Grace Or License
"...They
are godless men who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality..." -
Jude 4
The apostle
Paul was widely known for his teaching of Salvation by faith in God's grace, grace alone
and not of works. It was a major point that he stressed. Some people misunderstood what he
was saying. They said Paul was advocating sin. The idea was that the more we sin the more
God's grace could be seen. Besides we have been forgiven of all our sin anyway.
Paul was not
really encouraging people to sin. He did not believe in cheap grace. A matter of fact he
knew God's grace in his life to such a degree that he took it very seriously. Paul did not
take God's grace for granted.
Jude was
speaking of men that did not know God's grace in its richness as Paul did. They believed
what some thought Paul taught. They believed that God would forgive and therefore they
could knowingly sin. They would commit adultery, thinking God's grace would cover them in
their sin.
God's
provision for man's salvation costed the life of Jesus. This provision was very expensive,
beyond value, making His grace something to be considered with all seriousness.
Because Paul
experienced His grace, he did not abuse it. One of the worst sins we as Christians can
commit is to take the grace of God for granted. Now some may change God's grace into a
license to sin, yet I think most of us simply take His grace for granted. In many small
ways the things we do show that we don't appreciate what He has done.
Therefore we
can ask ourselves, do we know God's grace in our lives? Once knowing His grace, do we
appreciate it? Is our behaviour conducive to the presence of God in our lives? To the
degree our actions are suspect is the degree we take God's grace for granted.
God has given
His life for and to us. In return we need to appreciate this and be thankful and live
accordingly. We should live as though we really do know His grace and don't take it for
granted. The more His grace is known in our hearts the less we will commit sin, both
consciously and unconsciously.