Before going further, we should issue a caution: Use forgiveness, but don’t abuse it. Is there a danger that we will abuse God’s grace? Maybe...if we use grace and forgiveness as excuses to sin. But the act of using our freedom of choice as an opportunity to sin is itself an action of the sinful nature, and the only way we can neutralize the sinful nature is to confess our sins and stay in fellowship. If we confess continually, we will have the power to avoid sin, including the sin of using grace as a way to beat the system in order to sin at-will.
Paul addressed this problem with the Romans (seen below) and gave some very definite limits for such assumptions. Grace is great, and God delights when we access His grace offerings consistently and enthusiastically. But grace must not be seen as an opportunity to live our lives without responsibility.
Grace makes provision for us, but our responsibility is to use what God gives us without abusing it. It is possible to misuse grace in a way that grieves God. This is what we see when a believer understands the principle of forgiveness, but applies it as a “get-out-of-jail-free” card, so he can go right back to his crimes. We need to understand how grace works, and we must recognize when we are abusing that grace. At the same time, we must use grace fully, because this is what God intends...and what delights Him.
God is loving. He forgives and loves to forgive, based on His Son’s work. Love and grace enable His justice and righteousness to work with forgiveness. If they didn’t, we would all be condemned. But because He loves us, He provides a way for us to be forgiven.
Keep in mind that God has given us choice, so we are free to sin...but not without consequences. When we sin we will face loving discipline, which can be severe and quite painful, even deadly, and we must keep short accounts on our confession-list to stay clean and avoid this. At the same time, remember that God looks at the heart, which means that He KNOWS if we are not sincere in our confession, and He sees when we are not truly seeking His forgiveness. Insincere confession is NOT confession at all. It is simply religion...a religious ritual with no effect...a display of godliness, but denying the power in it.
Grace increases as sins increases. There are no sins that God will not forgive, if they are honestly confessed. Grace “fits all sizes”. God knows about our sins before they are committed, and His plan is designed to deal with them. Rom. 5:20 says, “The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more….” The purpose of the Law is to expose our sins, and as our sins become greater, grace adjusts to take care of them.
Rom. 6:1-2 follows the reference to “grace increasing”, with a caution not to abuse grace: “What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” The questions are rhetorical. Of course we should not go on sinning, and must not “live in it any longer”. We “died to sin” positionally, or in our eternal state, at salvation; but we often “live in it” conditionally, in our temporal state. But we do not want to live in sin, which is why it is so important for us to deal with it correctly.
If we think we can sin and that it will not be recognized as sin, we will not see the need to honestly confess it, thus we will not be forgiven, even though we think we are okay. The application of grace must be done in the way of grace. Grace forgives, but it will not excuse without confession...and that means honest confession. Insincere confession used to provide a pretext for sin will only compound our spiritual jeopardy. Once again, God sees the heart and knows our motives.
When we are “clean” and controlled by the Spirit, we can claim the following promise from Ps. 37:3-7:
Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noon day sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.
Doing things God’s way brings His blessings. Before you are through with these studies, you will understand this fully.
Paul addressed this problem with the Romans (seen below) and gave some very definite limits for such assumptions. Grace is great, and God delights when we access His grace offerings consistently and enthusiastically. But grace must not be seen as an opportunity to live our lives without responsibility.
Grace makes provision for us, but our responsibility is to use what God gives us without abusing it. It is possible to misuse grace in a way that grieves God. This is what we see when a believer understands the principle of forgiveness, but applies it as a “get-out-of-jail-free” card, so he can go right back to his crimes. We need to understand how grace works, and we must recognize when we are abusing that grace. At the same time, we must use grace fully, because this is what God intends...and what delights Him.
God is loving. He forgives and loves to forgive, based on His Son’s work. Love and grace enable His justice and righteousness to work with forgiveness. If they didn’t, we would all be condemned. But because He loves us, He provides a way for us to be forgiven.
Keep in mind that God has given us choice, so we are free to sin...but not without consequences. When we sin we will face loving discipline, which can be severe and quite painful, even deadly, and we must keep short accounts on our confession-list to stay clean and avoid this. At the same time, remember that God looks at the heart, which means that He KNOWS if we are not sincere in our confession, and He sees when we are not truly seeking His forgiveness. Insincere confession is NOT confession at all. It is simply religion...a religious ritual with no effect...a display of godliness, but denying the power in it.
Grace increases as sins increases. There are no sins that God will not forgive, if they are honestly confessed. Grace “fits all sizes”. God knows about our sins before they are committed, and His plan is designed to deal with them. Rom. 5:20 says, “The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more….” The purpose of the Law is to expose our sins, and as our sins become greater, grace adjusts to take care of them.
Rom. 6:1-2 follows the reference to “grace increasing”, with a caution not to abuse grace: “What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” The questions are rhetorical. Of course we should not go on sinning, and must not “live in it any longer”. We “died to sin” positionally, or in our eternal state, at salvation; but we often “live in it” conditionally, in our temporal state. But we do not want to live in sin, which is why it is so important for us to deal with it correctly.
If we think we can sin and that it will not be recognized as sin, we will not see the need to honestly confess it, thus we will not be forgiven, even though we think we are okay. The application of grace must be done in the way of grace. Grace forgives, but it will not excuse without confession...and that means honest confession. Insincere confession used to provide a pretext for sin will only compound our spiritual jeopardy. Once again, God sees the heart and knows our motives.
When we are “clean” and controlled by the Spirit, we can claim the following promise from Ps. 37:3-7:
Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noon day sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.
Doing things God’s way brings His blessings. Before you are through with these studies, you will understand this fully.
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