Abusing Grace

English Standard Version Chapter 6

Dead to Sin, Alive to God

6 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

I was having a conversation with someone about the importance of God grace. this person is like fresh to all of this that we talk about and they asked a really important question. What is the deeper meaning behind God’s grace, and how do we abuse it. Our text today deals with these issues. So our questions for tonight are, what is the deeper purpose of God’s grace for us, and how odes one become an abuser of it.

Paul has spent the last two chapters talking about how are faith is what makes us righteous before God, that Jesus’s death and ressurcetion are what save us, not our works or any kind of religious practices, Christ alone by faith. But with all that he has talked about, there is still a looming question, faith secures my etenrity absolutely, but how do I live this life?

6 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?

What is this grace that Paul ids reffering to? Grace means: The undeserved favor, love, and mercy towards humanity because of the work of Christ. Romans 3:23 tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

This favor, this grace is ours only because of Jesus Christ. We have to understand we have a one sided relationship with God. Becuase this love, and mercy is is underserved and we can’t possibly give back enough to him to ever be deserving. grace is an atrribute of god, Psalm 116:5 Says Gracious is the Lord, and righteous, our God is merciful.”

God is gracious towards us becuase that is his nature and will, it is constnat posture he will have towards us, complelely loving, compeltly gracious.

this perfect grace exists for us despite our lack of merit and worthiesness, becayse nothing in us causes God to be gracious. If it were the case that somehting in us caused god to act in a certain way, then we would recieve judgmeent, death, punishment. “The wages of sin is death” But instead he gives us what we do not deserve, forgiveness, life, and salvation. And we have no condiditons to meet for this grace, God vchooses to be gracious to us apart from who we are and what we do.

Often times there is a sinful pride that is built within us that the idea of grace offends. Us people want to feel like we are in control or that we contirbnute something to out salvation. For example, we want God to see something in us that is lovable or worthy of grace, we know this is teu ebcause we want most people we know to see this same thing. We want people in our lvies to see us a loveable and worthy. The God of the universe even more than people.

But God isn’t giving you grace because you are lovable, Paul taught us romans 5:8 that God saved us while we were still sinners, deserving of death. This truth is amazing because it means God is gracious to you and anyone no matter who they are, waht they have done, or what they will do, it means everyone is welcome to relationship with Jesus. there is no pressure on you to become something different, so when we say come as you are to Jesus with your baggage and all, it is for this very truth we can say that and it means something.

All of this to say, we do not want to insert ourselves and works into grace, because it misses the point. Grace is freely given to those who do not and cannot deserve it.

But nothing is free for everyone, someone always pays a price, God did. The price was Jesus on the cross.

The seocnd question I presented earlier. How does someone become an abuser of God grace.

6 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?

The clear definition of abusing grace., is that one uses god’s free gift of grace as a license to keep on sinning willfully. very rarely can you tell people are doign this, it is more of an heart posture. Thoughts and belieifs like, Well God will forigve me anyway, or I am saved so what if I do it again.

There are sayings out there like, If I dont sin a little, then what did Jesus die for? some people even think their sin makes them a greater testimony to God’s grace. These things create a need for more grace in our lives, more than we already need. And this is not how a Christian should view god’s free gift to us, as a lisence to keep on living in the ways we used to before we came to understnad belief for oursleves.

Some might even say, what harm does it do to God. Have you heard of the syaing better to ask for forgivness than pemrission? This syaing is ussauly said between married couples, one wnats to buy somehting expensive that they know htier spiuse will not approve of and so they buy it anywaysm throw the recipt away, and expect their spouse to forgive them. This is an abuse of the marriage, it is taking advantage of the nature of the marruage and need to forgive things to justify getitng your way. Does it hurt the spouse that is not expected to forigve nad just move on even though they clearly didn’t agree to the purchase? This is an abuse

We are married to Christ as Ephasians tells us, And we often have this smae mindset towards Jesus. I can live in sin, even though it goes agianst hwat we both agree we want for the relationship, but he will jsut forigve me afterwards anyways. This is abusing God’s free gift.

How do I know if I am an abuser of God’s grace? I think it is very simple. Do you wrestle with your brokenness, your unworthiness, maybe even your inability to change, does it eat at you? Do you regular come to place of thinking, man, I am struggling with sinful things in my life.

The heart that has accepted God’s grace as a lsience to justify sin, doesn’t feel this way. Becuase God’s grace has covered it, so what? I don’t want you to be this way, God doesn’t want you to be someone who uses his free gift to justify its evil. God desires that you use his free gift to see how much he loves you, and that even if you keep falling short, you can keep coming back to him with a repentant heart.