Abuse of Grace

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”

Romans 6:1-2 KJV

That’s the expectation of Paul or rightly put that’s how it's supposed to be when we come to the acceptance of Christ being “Christ-Like” we ought to naturally shun ‘Sin’ away whenever it comes knocking on the door.

But often Expectations beg to differ from Reality 😅

What we find today amongst us titled “Christians” or the “Church” in general is that we often do the direct opposite of the scriptures, we relive the Roman days where we dine and wine in sin and expect grace to abound -- that which was already rebuked since the time of Paul.

I love how the MSG spilled it out:

“So what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? I should hope not! If we’ve left the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house there? Or didn’t you realize we packed up and left there for good? That is what happened in baptism. When we went under the water, we left the old country of sin behind; when we came up out of the water, we entered into the new country of grace —a new life in a new land!

Romans 6:1-3 MSG

So how then do we say we are Christians and still find it pleasurable to live in Sin?

How do we go to church, sing gospels and speak Jesus yet still live in Sin?

Fact is, it is impossible to stop sinning without the indwelling spirit or power of Christ in us, even if you try to stop sinning you might still end up sinning without your knowledge 😅 so never try to think you can stop sinning or become righteous on your strength in fact don’t even think of it, rather depend solely on Christ and Walk towards His perfection. Only in Him can you put a permanent hold on sin. Understanding, Accepting, and Reciprocating the Love of Christ is all you need to focus on.

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One of the biggest problems we have is that many of us misunderstand the idea of “Christianity” we made it a religion and that ultimately destroyed our thoughts and narratives towards Christ and His doctrines.

We think just because we say; we are Christians, that makes us Christ-Like.

Lol, fun fact — it was the unbelievers who named us Christians, not Apostle Paul or the Preachers of the old.

Being Christ-Like should be pronounced and in your lifestyle, not a title.

Just because you say you believe in Christ and bear the title Christian doesn’t make you Christ-Like yet, it simply makes you a believer, and it's a great start to being a Christian.

It’s part of the process but not the end of it. Anyways that’s a deviated topic which I will address another day.

“Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:17 NIV

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And the crazy thing about this is that we often do know when we are doing something wrong, most especially when we’ve come to the knowledge of Christ. Yet, we choose to do it anyways abusing the gift of Forgiveness and Grace.

But here’s the thing most of us don’t know or realize.

God is not Stupid!

God has emotions just as we do

He is a Faithful and Just God - and that’s a two-edge sword(lol😅 trust me you don’t want to be on the other edge of it)

"Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men..."

2nd Cor 5:11

And despite the fact, He’s Loving and keeps forgiving…

There’s also such a thing called the “Wrath of God” or in a meager form “Penance for Sin” — You can’t escape it no one Can (Christ's Death was a living example for us all)...

To help understand this.

We can use the analogy of a Father and his lovely perhaps only daughter.

A short story...

A long long time ago there was a man who lived happily with his beautiful wife and a lovely daughter.

As his daughter grows older, being a good and loving Dad, he tells his young and curious daughter, “never put your hands in the fire, for it will burn”, -- This is an act of Protection

A warning or law is made to protect the child from pain and suffering.

Let’s call the child “Elsa” —

Now Elsa being a curious and stubborn child thought to herself, 🤔 what's about this fire that Dad doesn't want me to touch;

"No, I won't listen to Dad I am going to touch this fire and see what will happen regardless I'll tell him I'm sorry afterward 😁.

One evening dad went out for a meeting and mum was deep asleep at home.

When dad left the house, Elsa quickly checked to see what's mum doing only to find out she was also asleep ...

Bingo! 🥳

This is it, This is my time 😁

Elsa went ahead to touch the fire and what happened next?

She fell, burnt her face and her hands.

Hurriedly her father was called.

And when her father came, rather than scolding and shouting at her, first he quickly took her to the clinic, got her on treatment, and ensured all was done to start the healing process, after the initial treatment at the clinic, he took her back home.

When they all got back home, her father scolded her for her disobedience.

Then she pleaded and her father being loving also forgave her, in truth, he already forgave her right from the knowledge of her disobedience.

But her coming to the realization of the hurt she caused to her father relieved him with the hope she won't do it again and with the hope she had learned her lessons.

What if Elsa is rebellious and still goes ahead to repeat the action after some time?

Of a certain, she will get burned again and scolded even more than prior.

Perhaps the last time he stopped her from accessing her favorite cartoons or tv shows for a week maybe next time it will be for a month who knows? Perhaps might be different this time as he pleases and finds just.

But even with or without the scolding, next time Elsa's skin may become more damaged and as she ages on she may later find herself in regrets of her past.

What do we learn from this short story?

For every sin committed there is always a judgment or penance, just because you've accepted Christ does not evade the penance for your sin but it does certainly cleanse you from the Sin -- there is a difference.

So the Father here — being God.

The daughter here — being you and I

We have the scriptures or the Bible -- being our guide showing us what’s good or evil and what things are considered sinful before God.

God already has shown us everything we need not do that displeases him, that’s why he sent His Son our Lord Jesus Christ to live an exemplary life worthy of emulation and one which pleases Thy Father our God Almighty technically Himself.

So when we go ahead to sin anyway and think to ourselves "I’ll ask for forgiveness later" — that becomes very foolish and evil of us because once again we nail him to the cross we become like the very same Romans of the old who we despised of, but the amazing thing is even before we ask for forgiveness, He already has forgiven us, not because we are worthy but because of His Son our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us all.

But soon as we sin a compulsory judgment is placed despite forgiveness.

We see this in the story earlier, soon as the daughter touched the fire, she got burned, and despite her father taking her to the clinic for treatment and all...

She alone would suffer the consequence of her actions;

she will suffer the pain from the burn,

she will suffer the scar caused by the injury

and if her face was disfigured by the burn it would be an everlasting mark on her, she will have to endure for ages(except by a miracle).

But in all of the consequences;

The father would still be there with her with his unchanging love, care, and support, all through her life to help her keep moving forward, now that is what we call "Grace"

And also you realize he already forgave her at the knowledge of her incident yet his forgiveness didn’t stop all of the consequences of her action which is Sin...

Haha, quite interesting!

Now that’s how it works but there-again this is my understanding of it.

So how does Grace Abound?

Grace comes from knowledge and acceptance of Jesus Christ, and it helps us live a life appealing to God without striving for our perfection but finding perfection only in Christ Jesus.

But grace only abounds;

if we live as Jesus thought us

if we abide and submit to the instructions/will of Jesus Christ,

and if we truly live in a Christ-like manner, Knowing His Love, Understanding His Love, Accepting His Love, and Reciprocating His Love…

This has to be a lifestyle.

When we aim for this lifestyle, Sin naturally has no hold on us…

It just naturally drifts away from us, as we don’t even think about it and even when the thoughts creep in we don’t deny them, we acknowledge them but shun them and never act on them, a shield is formed that protects our mind and thoughts - That is Grace.

And we find ourselves living a Christ-like life despite the iniquities all around us. Despite the evil of the world we still become an unquenching light that shines so bright that even the thickness of the darkness won't be able to prevail.

This is how grace helps us and that is how grace functions.

But when we continue to live in sin, grace won't abound and we will face the wrath of God having the knowledge of sin yet doing it anyway.

Better be a man who never knew Christ than one who did or has, yet, continues to live in Sin with a full understanding of what he/she is doing.

Happy Sunday 🌞

Choose to live in Christ. ➕

It’s much easier than you think.🤍