Is grace a license to sin?

[Skinski7]

Grace is a contract that Jesus Christ has with every believer who puts their trust in Him. That contract is one way and is not binding upon the believer. The believer can only be the recipient of the benefits of that contract through the humility of faith. Nothing the believer does will or can terminate that contract because it is binding upon our Lord and His promises. The believer can rebel through pride and forfeit the experience of those benefits of grace, but the contract remains in effect for them through humility and faith.

Where is any of that in the Bible?


Jesus laid out a condition right here...

Joh 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

Which implies that if you don't do what He said then you will not abide in the love of the Father.

John taught exactly the same thing...

1Jn 2:3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
1Jn 2:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
1Jn 2:5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

Those who claim to know Him but do not do what He said are liars.

Are you a liar? Or do you obey what He told you to do? It is one or the other.

Look what Peter wrote...

2Pe 1:10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
2Pe 1:11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Peter was speaking of adding diligently to your faith (2Pet 1:5-7). He laid our the condition with an IF statement.

There are lots of IF statements in the Bible.

It is the doers of the word that will be saved unto the kingdom.

Heb 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

The disobedient will perish.

Rom 2:8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
Rom 2:9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;



One of my favourite chapters in the Bible is Psalm 91.

Psa 91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
Psa 91:2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
Psa 91:3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
Psa 91:4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
Psa 91:5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
Psa 91:6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
Psa 91:7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
Psa 91:8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
Psa 91:9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
Psa 91:10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
Psa 91:11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
Psa 91:12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Psa 91:13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
Psa 91:14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
Psa 91:15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
Psa 91:16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

Yet those promises only apply if you dwell in the secret place by walking in the light as He is in the light.

Do that an live. Do that and live abundantly.

 

[Crossfire]

Grace is a contract that Jesus Christ has with every believer who puts their trust in Him. That contract is one way and is not binding upon the believer. The believer can only be the recipient of the benefits of that contract through the humility of faith. Nothing the believer does will or can terminate that contract because it is binding upon our Lord and His promises. The believer can rebel through pride and forfeit the experience of those benefits of grace, but the contract remains in effect for them through humility and faith.

There are many that focus against using grace for all kinds of things that relate to sin and pertain to the flesh, but they never stop to think that God forbids His grace to be used in that manner. He will not violate their volition in doing so but they will reap in the same manner that they abuse it, only to make them realize the eternal purpose for the many sided and manifold grace of God. God is interested in teaching us to be stewards of His grace and that is a learning process. We are not going to be chided by the Lord if we misuse grace in an isolated way, but we will learn from our mistakes and learn how to receive and apply that grace to the details of life toward ourself and others.

The alarm of those that charge others with abusing grace is really an asset to the child of God in the stewardship of grace. It will never change because it is an immutable fact that when sin abounds grace will much more abound. The more sin the more grace is needed to overcome it. The more we fear the more love we need to cast out that fear. We are to learn as a member of Christ body to bestow more abundant honor on them that seem less honorable. There are going to be believers that are going to need more grace in certain areas then others and we are to bestow it on them because the others do not need it. We have to be able to discern this in the body and give of the supply of the Spirit we have been given so that God can temper the body.

Grace is all about God's desire to fellowship with mankind. Grace is about his love for us and in us. Grace is not some cold, dead legally binding contract that obligates God to do something even when we don't play by the rules.

God grants us grace that we might live and dwell in right fellowship with Him. If we do so, He provides all of the necessities needed to draw closer to Him.... faith, righteousness, holiness... whatever is needed. True grace encompasses the entire Christian experience. Forgiveness of sin is but one single aspect of grace out of many. To single out one is to commit an injustice to all of the others.

However, our sin is sign that we have allowed something to come in between us and our affections for God. Habitual Sin is the result of a heart that has already gone astray and is chasing after vain pursuits. Of course that doesn't mean that God has abandoned us, He is there with open arms when we decide to humble ourselves and repent of our sinfulness.

