because we did not earn it to begin with. We have it because God "made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21.
To think that we have the power to meet God's standard of righteousness (the law) is the height of self-righteousness. To believe that this is the way to get right with God is to get oneself cut off from Christ and fall from grace (Galatians 5:4.) To fall from grace is to be exposed to the curses that come with not keeping ALL of the law. Here, there is no grace which came through our Saviour Jesus.
If you asked the same people that insist on law keeping as a measure of righteousness to "cast the first stone," they would all fall short! Nobody (except Jesus) could when the original story of His saving the woman caught in adultery happened; and He didn't stone her, even though He could.
Today, just like their counterparts the Pharisees who wanted to stone the woman, many preachers are condemning and even stoning the flock (by telling them that there are terms and conditions like restitution, fasting and "sowing seed" for receiving from God when Romans 8:32 tells us that in Christ, God gives us ALL things freely;) even when like those Pharisees of old, they can never cast the first stone.
Bear in mind that James 2:10 says that if you break one law you are guilty of all; so if all a person did was wish or feel satisfaction that the bad driver that overtook his car by cutting rudely in front of him got into a minor accident up ahead (this means he doesn't love his neighbour as himself!) he happens to be in the same boat of unrighteousness as paedophiles and murderers.
By the same token, as the righteousness of God in Christ, the good or bad things we do cannot make us earn or lose our right standing with God because we did not earn it to begin with. It is a gift. We have it because God "made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21.
Romans 5:17 says "...much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)"
Believers, you cannot reign in life when you are sick, poor, always anxious or living in sin. BUT GOD'S WORD HERE SAYS YOU WILL REIGN IN LIFE THROUGH CHRIST WHEN YOU ACCEPT HIS ABUNDANCE OF GRACE AND OF THE GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. There is no condemnation for believers here, even when you sin. It is this gift of no condemnation that makes us go and sin no more.
Notice that we reign in life through Christ and not through our own efforts. It takes His grace and His gift of righteousness to be free from the desire to sin. As the righteousness of God in Christ, no matter what we do or do not do, we are seen as righteous in the eyes of our Heavenly Father.
God's grace is not a license to sin. It is the key to right living. It is the power of God to salvation (Romans 1:17.) Remember salvation here also encompasses deliverance from the power, pleasure and penalty of sin! God works His salvation into us. We get delivered from the urge to do evil and we get do that which is pleasing to Him, as it is written in Philippians 2 "12 ... work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure."
Believers, in Christ, God gives us His righteousness as a gift (Romans 5:17) and not because we got our act together by being holy. If we could live a perfectly righteous life on our own, a life according to God's standard of righteousness and not the watered-down version of right living by self-effort where many 'holy' Christians are still going about with limbs and eyes that have caused them to sin still intact, we wouldn't need Jesus. No human can match this standard. All have sinned. All fall short.
Believers, God did not send His Son to the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved - John 3:17.
With His gift of righteousness comes no condemnation for the believer. It is Christ's "Neither do I condemn you" that makes us "Go and sin no more."
Believe Right and you will Live Right!
You see, Christ came to save us all. This salvation (in the original greek) is not just being saved from hell to heaven. It also encompasses God's protection; salvation from the power, pleasure and penalty of sin and addiction; deliverance from molestations by the enemy and deliverance from sickness, lack, fear, unbelief and all earthly ills. And much more that I don't know!
Ephesians 2 says "8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast."
Salvation, including deliverance from sin and addiction, is by grace! Our transformation to a life of right living is by the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18) and not by any dogged determination to stop sinning or doing "the right thing" which will always end in failure. Peter's denial of our Saviour is a lesson on this.
Also, regarding doing the "right thing," recall that Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and they died. They didn't just eat the evil part. This tree points to the law. When you are trying to keep the law, the good you do can kill just as fast as the evil you do. This is why a kind boss can do the "right thing" by rewarding a hardworking employee with a car and the employee could end up dying in a crash involving the same car after taking it for dedication in his church!
It takes grace to stop sin and live right. Under grace, you will not continue to sin. If your own salvation is by law-keeping and right doing and not grace, it is not of Christ! How can a Saviour who came to save us from our sins use the same sins He came to save us from as an excuse for not saving us?
