The most common argument that comes against those of us who teach the gospel of grace is that if we continue to preach and teach God’s grace without “balancing” it with the teaching of God’s law, then no one in the church will know how to live and people will begin to “sin like crazy”. This argument mixes the covenants. It places new wine (New Covenant) into old wineskins (Old Covenant) which never balances out either message, it simply ruins them both (Luke 5:36-39).
Because of Adam’s sin in eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, man trusts his own ability to do what is right and shun what is wrong. He thinks that the way to do well is to be aware of the evil and then to run hard and fast the other way. This thinking has made its way into the pulpit, with preachers constantly pointing out all of the evils of the world and warning saints away from them. That message puts all of the responsibility onto the believer to change themselves. This causes them to do penance when they fail and to place themselves under stricter discipline to keep from doing it again. This is the “spirit of bondage again to fear” (Romans 8:15).
Paul stated that the grace of God brings salvation, and no one who preaches Jesus, either by law or by grace would deny that (Titus 2:11). He further states that this grace “hath appeared to all men”. The “appearance” of grace is in the man Jesus Christ. John tells us that the law was given by Moses but that grace and truth came by Jesus Christ (John 1:17). Notice that when grace appears it has a job to do, “Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world” (Titus 2:12). What is it that does the teaching? It is the grace of God, through the personage of Jesus. The more sin is revealed to the believer, the more that they try to pay the price to get rid of that sin. The more that Jesus is revealed to the believer, the more that He teaches them how to live. In essence, the more they see Jesus, the more Jesus lives through them.
No one who preaches the gospel of grace wants to see Christians living in sin. Paul defended his message on more than one occasion, feeling the need to do so because he was being misrepresented. “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” he asks. “God forbid,” he answers (Romans 6:1, 2). Then, he doesn’t say that we shouldn’t sin because it will send us to hell, but rather he asks how we can continue to do those evil things seeing that our old man is dead and Christ is alive in us (Romans 6:2-7). Paul is showing how to live by reinforcing the believers position in Christ, allowing grace go to work in each person’s heart.
The grace of God that saved you is also the grace that will keep you. Every believer has the voice of the Spirit in them showing them the way to live. When we fail, the Spirit doesn’t punch us in the spiritual face and force us to make up for it, condemning our every thought and deed, but instead, the Holy Spirit reinforces who we are in Christ, causing us to “walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called” (Ephesians 4:1).
Listen to the voice of grace in your heart today. He will lead you as to how to live and how to let Jesus live through you. Be blessed!
Paul White