 

[Crossfire]

Romans 6, peoples...

Romans 6

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Romans 6

Believers Are Dead to Sin, Alive to God

1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have become [a]united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be [b]in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old [c]self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be [d]done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is [e]freed from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, [f]is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting [g]the members of your body to sin as [h]instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as [i]instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! 16 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin [j]resulting in death, or of obedience [k]resulting in righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that [l]though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, [m]resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, [n]resulting in sanctification.
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 Therefore what [o]benefit were you then [p]deriving [q]from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. 22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you [r]derive your [s]benefit, [t]resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Awesome word!

 

[lil_christian]

Awesome word!

Yeppers! not to say that someone can't sin and that it's not physically possible to sin if they're saved. That's where grace DOES come in. For when you do mess up.

 

[VII]

So if it’s not possible to sin if we are saved, can I go back to drugs and quit reading my bible now? or do you mean its not possible for me to go back to that if I am saved?

Also how would one really know if they are "saved" and not just think they are saved? never really turning to our Lord? just claim the name, Shall we seek him for 1 hour a week and assume we are good and faithful servants. just to go home and beat our wife

I pray all turn to our Lord and the bible! seek Him in all that you do! have a good rest of the week.

keep fighting the good fight.

 

[Red33]

Grace is all about God's desire to fellowship with mankind. Grace is about his love for us and in us. Grace is not some cold, dead legally binding contract that obligates God to do something even when we don't play by the rules.

God grants us grace that we might live and dwell in right fellowship with Him. If we do so, He provides all of the necessities needed to draw closer to Him.... faith, righteousness, holiness... whatever is needed. True grace encompasses the entire Christian experience. Forgiveness of sin is but one single aspect of grace out of many. To single out one is to commit an injustice to all of the others.

However, our sin is sign that we have allowed something to come in between us and our affections for God. Habitual Sin is the result of a heart that has already gone astray and is chasing after vain pursuits. Of course that doesn't mean that God has abandoned us, He is there with open arms when we decide to humble ourselves and repent of our sinfulness.

You will say anything to be contrary because you don't want to submit to anything that I say about the grace of God. You do not know the grace of God. Grace is so much greater than any theology you and I might have because it involves a person and an author of grace (Christ). God ministers grace when He wants and to whom He wants and in the measure He wants to give it and we can not tell God how much or who He can or can not give it to. It is His grace and it is up to Him and it will be given to the undeserving.

Your talk about sin is empty and dead. If we sin, do you think that Christ sits there and decides whether He wants to condemn us or not or what He is going to do with us without violating our free volition. NO !!!!!!!!!!!!! He springs into action and starts having grace super-abound toward us. He goes right to the Father and becomes our advocate and tells the Father that our sin has already been paid for and judged through death when it was imputed to Him on the cross. He will not let us be judged for our sin, for he was already judged for it, and until you and thousands of other believers understand that you will never be able to minister the life of Christ to anyone and your gospel will be void of resurrection life.

 

[Laodicea]

Grace keeps God's law

 

[Tommy4Christ]

Grace is never a license to sin, or a covering for sin, real converts do not continue in unrepentant sin, and the contract Red is talking about can be broken, as to what Skinski wrote, you got to stop ignoring the word of God, and you got to stop defending sin, sin sin,,,

I pray you can see this, you expect to receive grace while you are in rebellion to God, as you and others think on these posts, way to many verses to prove otherwise.

IF you are living a crucified life unto God, Gal 2-20, and have truly repented, as the city of Nineveh did, then you will not use Gods grace to continue in willful deliberate sin, this is NOT the life of a true convert I am afraid.

Many are unwilling to count the cost, depart from iniquity, love not the world, seek first HIs kingdom, walk in the light, be doers of the word,sin not,lay aside all filthyness and wickedness first, mortify your flesh, and crucify your flesh with Christ once and for all.

We can break that contract through our disobedience and selfishness, wanting to please the flesh over God.

