6/18

Romans 6:1

¹What shall we say then? Are we to sin so that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

God's grace is so abundant and free that many who hear of it think it is too good to be true. On the one hand, they think God should not judge us because we are so weak. On the other hand, they think free grace is too generous. What we all should realize is these two attributes of God are perfected by one another. Justice is essential to God's nature, and He could not be more insistent on enforcing it. However, His grace is just as fervent a desire. The two met on the cross where justice is poured out in its fullness on Jesus who could bear our sins and endure the wrath of God upon them. Yet through this one act, God justly made his grace available to us all.

Does it matter how we live now? Does the wife whose husband labors daily to provide for her have a desire to be faithful and loving in return? Our compulsion to live a godly life comes from the love that is born when we realize the price Jesus paid so that we might be recipients of such amazing grace. Our sinful nature died upon the cross with Jesus (Romans 6:6). If that is so, how can we nonchalantly take it up again? It may be zombie-like in trying to resurrect itself, but we are free to put it back in the grave. That, too, is grace.

Love is a great incentive, and we must nurture that love. The other incentive is discipline. The consequences of allowing the zombie of our old nature to visit us is often the discipline we receive from our loving God. Without that discipline we might wander even deeper into the destructive path of sinfulness. God loves us too much to let us go too far down that path.

Consider: You know what is best for you. Don't compromise!