Grace is not licence neither is it for pampering
In an earlier posting I said that grace is not a license to sin and I referred to the book of Romans ch.6. vs.1 says, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” After all in the previous verse #21 of ch. 7 he had just finished saying that grace reigns through righteousness….so in vs.2 ch. 6 he says, “Certainly not!” The King James says… “God forbid!” He was appalled at the very thought. Imagine …God’s grace promoting sin….that is unimagineable ! Preposterous! Going on, “How shall
We who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the father, EVEN SO WE ALSO SHOULD WALK IN NEWNESS OF LIFE.”
How can I do this? Vs. 19 is the key, “I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.” And I’ve added in brackets (leading to more holiness) Presenting our members….what does the apostle speak of …presenting our members? He’s talking about our body, our thinking, our talk…everything we do or say ….our members.
If presenting ourselves as slaves of uncleanness and of lawlessness leads to more lawlessness which we call sin then it stands to reason that if we present our members to holiness then that will lead to more holiness ……..will it not?
And…….grace is not a pampering tool either to pamper some ill-spirited Christian who is always looking for attention and sympathy by their chronic complaining. Romans 6:22, “But now having been set free from sin, and have become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.” Pampering ourselves and I’m pointing the finger at myself also, does not produce holiness, in fact it is just the opposite of holiness.
If you or I have been saved 10, 15, 20 years or upwards of 40 or 50 years or even higher we should be far enough along in our walk with God that whining and complaining is not part of us and we should never, never need to be pampered. We need to be constantly on the alert and allow the Holy Spirit to control our thoughts. I know I do. I am weak but Thou art strong….the song declares. Jesus keep me from all wrong. When I’m murmuring and complaining I’m seemingly complaining about people but I’m complaining against God Who made people in His image. Example : the children of Israel against Moses. When I feel like complaining and /or whining I need to apply a good portion of His grace.
In an earlier posting I said that grace is not a license to sin and I referred to the book of Romans ch.6. vs.1 says, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” After all in the previous verse #21 of ch. 7 he had just finished saying that grace reigns through righteousness….so in vs.2 ch. 6 he says, “Certainly not!” The King James says… “God forbid!” He was appalled at the very thought. Imagine …God’s grace promoting sin….that is unimagineable ! Preposterous! Going on, “How shall
We who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the father, EVEN SO WE ALSO SHOULD WALK IN NEWNESS OF LIFE.”
How can I do this? Vs. 19 is the key, “I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.” And I’ve added in brackets (leading to more holiness) Presenting our members….what does the apostle speak of …presenting our members? He’s talking about our body, our thinking, our talk…everything we do or say ….our members.
If presenting ourselves as slaves of uncleanness and of lawlessness leads to more lawlessness which we call sin then it stands to reason that if we present our members to holiness then that will lead to more holiness ……..will it not?
And…….grace is not a pampering tool either to pamper some ill-spirited Christian who is always looking for attention and sympathy by their chronic complaining. Romans 6:22, “But now having been set free from sin, and have become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.” Pampering ourselves and I’m pointing the finger at myself also, does not produce holiness, in fact it is just the opposite of holiness.
If you or I have been saved 10, 15, 20 years or upwards of 40 or 50 years or even higher we should be far enough along in our walk with God that whining and complaining is not part of us and we should never, never need to be pampered. We need to be constantly on the alert and allow the Holy Spirit to control our thoughts. I know I do. I am weak but Thou art strong….the song declares. Jesus keep me from all wrong. When I’m murmuring and complaining I’m seemingly complaining about people but I’m complaining against God Who made people in His image. Example : the children of Israel against Moses. When I feel like complaining and /or whining I need to apply a good portion of His grace.
posted by Randall | 7:03 a.m.
1 Comments:
Great word again this morning, Randall. It seems every time I read your new posting, I am prompted to repent and ask God for a new covering of grace. Again this morning, I felt an overwelming sense of need for repentance, followed by a desire for maturing in God. God help us, as in the last verse of II Peter, to "grow in grace". Your postings has prompted me to study the Word as to what growing in grace might mean for me. Keep sharing your thoughts - valuable lessons.
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