By Pastor Alex Ruelo
Most of the time, other people say that since they are already saved by grace, they can sin because they are going to heaven anyway. But Romans 5:20 says, “The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The more you sin, God’s grace increases all the more. That is why many are very confused. There are so many issues and ideas in the world today that make people struggle. In church, Christians are still confused if salvation is really by works or by grace. Do not think that everything will go back to normal anytime soon. This is normal now.
According to Paul, the more you sin, the more grace abounds. Let us first establish what kind of blessing is being talked about and who it is for. Paul is talking to Christians in these verses. There are four kinds of believers, mind you. First, there are of course, the unbelievers, the ones who do not believe in Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross. 1 Corinthians 2:14 says, “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.” When Paul said that the grace of God abounds, he was not talking to the unbelievers. They do not and will not understand that. If you are confused now, I pray that later on, you will understand because you are not the unbelievers mentioned by Paul in his epistles. In 1 Corinthians 3:1, Paul says, “Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?” The second kind of believers are those who believe but are infants in the faith, needing to be fed and nurtured. They need to develop on their own and they do this by attending Sunday service, joining a D-group, reading the Bible and all of those things that can help them to grow in their faith. Third are the carnal believers, those who live in the flesh, seeking worldly pleasures first and foremost. They are believers as well. Let us make it clear that even if a person is living in sin, if he accepts Jesus as His savior, he is still a believer. Patience is ti be extended to them. The more they sin, the more they should be brought to the work of Christ so that one day, they may come to their senses. Pray for them everyday. Lastly, there are the spiritual Christians, who also need to be reminded to be humble in correcting others who sin. Everybody makes mistakes, at one point or another. Be careful of what you say because you might be the next one who falls.
What is up with grace? It is always said that grace is unmerited favor, something that is given to you even if you do not deserve it. In the Old Testament, Deuteronomy 28 says obey the commandments and you will be blessed. If you do not obey, you will not be blessed. But in the New Testament, when Jesus Christ died on the cross, He did everything so you will be blessed. You did not need to do anything. Jesus. Paid the price so you will be blessed. In the Old Testament, you needed to sacrifice everyday for you to made straight. But in the New Testament, Jesus was made the sacrifice so that you may be well. In the Old testament, you worked hard for your sacrifice. In the New Testament, God took pity on you so Jesus became the sacrifice. That is grace. That is the glory of God. You did not deserve any of those but because you are worthy in the eyes of God, He gave it to you. Romans 8:3-4 says “For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”More than 2000 years ago, God took away all of your sins and because of this, you should not be living in sin. That is grace. The sin you will commit later, it is already forgiven. It is not free. God’s son became the offering. You deserve death on the cross because you do not obey the law every single day. There are so many things forbidden in the Bible that no one can really follow it to the letter. It was because of the perfect obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ that grace was given to you. And because of that, righteousness was also given. It is met in us, not with us. Because you did not strive for it. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” You did not only become worthy in the eyes of God. You became the righteousness of God. Sin has no power in you anymore because God paid for all of it already.
The word grace is underrated to Christians. Many think grace is just a little something to make you feel fine when you are under the weather. But grace is everything. You are not worthy to become rich. You are not worthy to get well. You are not worthy of anything. But because Jesus was sacrificed on the cross, all your sins are worthless. You look at yourself and think of how dirty you are. But in God’s eyes, you are precious and clean. All of this is because of the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross more than 2000 years ago. That is grace.
The million dollar question is “Will you continue in sin?” “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?’’ Romans 6:1-2 states. Grace is not an excuse to live in sin. Romans 6:5-10 says, “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.” Because of Jesus’ death on the cross, you are alive. Live for the glory of God. You no longer live in sin because you have been freed from it. Do not make yourself a slave to it. When you live in sin, you struggle everyday and have no peace. Why? Because you are no longer that person. You are a slave because of your own doing. The bondage of sin is no longer in effect. You are free to do everything and anything. Just do it for the glory of God. Romans 6:20-22 says, “When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.” To some people, the words heaven and everlasting life may have no meaning. But to believers, you understand how important these things are. Maybe you are living in the flesh but you understand the word of God and that is why you struggle. You are confused on whether to let it go or not. Do not be confused. The more you continue in sin, the more you will struggle. Because the more you see God’s goodness and grace in your life, the more you will not understand His love. Paul said in Romans 7:15, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” You know why you hate what you are doing right now? because you can see the grace of God in your life. Even if you do not declare it, your heart and your spirit know the truth. You are healed and blessed because of the grace of God. When you sin, you struggle, but God understands. Give it to Him. Declare that you are free and the grace of God abounds in you. You will not continue in sin because He loves you.