Your Daily Devotional for June 9, 2006

June 9, 2006

 

The Abuse of God’s Grace

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

“But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man) God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?”

 

Romans 3:5-6

 

Friend, as we come to God’s Word today, let’s notice the situation surrounding the writing of this passage of Scripture. The Jews had misunderstood the teachings of Paul and had accused him of saying that they could sin as much as they wanted because it was under grace. They had become saved and then continued living in sin just as they had before.

 

First John 3:4-6 says, “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.” Christian people sin; we are all living testimonies of that fact. However, the Jews were saying that you can plan to go out and sin and God will just forgive you by His grace. A born-again Christian does not live a lifestyle of willful sinning, but rather wants to please God with his life.

 

In verse 6, Paul is saying, “I believe in a God of judgment! Why would I have said that you could sin then? I am speaking to you logically as a man. How can we sin as much as we want when there is a God who will judge the world? You are making an assessment of what I am preaching that is all wrong.”

 

They thought that Paul had been teaching that God had condoned all sin and it was taken care of so they could go sin without consequence. Our God is a righteous God who will punish sin! One day, all of your sins will come before the Lord at the judgment seat of Christ and then you will have to give account for your sin.

 

There was a man who lived in upstate New York, yet he was getting tired of the cold weather and decided to go to Florida. His wife was on a business trip at the time, so he called her to tell her not to go back to New York but to meet him in Florida.

When he arrived in Florida, he sent her an e-mail to let her know he was there. Mistakenly, he got a few letters wrong in the address and instead of going to his wife, the e-mail went to an elderly pastor’s wife in Iowa whose husband had died the day before.

The recent widow turned on her computer, read the e-mail, then screamed and fainted right on the spot. Her family and friends came in, saw her on the floor, and, when they read the screen, understood why she fainted…

“Dearest darling, just wanted you to know I arrived safely. I’m looking forward to your being with me tomorrow! Signed, your husband – P.S. It sure is hot down here…”

 

This poor lady misunderstood what this man was saying. Friend, many Christians today are misinterpreting why God gave us grace. God provided grace to cover sin, but He did not provide grace so we could sin. Christian, are you using God’s grace as an excuse to sin? God intends that you would love Him enough to stop sinning once you are saved and live for Him. Why not forsake your sins today and decide to live to please God so that one day you can hear, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant!” 

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