A lot of preachers shy away from the preaching of grace because to them, it is a license to sin. This makes me wonder, “How can anyone run off to sin after receiving the message of Grace?” It’s like telling a student, “Your uniform is white?” And the next minute, he is in the mud. By no means! On the contrary, it is a student who thinks his uniform is dirty that will careless of where he sits. “After all, it is dirty. I can always wash it later”, he says. This is what the law does! It exposes our weaknesses and makes us feel dirty. This is why people who live under the law confess their sins every now and then. Some compile their sins and confess all at once at a later time! Now this, my friend is bondage!
But does this mean that the law is evil?
Not at all!
Why then was the law given?
God gave the law for one purpose, so that the world will become conscious of sin and recognize their need for a Saviour. Paul tells us in Romans 3:20 that we cannot be declared righteous in God’s sight by observing the law, rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. Without the law there would be no sin. And without sin, there would be no need for a Saviour. The law exposes our weaknesses and brings us to the end of ourselves so that in despair we would see our need for Jesus. No man can keep the law! Before the law was given, the Israelites all echoed with confidence, “We will do everything the Lord has said!” (Exodus 19:8). When Moses had gone to commune with God and was long in coming down from the mountain, they disobeyed the very first commandment that was given on Mount Sinai. (Exodus 32:1-5). The law is good, but it cannot make us godly rather it exposes our ungodliness.
But why did Jesus say that he has not come to abolish the law? (Matthew 5:17)
Of course Jesus did not come to abolish the law because the law is good. You wouldn’t have had the need for Jesus if not for the law. The law pointed us to Jesus. So, instead of abolishing the law, he fulfilled it. Jesus fulfilled the law on the cross. The bible tell us that Jesus canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. (Colossians 2:14). Hallelujah! Every debt we owed was FULLY paid for by Jesus when he died on the cross. This was what he meant when he said he had come to fulfill the law. How then can we continue to pay for what Jesus has paid for? Every time we put the law between us and God, we are negating the finished work of the cross. Galatians 2:21 tells us that if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing. In other words, his death was in vain.
There’s only one way to gain righteousness.
“For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of GRACE and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:17).
Righteousness is a gift we receive when we give our lives to Jesus! It does not come by observing the law. Note from this scripture that we do not only receive the gift of righteousness, we also receive God’s abundant provision of grace.
Unlike the law, grace was not given, grace came! (John 1:17). Grace is personal. Grace is warm! You can have a relationship with grace. Grace is Jesus! On the other hand law is hard, impersonal and distant. You cannot have a relationship with the law. The law condemns but grace comforts.
The devil is so skilled at using the law every single minute to condemn believers. And believers who do not understand grace fall cheaply to his pranks. A lot of believers have even replaced the voice of the devil with that of the Holy Spirit. They believe that it is the Holy Spirit that convicts them of sin. Let’s see what the scripture says about that.
“When he (the Holy Spirit) comes, he will convict THE WORLD of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment. In regard to sin because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father…” John 16:8-10.
It is very clear from where we just read that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is not to convict believers of sin, but the world. Why? Because they do not believe in him. He cannot convict us of sin because it has been dealt with on the cross. He only convicts believers of righteousness. How does he do that? He simply reminds us every time we sin of how righteous we are. He doesn’t and will never condemn a believer. While the devil uses the law to condemn us every time we sin, the Holy Spirit reminds us how precious and righteous we are before God. The goal of the Holy Spirit is to make us draw nearer to God every time we fall but the goal of the devil is to make us run away from God every time we fall. Refer to my post THE FATHER’S LOVE and see a personal testimony I shared on Satan’s strategy to keep us down.
If truly we have been made righteous, what happens when we sin?
“But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7).
It is not our confession that cleanses us from all sin but the blood of Jesus. Every believer is already in the light. We have been translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. So we are not walking according to the light but in the light. We do not go into darkness when we sin. We are purified in the light and we remain in the light. The word purifies here denotes a present and continuous tense in Greek. This means, the moment you give your life to Jesus, his blood continually purifies you. So, like that student, your uniform is always white. Hallelujah! We do not go on confessing our sins as believers. Confessing our sins makes us sin conscious. But confessing our righteousness in Christ makes us righteousness conscious.
If this is true, why then were we told to confess our sins, according to 1 john 1:9?
Of course those were the words of John but who was he writing to? John was writing to the Gnostics who were not believers. He was simply telling them that if they confess their sins, that God is faithful and just to forgive them and to purify them from all unrighteousness.
AGAIN I ASK, HOW CAN ANY MAN DELIBERATELY SIN AFTER KNOWING THIS?
By no means! Grace is not a license to sin. It is the power to live above sin. When we truly and fully understand grace, our heart is full of gratitude for what God has done for us. We are moved to love him more. We desire to fellowship with him. We run to him as we are. Don’t forget that it is the devil that uses the law to condemn us and his goal is to make us think that the Father is angry with us. And the moment we think that way, we begin to avoid fellowship with him. Instead of running to our helper, we run away from him.
If you are a preacher reading this, don’t shy away from the preaching of Grace. Preach it every time you have the opportunity to. Lives can only be radically transformed when we preach grace radically.
“When he (the Holy Spirit) comes, he will convict THE WORLD of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment. In regard to sin because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father…” John 16:8-10.
It is very clear from where we just read that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is not to convict believers of sin, but the world. Why? Because they do not believe in him. He cannot convict us of sin because it has been dealt with on the cross. He only convicts believers of righteousness. How does he do that? He simply reminds us every time we sin of how righteous we are. He doesn’t and will never condemn a believer. While the devil uses the law to condemn us every time we sin, the Holy Spirit reminds us how precious and righteous we are before God. The goal of the Holy Spirit is to make us draw nearer to God every time we fall but the goal of the devil is to make us run away from God every time we fall. Refer to my post THE FATHER’S LOVE and see a personal testimony I shared on Satan’s strategy to keep us down.
If truly we have been made righteous, what happens when we sin?
“But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7).
It is not our confession that cleanses us from all sin but the blood of Jesus. Every believer is already in the light. We have been translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. So we are not walking according to the light but in the light. We do not go into darkness when we sin. We are purified in the light and we remain in the light. The word purifies here denotes a present and continuous tense in Greek. This means, the moment you give your life to Jesus, his blood continually purifies you. So, like that student, your uniform is always white. Hallelujah! We do not go on confessing our sins as believers. Confessing our sins makes us sin conscious. But confessing our righteousness in Christ makes us righteousness conscious.
If this is true, why then were we told to confess our sins, according to 1 john 1:9?
Of course those were the words of John but who was he writing to? John was writing to the Gnostics who were not believers. He was simply telling them that if they confess their sins, that God is faithful and just to forgive them and to purify them from all unrighteousness.
AGAIN I ASK, HOW CAN ANY MAN DELIBERATELY SIN AFTER KNOWING THIS?
By no means! Grace is not a license to sin. It is the power to live above sin. When we truly and fully understand grace, our heart is full of gratitude for what God has done for us. We are moved to love him more. We desire to fellowship with him. We run to him as we are. Don’t forget that it is the devil that uses the law to condemn us and his goal is to make us think that the Father is angry with us. And the moment we think that way, we begin to avoid fellowship with him. Instead of running to our helper, we run away from him.
If you are a preacher reading this, don’t shy away from the preaching of Grace. Preach it every time you have the opportunity to. Lives can only be radically transformed when we preach grace radically.
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