Salvation, Grace, the Law, and More

In Romans 5, Paul speaks of the fact that God sent Jesus to restore man to a right relationship with God and to shed Jesus’ blood for our sins as payment in full; something upon which we should all be able to agree. However, Paul follows his teaching on grace with a warning in Romans 6:1–2 (NKJV): “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” According to Strong’s Concordance, the Greek word for sin is two words: hamartia and hamartano. When translated into English, it means to (morally) err, to offend, trespass, or to miss the mark. In other words, sin is simply either making a choice to or accidentally morally failing; offending, in this case, God. I say this because God made the rules, and to break the rules is an offense to Him. Truly, He is the only one with a right to be offended. Now, let us look at the word grace, or charis in Greek, which means: graciousness, of manner or act, acceptable, benefit, favor, gift, grace, gracious, joy, liberality, pleasure, thank, thankfulness, thankworthy. I can hear it now—those with an agenda saying, “See, I told you so! God doesn’t get mad when we fail. He loves us so much He gives us joy and favor and liberty to fail and feel good.” That’s what it says, and if we stop here, they have made a valid point; one all too accepted in our world today. One that I believe will lead people to a separation from God! Let’s go on. “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘you shall not covet’” (Romans 7:7). Yes, folks, the law is still a part of our lives. The law was given to us as a set of guidelines, rules to follow. As Paul said, “How can I know I am doing wrong if I have never been told it was wrong?” The law is the foundation, yet we cannot keep the law; therefore, we have grace. But wait, grace says I should feel good, so now I am confused. Let’s look at one more Scripture. “For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshippers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins” (Hebrews 10:1–4). The writer here gives one of the best explanations (in the Word) that I have ever found regarding sin and grace. He explains that the payment of Jesus was, in fact, not only for God’s view of man, but more importantly for man to realize his freedom, particularly in his mind. The guilt and shame we feel, as true believers, can only be satisfied because of the grace of God! I, for one, found this to be very exciting and eye opening, for, you see, I struggle with guilt. I struggle with my past, yet this word says I need not do so, for God has chosen not to remind me of it any longer. However, this grace teaching we hear so often today implies that I need not do anything to be forgiven. I did it once and now I’m free, free to live as I choose, knowing that Jesus is taking care of me. Once again, we mix truth and lies, and we come up with something that people feel good about. Yet this mixing of truth and lies is done in order to deceive them and lead them astray—the work of our enemy; his signature. Here is the true bottom line. If I have fellowship with God, then I feel bad when I fail Him; therefore, I come to Him in my shame and seek His forgiveness, and because of Christ Jesus, I am forgiven. Knowing this, I must now forgive myself, accept His grace, and be joyful and thankful for it. I am filled with joy not because I failed God and myself; I am filled with joy because God remembers my sin no more nor does He remind me of it. Now, if this failing hurt others, I will, because of my fellowship with God, seek to make amends to those whom I failed. If we fail and have no remorse and we simply say, “Oh, it’s under the blood, Jesus has it covered,” how then can we say we have fellowship with God? How then can we say we are saved? If we deny the law (the rules God gave us), if we choose to do as we wish or what we feel is okay, then, again, how can we say we are saved? If we attempt to justify our behavior or lifestyle choices, if we choose to blame God for our failings, how then can we call ourselves believers, for just what is it we are believing in? May I say with boldness, it is not God; it is not His Word; it is not the true Jesus; it is a lie, one planned and well executed by the enemy of our souls and far too accepted in the church today. This is not judgment, not from me. If you’re feeling conviction, anger, or a need to justify your feelings, that, my friend, is the Holy Spirit convicting your heart. Turn to Him, trust Him, seek Him, seek the truth, and you will find Him. Pastor Gene Burroughs, Missio Dei Ministries, Navarre, FL