Shall We Go on Sinning?

Romans 6:1-2
What shall we say, then?  Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?  By no means!  We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?

My husband, Danny, and I are recently placed into a situation that neither one of us see coming.  In an interaction with a person we certainly want to trust, the truth comes out, and not without its lack of kindness.

My heart is pierced and my mind is reeling.  I want to scream in our defense.  I long to put this individual in her place; to land the defining punch that will secure this match in our favor.

I sin.

I may not speak the hateful, spiteful, defensive words, but I think them.

That's sin.

In Chapter Four of his book, The Discipline of Grace, Jerry Bridges writes:  "Therefore a believer cannot continue in sin.  We no longer live in the realm of sin, under its reign and practical dominion.  We have, to use Paul's words, died to sin.  We, indeed, do sin, and even our best deeds are stained with sin, but our attitude toward it is essentially different from that of an unbeliever."

Bridges' words convict me.  I cannot continue to sin, spoken or unspoken, without confession.  What gives me such hope in God's grace is how He took hold of and controlled my tongue and my temper when I could have all too easily become a champion bridge-burner, negating in one tirade all the progress He has allowed me to make in my faith journey.

Yes, I am a sinner, but I don't need to let sin reign in my life.  Christ wants me to run to Him when those temptations to default to evil ways assail me.

As Bridges states:  "We must by faith in God's Word lay hold on the fact that we have died to the reign of sin and are now alive to God, under His reign of grace.  Unless we do this we will find ourselves seeking to pursue holiness by the strength of our own wills, not by the grace of God."

By the strength of our own wills, not by the grace of God.

It is only by God's grace that Danny and I surmount the obstacles placed in our path.  

It has nothing to do with our perceived wants or needs.  It has everything to do with the increase of God's grace that met us as we stood on the precarious cliff of sin.

The grace that pulled us back to safety.

~

Shall we go on sinning?  What are your thoughts?

Prayer:  Father, we are born of Adam and carry his legacy of sin.  But in Your mercy, You sent Christ Jesus, Your Son, to redeem and restore us to You.  May we daily remember Jesus' sacrifice for the sins we could never delete on our own.  Raise our awareness so that when we are tempted to sin, we turn them over to You for forgiveness and healing.  In Jesus' blessed name, we pray.  Amen.

For the next nine weeks, I will be participating in a study of Jerry Bridges' The Discipline of Grace.  It is led by fellow Christian bloggers, Jason Stasyszen and Sarah Salter, who welcome you to read the book along with us, and chime in with your own commentary if you feel so moved.  See you next Wednesday!  God bless!