GRACE TO SAY "NO!"
28th Aug 2013
“Grace” is a very popular theme at the moment. However I have heard many people say that they don’t approve of the “Grace” message because it is soft on sin. They feel that there are people living how they please, flouting God’s principles and saying, “It doesn’t matter, God will forgive me anyhow!”
God does forgive us over and over again, however, the life we receive by grace is designed to create a revolution within. Paul wrote to Titus in chapter 2:11. “For the grace that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright lives in this present age.”
The grace of God, opens up the door to all His power and His resources. It gives us an entirely new mind-set. It creates new priorities in our lives and means that because we love Him so much we want to please Him in every way.
Paul writes in Romans 6:1, “What shall we say than? Shall we go on sinning that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live any longer in it?” It continues in verse 6, “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.”
The grace of God liberates the work of the cross in our lives so that we are no longer slaves to sin. Paul continues in verse 18, “You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.”
Let us rejoice in the grace of God, let us rely on the power of God’s Spirit to liberate that grace inside of us. Galatians 5:16 says, “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”
Grace is not cheap, it cost Jesus His life, and when He died He released enough grace to enable you to live with victory over sin and a life of joy and blessing.
by Charles Sibthorpe