If you walk in the spirit you will give no provision for the flesh!

Gal 5:16This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

If you claim to be a Christian and still are falling into sins of the flesh(willful deliberate sin, then you never repented, go back and do your first works,
Rev 2:5Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

This is a scary verse, the candlestick Jesus is talking about is your salvation!

Most in the church have never repented, because they abuse the grace of God, using it as a license to fall into grievous sin from time to time because the wolves are telling them they were born sinners, they are the Romans wretch, and chief of sinners, Jesus took thier place, and obedience and behavior has no effect on thier final salvation!

The sin stops in repentance, or the heart hardens.
Tommy

 

[Crossfire]

You will say anything to be contrary because you don't want to submit to anything that I say about the grace of God. You do not know the grace of God. Grace is so much greater than any theology you and I might have because it involves a person and an author of grace (Christ). God ministers grace when He wants and to whom He wants and in the measure He wants to give it and we can not tell God how much or who He can or can not give it to. It is His grace and it is up to Him and it will be given to the undeserving.

Your talk about sin is empty and dead. If we sin, do you think that Christ sits there and decides whether He wants to condemn us or not or what He is going to do with us without violating our free volition. NO !!!!!!!!!!!!! He springs into action and starts having grace super-abound toward us. He goes right to the Father and becomes our advocate and tells the Father that our sin has already been paid for and judged through death when it was imputed to Him on the cross. He will not let us be judged for our sin, for he was already judged for it, and until you and thousands of other believers understand that you will never be able to minister the life of Christ to anyone and your gospel will be void of resurrection life.

Your idea of grace allows one to believe that they are somehow free from sin while still bound in sin. It is a farce. You like to talk about the Spirit of Grace, but you fail to mention that same Spirit is also the Spirit of Righteousness and the Spirit of Holiness. I agree with that neither you, I or anyone else may fully understand the grace of God on this side of eternity. However, for anyone to use grace to make allowances for sin is plain blasphemous.

What's humorous is your silly assumption that my perspective on the gospel produces absolutely no fruit. To that I ask you this: when's the last time that your church had 300+ conversions in a single afternoon?

 

[Crossfire]

Red,

The difference between the grace that you teach and the grace that I teach is this:

Your idea of grace is the spiritual equivalent of a life preserver thrown to a person who has just fallen overboard. While the life preserver may keep them drowning, it lacks any power to pull the person to safety. Instead the person remains afloat in the water only to be tossed to and fro as the wind blows and are beaten up by the waves, being pulled under with every strong current.

The grace I teach is the spiritual equivalent of a well trained life guard who not only rescues the person from drowning but also pulls them back on the ship, cleans them off, gives them a fresh garment and allows them to stay in his personal quarters.

Which would you rather have come to your rescue?

 

[loveme1]

Red,

The difference between the grace that you teach and the grace that I teach is this:

Your idea of grace is the spiritual equivalent of a life preserver thrown to a person who has just fallen overboard. While the life preserver may keep them drowning, it lacks any power to pull the person to safety. Instead the person remains afloat in the water only to be tossed to and fro as the wind blows and are beaten up by the waves, being pulled under with every strong current.

The grace I teach is the spiritual equivalent of a well trained life guard who not only rescues the person from drowning but also pulls them back on the ship, cleans them off, gives them a fresh garment and allows them to stay in his personal quarters.

Which would you rather have come to your rescue?

Do you teach the 10 commandments?

 

[Crossfire]

Do you teach the 10 commandments?

Personally, I have no problem with anyone who chooses to keep the 10 Commandments just as long as they understand that the Commandments themselves can not save you. Only Faith in Christ saves however, I do believe that the 10 Commandments can help us better understand the nature of Christ and His love for the Father (as the first 5 Commandments reminds us), as well as His love for others (covered by the last 5 Commandments).

To the sinner, the Commandments condemn one of their sin. However, to the righteous the Commandments are a love letter written on our hearts, a reminder of God's goodness and Christ's holy character. Those who truly love God desire to keep the Commandments not because we have to in order to be saved but rather we want to obey because we are already saved.

