From Sin to Grace

Apart from God’s regenerating power, we have no choice but to sin. We don’t have to practice to be good at it; it just comes naturally. It’s the one thing that we do well. And it’s a way of life that most of us participate in whether we like it or not.

When I’m under sin’s control, it works like this:

If you hit me, I’ll hit you back. If you call me names, I’ll throw some choice ones right back at you. When I think no one is watching, I’ll see how much I can get away with. I’ll cheat on my taxes. I’ll covet things that are not mine. I will disregard all of God’s claims on my time and finances. And I won’t care about what others think because I only care about myself and my friends (sort of).

We don’t have to choose to be like this when we’re under sin’s control because it’s just who we are. We cannot change even if we want to. We are indentured slaves to the dark leader of the underworld!

In contrast, every follower of Jesus is a walking miracle because they have successfully resisted the irresistible. Through the power of Jesus’ name, they have defied the natural order and have become peculiar, walking billboards of hope. They have stopped lying, stealing, lusting, and killing, and have stopped running away from God and one another.

Simon Says

The Good News is that we don’t have to be tied to the devil’s whipping post anymore. Because of what Jesus has done, we can ignore the devil’s demands. Whenever he says jump, we don’t have to. When he says run, we can stop. We don’t have to keep playing the devil’s version of “Simon Says.”

“Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace” (Romans 6:14, NLT ).

Contrary to what many believe, the Bible does not teach that the requirements of God’s Ten Commandment laws have been done away with, but only that they no longer condemn us. Why? Because we are “in Christ.” The demands of his laws are satisfied through the power of Jesus. “It is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13, NKJV).

If you liked this, you might also like God’s Law Still Needed 

Rich Dubose writes from Northern California.

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