Sin's Fall from Favor

“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Romans 6:1-4 NIV)

This week I attended a meeting of local pastors.  One topic that came up was false teaching in the church.  One pastor shared about a couple who was about to get divorced who received encouragement from their pastor that it was not wrong to do it because that was what grace was for.  In this passage, Paul condemns that view, as well as those of many others who seem to believe and promote that grace sanctions any behavior.  

I grew up in a time where sin and judgment were the dominant themes of many churches.  “Revivals” were routinely held to call both unbelievers and believers to repentance.  Altar calls went on for long periods to give people the opportunity to consider their sin and repent of it.  Guilt and shame were tools of motivation by pastors and evangelists and they wielded them with great delight and fervor.  Most were well intentioned, I believe, but they erred in their lack of emphasis on grace and mercy.  

Now we live in a different time.  Judgment, guilt, shame have fallen out of favor with the culture.  And, as with so many things, the church has followed.  What is taught now and sung about is God’s love and mercy—His grace.  Most sermons that are preached, most books that are written, most songs that are sung focus heavily on God’s love.  Sin is talked about primarily as a minor annoyance that everyone deals with but is no match for the awesomeness of God’s grace.  This view is exemplified by the pastor’s comment to the couple on the road to divorce.  Sin doesn’t matter because of God’s grace.  

But just as the preachers and evangelists of an earlier generation got it wrong to focus almost solely on sin and judgment, so, too, do many of today’s pastors miss the mark in relegating sin to relative insignificance. If Jesus had to offer up His life for crucifixion because of it, how dare we treat it as unimportant and insignificant.  How dare we give the impression to the people God created to be in relationship with Him that it doesn’t really matter how they live their lives when the very sin they’re stuck in, and for which Jesus died to set them free, is preventing that very relationship from existing and growing.

As Paul relates, grace is meant to set us free from bondage to sin in order that we may live a new life; not, as many seem to believe, to give us permission to continue living the same way, just without the guilt.  

Today, recognize grace is not an excuse for you to do as you please, but rather the means by which you can be set free from the vicious cycle of sin in your life.  It is meant to lead you to repentance (Titus 2:11-14), not just to receive forgiveness.  Jesus didn’t die so you could remain stuck in sin.  He died so your life can be changed into one that honors and is obedient to Him.

© Jim Musser 2016