 

[mmlj29]

because we have to in order to be saved but rather we want to because we are saved.

Bingo!

When the Holy Spirit dwells in us, we strive for righteousness. We strive to do what pleases our Father. However, we know that our righteousness is like filthy rags to God.

Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

But thank God for his grace and mercy

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

 

[loveme1]

Personally, I have no problem with anyone who chooses to keep the 10 Commandments just as long as they understand that the Commandments themselves can not save you. Only Faith in Christ saves however, I do believe that the 10 Commandments can help us better understand the nature of Christ and His love for the Father (as the first 5 Commandments reminds us), as well as His love for others (covered by the last 5 Commandments).

To the sinner, the Commandments condemn one of their sin. However, to the righteous the Commandments are a love letter written on our hearts, a reminder of God's goodness and Christ's holy character. Those who truly love God desire to keep the Commandments not because we have to in order to be saved but rather we want to obey because we are already saved.

12Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

We would be sentenced to death for one trespass of the Law, but our loving Yahvah God is merciful and long suffering for us, he sent us Salvation his Lamb offering for our sin Yahshua the Messiah.

How great is that?

 

[hislastwalk]

Grace keeps God's law

If you could keep God's law you wouldn't need Jesus.

 

[loveme1]

If you could keep God's law you wouldn't need Jesus.

That does not mean we should not strive to keep the Law.

Yes Yahshua the Messiah is the only way to receive Salvation, but that is not a free pass to continue in sin.

 

[hislastwalk]

That does not mean we should not strive to keep the Law.

Yes Yahshua the Messiah is the only way to receive Salvation, but that is not a free pass to continue in sin.

Christ will make you righteous. If you're truly in christ you'll live "holy" on accident.

 

[loveme1]

Christ will make you righteous. If you're truly in christ you'll live "holy" on accident.

Yes the Messiah is righteous, through him I can obtain Salvation and be reconciled with Almighty Yahvah God.

"holy" on accident?

Not through Faith?

 

[Laodicea]

If you could keep God's law you wouldn't need Jesus.

Romans 6:1-2
(1) What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
(2) God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

 

[Red33]

Your idea of grace allows one to believe that they are somehow free from sin while still bound in sin. It is a farce. You like to talk about the Spirit of Grace, but you fail to mention that same Spirit is also the Spirit of Righteousness and the Spirit of Holiness. I agree with that neither you, I or anyone else may fully understand the grace of God on this side of eternity. However, for anyone to use grace to make allowances for sin is plain blasphemous.

What's humorous is your silly assumption that my perspective on the gospel produces absolutely no fruit. To that I ask you this: when's the last time that your church had 300+ conversions in a single afternoon?

If your local church is a soul winning church and has a fellowship in the grace of God, don't ever quit and do it more and more and continue to build one another up in that grace and seek out the lost. They that turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars of heaven (Dan 12:3). My local assembly has been raised up to be a local expression of the body of Church as only one of many. It has been a soul winning church since the early 1960's. Over those years it has trained up and sent out hundreds of full-time missionaries and pastors who have established over (400) churches in some (50) countries through preaching the gospel and seeking the lost. There has never been a week to my knowledge that souls have not been added to the church. I don't say this to compare or boast except in the Lord, who has given of His grace to make this happen. One local assembly that started with a handful of believers in a run-down church building, who never stop praying and believing God for lost souls.

The greatest kind of fruit is a transformed life. That happens through much prayer, through ministering grace and honoring the word and doctrine being preached on a daily basis. This allows every believer to be filled with grace and truth, to have fellowship with one another in that grace and to have sound doctrine and words of faith to walk by in this present evil word. Since the mid 1980's the word has been preached faithfully and made available 3-4 times daily to build up believers in the body of Christ. There is so much more that God has done but that should suffice and through all of these things we have gotten to know and have fellowship with our Saviour.