For all this talk we offer up about being ‘saved by grace through faith alone’....exactly what is your understanding as to how this ‘grace’ actually works? (Eph. 2:8) Surely you don’t see it as some sort of canopy or ‘covering’ for you when you continue to ‘sin’ ...as if it was some ‘get out of jail for free card’...do you? (Rom. 6:1-2)

We were actually warned long ago about those who would creep in to our circles and pervert the message of grace (Jude 1:4).

So let me offer up a simple scenario that I have used here before that I believe illustrates perfectly just how we can do that...misuse, if not twist the message of God’s incredible grace.

You are driving to a nearby town one afternoon, and while doing so, you get pulled over by a traffic cop who quickly lets you know that this is not going to be a ‘cheap’ stop. 15 minutes later, you get back on the road with a handful of citations, that include tickets for speeding, reckless driving, expired plates, no seat belts in use, no proof of insurance, and clearly...not a good day to be driving without your driver’s license. But you are not overly concerned because your dad is the local judge at the municipal court.

On the day you appear in court to plead your case, you find yourself going through the formalities of standing before the judge (your father) who sternly ask you what you have to say for yourself regarding all the charges brought against you.

You look sincerely up to the bench and inform the ‘judge’ that you are ‘no longer under the law, but under grace’(Rom. 6:14). And then you throw in an apology for good measure. The judge gives you a head nod and a wink and declares the charges dropped before calling the next case on the docket. (Woe be to them who are not his children, right?)

What do you suppose the response might be of all those in attendance that day when they witness this exchange? Would they be justified in asking how this is even tolerated or makes sense, let alone is ‘fair’? And what kind of attitude is being exhibited if on the way out of the courtroom, you reply with hint of confidence that there are advantages to being the child of the judge? Are you suggesting the ‘law’ no longer applies to you? We’ll come back to this ‘law’ topic later.

Let me say here that I have no personal recollection of ever hearing anyone say, nor do I know anyone personally who believes...that as a ‘Christian’...they can continue to ‘do whatever they want’ (meaning ‘sin’) and it won’t affect their ‘salvation’. There ‘go-to’ response usually sounds something like: “If a person is truly ‘saved’, they won’t want to do those things anymore.”

But nearly every single ‘believer’ I know or hear from...has been taught and are absolutely convinced ...that they will always continue to ‘sin...on this side of heaven’. And there ‘go to’ explanation for that is...”we are all flawed and imperfect human beings with a sin nature (flesh)...hence the reason we continue to sin”; with the added clarification that we won’t sin ‘as bad or as often’...but we will continue to sin. Besides... Jesus was the only one who lived a sinless life. Folks...nobody is suggesting that Christians have lived a sinless life. Of course we have ‘all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory’ (Rom. 3:23); and to suggest otherwise would to be calling God a liar (1 John 1:10).

The purpose of all these writings of mine the past 4.5 years has been to get us to re-examine scriptures and to focus on this idea of what it means to be a ‘new creation in Christ’ (2 Cor. 5:17) so that we might understand what it means to truly ‘abide in Him’ where we actually ‘walk as He walked’...and no longer continue to practice sin. (John 15:1-8; 1 John 2:6; 3:6; 5:18). There was a reason why Jesus taught us to “Go...and sin no more!” (John 5:14; 8:11). He really meant that!. But allow me to explain why this kind of talk (that some would call heresy) just blows our minds and confuses/frustrates so many sincere believers: We were taught just the opposite from Day 1.

You don’t have to be a construction expert or a rocket scientist to know this one fact: If you start a building project on a ‘faulty foundation’...it will adversely affect everything else you do... the higher you build or the longer time goes on. Think in terms of a ground floor not being level and is off 2-3 inches- guess what happens the higher you build? Or if you are shooting a rocket to a distant planet and are off in your calculations by just 2 degrees. Yet nobody starts a project thinking or believing they are ‘off’, and therefore don’t realize the way they think, plan, and visualize the final outcome...is flawed.

Do you remember the story Jesus shared about two men (wise and foolish) who both built homes, but the foolish builder’s house was on a faulty foundation (sand). What happened when both homes were blasted by the same storm and ‘floods’? (Matt. 7:24-27). And how did Jesus differentiate between the two builders, when it came to their ‘actions’ regarding His word?

Trust me...I’m fully aware that I am swimming against the current and yelling into the wind nearly every day I post these messages; but I will continue to do so as long as I am compelled by the One who ‘picked me up out of the miry clay and set my feet upon the Rock’ (Ps. 40:2). I am also utterly convinced we are living in the day of the great ‘falling away’ that Paul wrote about in 2 Thess. 2:3...where he goes on to inform us all of a great ‘delusion (lie) that God Himself will send (or allow to come) that will deceive many who did not have a love for the truth...and are perishing (9-12).

And do we all know by now...the reason God’s people...are ‘destroyed’? It usually is due to a lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6)...or ‘faulty’ knowledge... which Jesus and others suggested would be rampant in the ‘last days’ just prior to His return (Matt. 24:4-5; 1 Tim. 4:1; 2 Tim. 3:1-7; 4:3-4; 2 Cor. 11:3-4)

I’ll be back tomorrow (Lord willing)...for another look at how this ‘grace’ is designed to operate in our lives, and who exactly is ‘under’ it (Rom. 6:14).