Sin that Grace May Abound?

This morning, while again reading in James 4, I ran across a short verse I had long ago underlined, and today that verse, once again, lunged from the page and impacted my heart. “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17). James has been writing instruction on humility, repentance, judgment of brothers and more, and this simple little sentence is used to close a very insightful section of Scripture; very apropos. The debate of grace, and the abuse of it, has been going on since Jesus first introduced it to us. This same debate and discussion is once again the topic of countless books, messages, and discussions. From one side we have those who believe grace covers everything, and we need not worry about sin. From another, we have more of a law approach that says grace must be earned, and yes, there are still other opinions not important to the point for today. The heat seems to be turned up when we begin to limit in any way the free-flowing distribution of grace; suddenly we become judgmental or hateful. I believe the reality and solution really are quite simple. There are two sets of rules, and James truly does explain that very well. You see, I tend to believe that the level of accountability one has with God is directly related to the amount of knowledge one has about sin, transgression, and the blood of the Lamb. Why would I think that, you ask? Because of Scripture like James 4:17: “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” It is crucial to remember that this statement and others like it referring to sin and grace, such as Hebrews, chapter 10, warn of taking too lightly the sacrifice of Jesus, or Romans, chapter 6, where Paul asks, “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” If we take into consideration these and similar passages, we truly can arrive at no other solution than the fact that while, yes, there is grace; grace is not to be abused by those who know better. Am I saying that we cannot make mistakes or even transgress and lose grace? Absolutely not, if we are repentant, and absolutely yes, if we arrogantly defile the blood of the Lamb for our own personal gain and defiance. I mean, let’s face it, do we really believe the God of all creation is going to sit idly by and allow us to defile His Son and the sacrifice He made by being liars, thieves, sexually immoral people, and more, simply because we know we have grace? Yet, my friends, this is exactly the very dangerous message being implied, preached, and spoken to many immature and pre-believers in this world today. I am not saying the law is what we live by; again foolishness and contrary to the Word. Again, the simplicity of it truly is summed up quite well with James’ statement: “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” If you know better and choose to disobey anyhow, you are committing sin, and that is the honest and simple truth. The beauty is there is forgiveness for those who truly believe and repent. Let’s try looking at it from a different angle. You are a person who, as a child, was molested by a church leader; someone you respected, looked up to; someone who was, in your mind, a representation of this God of which they spoke. As you begin to realize what has happened to you, a struggle for your very soul has begun, and how do you reconcile it? Do you brush it off because, after all, this person is under the blood, or is your life and your opinion of God completely messed up? The latter is more often the answer, and it leads to rebellion, dissention, and pain without end because, in your mind, God is not just. You cannot understand His grace or mercy because you relate God to the person who violated you. Or here is another scenario. You go to work for a Christian businessperson. You’re excited you finally get to work somewhere that allows prayer, and you get to share your excitement about God with your coworkers and more. But then, shortly after you begin your new employment, you don’t see prayer; you hear profanity, you see people being lied to, cheated, and taken advantage of—all for financial gain. Now you begin to struggle in your mind. You approach the boss and question him; what is the right answer, the answer you expect? Can I just say it will, in most cases, not be a biblical one? Why? Because those seeped in sin will almost always attempt to justify that sin. This type of attitude and behavior has been one of the most effective tools against the church the enemy has working for him, and we could all share true scenarios such as the ones I mentioned all day long, and I, for one, am ashamed that we can. So what do we do, you ask? We stand up for truth. We confront in love the believers we see abusing grace (Matthew 18). We stand upon the Word of God, not the beliefs or words of man, and we pray without ceasing, and more, but most of all, we “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). We avoid temptation, repent quickly, walk in humility and grace; we mirror Jesus with all humility. Pastor Gene Burroughs, Missio Dei Ministries, Navarre, FL