A LICENSE TO SIN
People steeped in a religion of performance and works don’t like the fact that those who believe in and believe Jesus have entered into a state of Grace with God. Grace is God’s willingness, ability, and power, which has done those things for us that we can not or will not do for ourselves. (John 3:16-18, John 6:28-29, Romans 5:1-3, Ephesians 2:8-12)
These folks believe that Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection were insufficient payment to atone for our sins and that we can and must improve on them through our behavior. Their response to the teachings and promises of Jesus is: “Yes, but we must.” Followed by many non-biblical cliche’s never spoken by Jesus.
At a Bible study I was teaching, one such person became increasingly aggravated as I explained that the only requirement for salvation and blessings is to believe and believe in Jesus. He got all lathered up when I taught that Jesus forgave all of our past, present, and future sins and has chosen to be unable to remember them. (Psalm 103:1-3 and 12, Zephaniah 3:17, Isaiah 53:4-5, 1Peter2:24, John 1:29, John 3:16-18, Hebrews 8:12, Hebrews 10:10-18)
“So, you are saying we have A LICENSE TO SIN?
Yes, mister wise-guy, that is precisely what I am saying! I didn’t say it; God did!
“Behold, I have set before you this day life and death, good and evil. … Today, I am giving you a choice. You can choose life and success or death and disaster. “
(Deuteronomy 30:15)
He confirmed that free will choice in the person of God Jesus, Who declared:
“Whoever believes in Him is not judged, never comes up for judgment; for him, there is no rejection, no condemnation]; but the one who does not believe and has decided to reject Him is judged already that one has been convicted and sentenced because he has not believed and trusted in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
(John 3:18)
Trying to understand the mind and ways of God is an exercise in futility. He taught us through the prophet Isaiah that His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not ours because His thoughts are above our thoughts, and His ways are above ours.
I am not sure why God decided to give us free will. My guess is that He, in the person of God the Father, God Jesus, and God, Holy Spirit chose not to have us be robotic creatures. My guess is that He wants us to come to Him not out of fear or remorse but out of love and respect, and gratitude.
Holy Spirit summed up our new relationship with God in a message about the blessings of being a cheerful giver to Paul, our appointed teacher.
“Let each one give just as he has decided in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
(2Corinthians9:7)
Our appointed of God teacher, Paul, wrote an entire chapter in His letter to the church at Rome about this.
It responds to those who misbelieve that there is a limit to the Grace of God and call the Grace message of Jesus “Greasy Grace.”
“Should we continue in sin and practice sin as a habit so that God’s gift of grace may increase and overflow? GOD FORBID! How can we, the very ones who died to sin, continue to live in it any longer?
(Romans 6:1)
I highly recommend reading the rest of the chapter. It will help you understand the sin vs. grace dilemma.
God knows that nobody can live a sinless life on earth.
Our sins have been forgiven and forgotten. However, if we believe in Jesus and believe Him, we are no longer driven by our sin-driven flesh. Instead, we are guided by Holy Spirit. Therefore, those who believe and believe in Jesus do not live sinful lifestyles.
The answer to the question, can we do whatever and get away with it? Is this: only Jesus knows. I, however, believe people who commit murder, rape, and theft, and lead sin-driven lives, have never been saved.
SO HOW SHOULD WE LIVE?
We should live as though God is the most important thing in our lives. We should live to please Him to the best of our abilities. God inserted in our genes and DNA the knowledge of right and wrong.
We know without being told what is right and wrong, no matter how mentally or spiritually weak we are. So, choose with your free will to do what is right. Whatever you do, do it because you love and cherish Jesus and out of gratitude for all He has done for us.
Even though we are not held responsible for keeping the Ten Commandments because they never applied to anyone but the Jews (Ephesians 2:8-12), they represent the behavior that belief in Jesus reflects. Especially the first one. We should all love the Lord Our God with all of our hearts, our minds and our being. If we do, rejecting the license to sin is much easier.
Jesus told us that if we love Him, we will obey HIS commands which include: Believe in and believe the One Whom God has sent, Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (find Jesus accept Him, and come into right standing with God by believing and believing in Him. Love one another as I have loved you, Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, Do not worry or be anxious, take no thought for tomorrow, judge not, give and it shall be given unto you pressed down shaken together and overflowing, forgive, love those who spitefully use you.
Jesus followers try to be merciful, peacemakers, teachable, not led by ego, and teachable seekers of right. When we do these things, we have used our free will to reject the free will choice God gave us to sin, and we live lives that bless us and all we touch.
Even though we have been given a license to sin, we choose to fight our natural flesh and carnal minds and the promptings of the evil one and choose not to sin.
End of Teaching
