ODB: Abusing Grace?
April 30, 2011
God does not save us by grace so that we may live in disgrace. —Faber
READ: Romans 6:1-14
Do not let sin reign in your mortal body. —Romans 6:12
Paul said in Romans 5:20, “Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.” But that radical concept opens a theological floodgate. The biblical writer Jude warned that it is possible to “change the grace of our God into a license for immorality” (Jude 4 NIV). Why be good if you know you will be forgiven? Not even an emphasis on repentance erases this danger completely.
In Romans 6, Paul spoke directly to the point. “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” He gave a short, explosive answer: “Certainly not!” (vv.1-2) and used an analogy that starkly contrasts death and life. “How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” (v.2). No Christian resurrected to new life should be pining for sin.
Yet wickedness does not always seem to have the stench of death about it. Sin can be downright appealing.
Paul recognized this, so he advised: “Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord,” and “Do not let sin reign in your mortal body” (vv.11-12).
If we truly grasped the wonder of God’s love for us, we would spend our days trying to fathom and share, not exploit, His grace.
— Philip Yancey
Source: Our Daily Bread
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Well, I believe the proper and correct way to respond to God’s love is to love Him in return. My principle is simple: I should be happy so long God is happy.
God forgive us once we repent in Him. After repentance, we rebuilt our broken relationship with Him; we draw closer to Him and know the heart of God through His Word. By knowing Him, we know what He dislikes. Thus, we don’t dare to continue in sin as we love and fear God. However, continue to do the wrong things or so call sin, mean that we yet to know God and tend to live our lives in our ways. God is gracious yet we can’t misuse it.
Well, we don’t repay evil for good and that is for sure. This is in line what what you have mentioned – our knowledge of God should grant us the conviction and understanding of the need to repent – turn away from sins and back to God. Theological correct and reasonably sound, but I am afraid that it is not something that can easily translate into everyday living. There is a need for conscientious effort to materialize our effort.