Bear in mind that the "law is not of faith" (Galatians 3:12) and " "without faith, it is impossible to please God" (Hebrews 11:6.) Also, the gospel of grace is all about righteousness by faith - Philippians 3:9 "and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;"
You can never please God by keeping the law. Never.
You cannot mix law and grace. You cannot say "I will do my best and Jesus will understand and do the rest." You cannot have one leg on Mount Sinai (the law) and the other on Mount Zion (Grace). This is the lukewarm church that Christ spoke of in Revelation. Neither hot nor cold; neither under law nor under grace.
When totally under the law in its pristine condition where you have to cut off limbs and pluck out eyes when they cause you to sin as Christ said in Matthew 5, believers will realise the futility of keeping the law....and see the need for God's grace. None can be made righteous by the law in God's sight according to Romans 3:20.
Believers, in Christ, God gives us His righteousness as a gift (Romans 5:17) and not because we got our act together by being holy. If we could live a perfectly righteous life on our own, a life according to God's standard of righteousness and not the watered-down version of right living by self-effort where many 'holy' Christians are still going about with limbs and eyes that have caused them to sin still intact, we wouldn't need Jesus. No human can match this standard. All have sinned. All fall short.
As the righteousness of God in Christ, the good or bad things we do cannot make us earn or lose our right standing with God because we did not earn it to begin with. We have it because God "made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21.
To think that we have the power to meet God's standard of righteousness (the law) is the height of self-righteousness. To believe that this is the way to get right with God is to get oneself cut off from Christ and fall from grace (Galatians 5:4.) To fall from grace is to be exposed to the curses that come with not keeping ALL of the law. Here, there is no grace which came through our Saviour Jesus.
If you asked the same people that insist on law keeping as a measure of righteousness to "cast the first stone," they would all fall short! Nobody (except Jesus) could when the original story of His saving the woman caught in adultery happened; and He didn't stone her, even though He could.
Today, just like their counterparts the Pharisees who wanted to stone the woman, many preachers are condemning and even stoning the flock (by telling them that there are terms and conditions like restitution, fasting and "sowing seed" for receiving from God when Romans 8:32 tells us that in Christ, God gives us ALL things freely;) even when like those Pharisees of old, they can never cast the first stone.
Bear in mind that James 2:10 says that if you break one law you are guilty of all; so if all a person did was wish or feel satisfaction that the bad driver that overtook his car by cutting rudely in front of him got into a minor accident up ahead (this means he doesn't love his neighbour as himself!) he happens to be in the same boat of unrighteousness as paedophiles and murderers.
By the same token, as the righteousness of God in Christ, the good or bad things we do cannot make us earn or lose our right standing with God because we did not earn it to begin with. It is a gift. We have it because God "made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21.
Romans 5:17 says "...much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)"
Believers, you cannot reign in life when you are sick, poor, always anxious or living in sin. BUT GOD'S WORD HERE SAYS YOU WILL REIGN IN LIFE THROUGH CHRIST WHEN YOU ACCEPT HIS ABUNDANCE OF GRACE AND OF THE GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. There is no condemnation for believers here, even when you sin. It is this gift of no condemnation that makes us go and sin no more.
Notice that we reign in life through Christ and not through our own efforts. It takes His grace and His gift of righteousness to be free from the desire to sin. As the righteousness of God in Christ, no matter what we do or do not do, we are seen as righteous in the eyes of our Heavenly Father.
God's grace is not a license to sin. It is the key to right living. It is the power of God to salvation (Romans 1:17.) Remember salvation here also encompasses deliverance from the power, pleasure and penalty of sin! God works His salvation into us. We get delivered from the urge to do evil and we get do that which is pleasing to Him, as it is written in Philippians 2 "12 ... work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure."
Believers, in Christ, God gives us His righteousness as a gift (Romans 5:17) and not because we got our act together by being holy. If we could live a perfectly righteous life on our own, a life according to God's standard of righteousness and not the watered-down version of right living by self-effort where many 'holy' Christians are still going about with limbs and eyes that have caused them to sin still intact, we wouldn't need Jesus. No human can match this standard. All have sinned. All fall short.
Believers, God did not send His Son to the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved - John 3:17.
With His gift of righteousness comes no condemnation for the believer. It is Christ's "Neither do I condemn you" that makes us "Go and sin no more."
Believe Right and you will Live Right!
Comments
Post a Comment