Grace NOT to Sin

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God 

I woke up this morning with the words of this great hymn in my heart:

Grace, grace, God’s grace,

Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;

Grace, grace, God’s grace,

Grace that is greater than all our sin!

Lo and behold, in my “Read the Bible in a Year” devotion, (one of three I read daily), the passage was in Romans 6 where it deals with the idea of yielding to sin or to God. It reminded me of a conversation I had with a man here in our little town who asked me, “Do you believe once you’re saved you’re always saved and it doesn’t matter what you do?” I said, “Absolutely NOT! I believe once you’re saved, you’re always saved, and it matters what you do!”

This man was of the same opinion of some in Paul’s day. They believed that God’s grace gave them a license to sin. Paul would not give an inch on this issue. When he encountered the perverted view that God’s grace covered all sin so that you can live the way you want, he adamantly said, “may it never be!” — the strongest negative in the Greek language. If he would have said it in modern terms, it would have been, “NO WAY!”

To clarify his point, he said that you can’t serve two masters, you must be obedient to one or the other, but never both. He said that you’re a servant to sin, or to God, and there isn’t another option. You know who your master is by the one you yield your obedience to — no matter what you say.

God’s marvelous grace is not a license to sin, never! In fact, it’s just the opposite. Paul later wrote to his dear friend, Titus, and said that God’s grace teaches us something very important. “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It instructs us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age” [Titus 2:11-12].

I’m so glad that God’s grace is greater that our sin. Paul said it this way, “Where sin abounded, grace abounded the more” [Romans 5:20]. But always remember, freedom from sin does not mean freedom to sin.

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? Romans 6:15-16