The Grace Card

We as Christians like to use the "Grace" card.

Rom. 6:1 "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?"   


Often we seem to live our lives as though we allow sin so that the evidence of Gods forgiveness is proven. Do we push the envelope to far? Often it seems that we push away from holiness by relying on grace, rather than seeking to be holy.


John 8: " (10)When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? (11)She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.(12) Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."


Christ doesn't condemn us, because if we do not obey we are condemned already. The truth is Christ calls us to live a life of sinlessness. Our problem is instead of waking up to a day of sinlessness we wake up expecting to sin and to rely on His grace. Christ calls us to be light in darkness and to be the salt of the earth. We are the catylist of change. We are to make things different! We are to be in the world but not of the world. His instruction to the adulterous woman was to "go and sin no more..." He didn't say, "I'll see you later don't worry about it, I gotcha covered." He desires us to seek perfection!


1 Cor. 9: "(24) Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.(25) And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they [do it] to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.(26) I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:(27) But I keep under my body, and bring [it] into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."


Have you ever watched a motorcycle race? Have you noticed how they outline the track with hay bales? Think about that for a moment. The hay bales represent Grace. We are to strive to win the race not to abuse His grace! Grace allows us to finish the race. The idea is not to hit the hay bales. We don't run a race to hit the hay bales, we run the best line that we can. The Hay bales are there to catch/ help us when we crash. This is Grace. The hay bales allow us to live to get back in the race.


By using the "Grace cards" we teach others how to run a very sloppy race. If we're going to enter the race, run the race for the prize!  If I'm not careful playing the "Grace" card too wildly may make me the joker in the deck. His Grace is not our license to sin!

Heb. 4: "(1)Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left [us] of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it."

Some will fall short and miss the promise. To think that God's grace is so easy as to allow one to go on sinning and be covered by grace is the same as saying "God approves of sin, he gave me salvation anyway."

This is a very dangerous misconception. The argument is if an individual truly has a relationship with Christ then why would they accept sin in their lives and openly accept it so easily. Grace can be measured by the outward reflection of Christ in an individual life. How much of God are you reflecting to the world around you. This is your true measure of grace in your life.

1 Thes. 4: "(7) For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness."

Don't be made the joker in the deck by thinking you've got the Grace trump card.

This text does not reflect on personal liberty. While it is true there are individual sins that are personal, there is much more that is openly sin at which we engage in. For example Christ command, "Love thy neighbor as thyself". How many can truly attest to that? Answer, very few. Why? Because we do not seek to.

Let us live to be examples of His grace by putting it on display in our lives in love and obedience to His word. Let us endeavor to keep from the very appearance of sin, even if we don't see it as sin but others do. Let us not seek to cause offense.

Giving Him the Glory,

Bryan K. Taunton
President & Founder FootWash Ministries
www.FootWashMinistries.org