February's Old Testament Pic of Jesus

February's Old Testament Pic of Jesus
It's all about Jesus

Friday, February 15, 2013

Pure Grace Preaching Keep People From Sinning?

There is a fear that when we teach pure, unadultered grace it will give people an excuse to sin.  They contend that if we say God is not angry with you, then they will not fear God.  There will be no way to stop men from sinning; we would be giving them license.  If God has forgiven us all our sin then people will think "I might as well sin, it is forgiven already!"  And because of these fears and simple logic men are leary of teaching an absolute grace.  Rather we combine the Old and New Covenant together believeing that if we present a Gracious God men will abuse His good grace.  They are quick to remind that God is a God of Wrath as well as love. (The bible does not say God is Wrath, but it does say God is love.)
Paul contended with this view in Romans the 6th chapter.  He was quoting an argument much like the one men use today, "Should we not continue to sin so that Grace may abound?"  Paul maintains that no we should not continue to sin that grace may abound, how can we who died to sin live any longer therein."  Grace doesn't encourage men to sin or give them an excuse to do it; it's plan is to eradicate sin.  Paul says that Grace teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires (Titus 2:11&12).  Law based teaching gives power to sin and stripes the believer of his. 
Pure Grace teaching demonstrates that the power of sin is no more.  Really sin can become irrelevent in the life of the believer.  After all it has been condemned in the flesh of Jesus and we are dead to it.  Now I know that in the world we see sin all around, but we are dead to it.  Think of it like this.  (excuse my morbidity here) A dead man in the town grave yard is dead to the world still thriving all about him.  Life in the world continues on but he is untouched by the happenings about him.  He doesn't feel the crunch of the economy or the pleasures of the pits of human depravity.  Really all that is in the world has become irrelevent to him.  It still exists, but he doesn't exist in it.  Sin still goes on in the world but the believer is truly dead to it and it to him.
 Grace teaches death.  No, not like the law teaches death.  See the law teaches that if you sin you are going pay for it; this is the law of sin and death, you sin you die.  But Grace teaches that one absorbed your sin and died as you; therefore you have died.  And Grace also teaches that you have been raised up and are no longer alive to sin.  Paul says reckon yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God.
We are so afraid of people abusing grace; what we ought to really fear is offending the gospel.  To teach that God's Finished Work was not acheived is a more frightening proposal.  To say that we need to scare the "hell" out of people with wrath, blood, and guts, beating the "hell" out of people week after week so they will not sin is a waste of time.  No one stopped sinning completely because they got beat up by the preacher, in fact church becomes a weekly "wood shed" for some people.  That is a shame because  Hell was defeated soundly when God raised up Christ.  Jesus got the "hell" beat out of him so that sin would cease in you.  So, why don't you trust in what He did, and stop trusting in what you can do. 
Don't worry about abusing grace; true grace will guide, guard, and glorify you. 

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