"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being
justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in
Christ Jesus whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His
blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness,
because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously
committed.... that He might be just and the justifier of the one who
has faith in Jesus." Romans 3:23-26 NASB
How you ever thought about SIN and the seriousness of it? In the
beginning of God's creation, the LORD commanded Adam and Eve to eat
freely from any tree of the garden EXCEPT from the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, that they not die. Eve deceived by the
serpent believed and ate the fruit when she saw it was desirable to
the eyes and that it would make her as wise as God. Not only did she
eat of it, but she gave it to Adam to eat. When they ate their eyes
were opened to SIN. They received the payment for their SIN and were
sent out of the Garden of Eden. So we can clearly see that SIN
entered into the world through one man and death through SIN, and so death spread to all men, because ALL SINNED, Rom. 5:12. Thanks be to
our God for His abundant GRACE and the gift of righteousness through
the One, Jesus Christ. It is through faith in HIM that we are made
RIGHTEOUS to eternal life.
SIN is real, Romans 3:23, however GRACE is real too. Sin causes
us to die spiritually. When we indulge in the desires of the
flesh and of the mind, we provoke the wrath of God. We all have to
struggle with SIN, but sin separates us from God. The
question is then, do we want to do what is right or do we want to
keep on sinning? NO! We must become slaves of righteousness,
although at one time we were slaves of SIN and DEATH, Rom.
6:15-18. But remember, we can never overcome SIN on our own. We
need God's help through His son, His GRACE. Unfortunately some think
that God's GRACE is the PERMISSION to keep on sinning, but we know
that those who have been baptized into Christ have been baptized into
His death, that is we crucify the old self of SIN and no
longer walk in SIN being slaves to SIN. We must die to SIN but
live to God in Christ Jesus. The one who has tasted God's Grace
must not allow SIN TO REIGN in the lust of the flesh, but must live
to God as instruments of righteousness, Romans 6:1-14.
We must learn from Jesus' example. He surrendered to His Father even
dying that cruel death on the cross. He didn't want to drink that
cup, Matt. 26:39. Yet even though He was God, He did not use His
power to avoid the cross. He surrendered. The only way we
are going to have victory in the battle over SIN is by crucifying
ourselves, that is our flesh, allowing Christ to live in us,
Galatians 2:20-21;surrendering to His GRACE through the teachings of
the Holy Spirit, Titus 2:10-11, and the Father; putting on the Lord
Jesus and not making any provision for the flesh, Romans 13:14. I
cannot fathom any other way of escape from SIN. We must fear and
stand by our faith with God's help, His grace, lest we fall. He is
faithful and will not allow us to fall only IF we surrender to
Him, I Cor. 10:12-13.
It is disturbing to me to see God's grace be abused in Eph. 2:1-10 by
some brethren. They think that GRACE by its definition is
UNCONDITONAL which for all practical purposes implies that we don't
have to be concerned about whatever TERMS the Lord might have
COMMANDED. If SALVATION by GRACE means we CAN IGNORE or be IGNORANT
of the LORDSHIP of Jesus, then the Lord Jesus is NO LORD. That
DOCTRINE is by its nature LICENTIOUS. Let's not take GRACE FOR
GRANTED! We must keep on teaching and relying on it in order to stop
those who abuse it. We cannot afford to be intimidated by false
teachers. Are we going to give those who abuse GRACE and its
teaching the pleasure of abandoning God's GRACE? NOT FOR A MOMENT!
We cannot depend on God's Grace to help us overcome SIN if we do not
depend on OUR OWN OBEDIENCE to the teachings of GRACE, Titus
2:11-12
The Christian must learn to grow in GRACE in order to have power
over SIN. So the question is, how does one grow in GRACE? Let's
consider what the apostle Paul says, "But grow in the GRACE and
knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ...." II Peter
3:18. Yes, we must learn to love God's Word and desire His Word in
order to gain knowledge. The only way to do it is through His
GRACE that instructs us to live godly, sensibly and righteously
before Him. This is the GRACE of God that has appeared to all men
bringing salvation. When we allow ourselves as children of God to
grow in GRACE with all diligence, the end results are beautiful
qualities such as faith, moral excellence, knowledge, self-control,
perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and ultimately love. We
are COMMANDED to grow in these qualities in order to make
certain our calling and never stumble. This is the only way we are
going to have an entrance into the gates of heaven, where our Lord
Jesus is, II Peter 1:5-11. This is such a great promise and
confidence! We must keep working out our salvation with fear and
trembling, since it is God who is working in us, in order to please
HIM and do His will. This gives us such confidence even when we mess
up! Philippians 2:12.
Many argue that no one is PERFECT. Let's consider what the apostle
Paul says, "Not that I have already become PERFECT, but I press
on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid
hold of by Christ....I press on toward the goal for the prize of the
upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:12-14 NASB.
Since the apostle Paul realized that he was not PERFECT, did he
consider himself off of the hook? (not accountable).
Absolutely NOT ! He knew very well he was not going to lay hold of
the prize, the crown of life, if he didn't PRESS ON which
means live by GOD'S DIVINE STANDARDS. We must allow GRACE to
grow and work daily in us in order to have victory over SIN.
With all these teachings about how to overcome SIN through GRACE,
let us always remember God's purpose in saving us and not abuse
Ephesians 2:1-10. And let us be zealous for good deeds and walk
in them since we are His workmanship, created in Christ for this
purpose. Remember we were once dead and lost because of our
transgressions, but our Father out of His compassion gave us life
again. We were lost and then we were found when we decided to return
to Him as the prodigal son, Luke 15:11-32. Let's freely extend GRACE to others as did the father in this parable. God's purpose was
not simply to save us through GRACE, but to make us compassionate,
forgiving and a blessing to others who are lost in SIN and are not
found yet. This is God's promise of GRACE.
May our Lord bless us as we grow in His GRACE and have victory over SIN . May He help us to extend GRACE freely to others who are lost in SIN. May we glorify God because of such indescribable GRACE to us.
Luci
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