Is Grace an excuse to sin?

Many people misinterpret or misunderstand Grace as an excuse to sin. They assume that if Grace is proclaimed, then people will never stop sinning, and they will continue to remain in sin, because they would develop a mentality where they would end up saying "anyway Jesus has payed the price for all my sins, so it doesn't matter if I sin, as I'm saved by grace and not by my works". If you know anyone with such a mentality, then definitely they are not a believer in Christ. So then, is Grace an excuse to sin? The answer is NO! Grace is not an excuse to sin! Once I was having a conversation with a friend of mine, when I shared the Gospel of Grace with him, he completely misunderstood Grace and said to me that I was proclaiming Jesus against Jesus. This reaction from people is not something new, because it has happened to Apostle Paul as well when he was proclaiming the Gospel of Grace, where people misunderstood Grace to be an excuse to sin. It is for this reason Apostle Paul addresses the issue in his letter to the Romans. Apostle Paul ends chapter 5 by saying:

"Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord" - Romans 5:20-21

Right after concluding Romans chapter 5, he begins chapter 6 by saying the following:

"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" - Romans 6:1-2

Apostle Paul continues to explain how Grace is not an excuse to sin. The entire chapter 6 of the letter to the Romans is dedicated to adress this issue. The reason people misunderstand Grace is because they try to reason with their own understanding and do not rely on God's Wisdom. For example, people find it easy to understand that when we do good we get good in return, and when we do bad we get bad in return. To understand this we don't need the Holy Spirit as this is how the world reasons. When we hear explanations like "do good get good, do bad get bad", "we are responsible for our actions", "what goes around comes around", "karma", etc., such kind of reasoning glorifies the flesh and man's work, where we hear topics like these covered by motivational speakers, and in order to understand such worldly reasoning we would not need the Holy Spirit. On the other hand, it is not possible to understand Grace without the help of the Holy Spirit. When we come across promises of the Lord like John 3:16, Hebrews 8:12, 1 John 5:13, etc.,, it is impossible to comprehend by our human reasoning as it requires faith to believe. The Lord promises us in the New Covenant of Grace:

"For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more" - Hebrews 8:12

The key to understanding Grace is none other than our Lord Jesus Himself. People fail to realize that when they are walking under Grace they are unconsciously keeping the law. For example, the law in Exodus 20:14 says not to commit adultery, but it does not say how to love our spouse. On the other hand, Grace in Ephesians 5:22-25 instructs a wife to submit to her husband as unto the Lord, and at the same time Grace instructs a husband to love his wife as Christ loved the Church. The key is to know about the finished work of Jesus on the cross. Whenever couples are aware of Christ's love upon them, they have Grace to love one another. Why would a believer under Grace commit adultery when they are busy loving their spouse? For more information, I have written a detailed article about how a marrage points to Christ, click here to read about it.

Another example is that the law in Exodus 20:4 strictly says not to commit idolatry. The excuse people give for committing idolatry is by saying that God Himself had asked Moses to make idols like the Ark of the Covenant, the cherubs in the Tabernacle, so why should we not have any images?! Firstly, the Ark of the Covenant was never kept in public to be worshiped by people, but rather it was kept in the Holy of Holies where only the high priest would enter once a year with the blood of the lamb. You may seek excuses by calling idolatry under different names, but in the end it is still idolatry. Moreover the Ark of the Covenant is a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ hidden in the Old Testament, I have an article explaining about the Ark, click here to read about it. So then how can people refrain from idolatry? Under Grace we find the answer. The Corinthian Christians who were believers in Christ and were going to the prostitutes we rebuked by Apostle Paul who said:

"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's" - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

What Apostle Paul meant is that as believers in Christ, we carry the presence of the Lord, where we are sealed with the Holy Spirit, as stated in Ephesians 1:13, and His presence will never leave us nor forsake us, as stated in Hebrews 13:5. How do we carry the Lord's presence? Our Lord Jesus said:

"...I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" - John 8:12

Once again in the Gospel of Matthew, the Lord spoke about the light referring to Himself by saying:

"Ye are the light of the world..." - Matthew 5:14

The Greek word used for "light" in John 8:12 and Matthew 5:14 is the word "phos" referring to the "presence of the Lord". In Matthew 5:15 He uses an example of a candle light, where the Greek word used is "kaio", referring to "natural light". The Greek text makes the context clear, which is why the New Testament was originally written in Greek. This shows that as believers in Christ we carry the presence of the Lord. When a believer under Grace is aware of the Lord's presence upon them, why would they get into idolatry? As a matter of fact, the first century Christians practiced the presence of the Lord, and worshipped the Lord as a Church without any idols.

The law in Exodus 20:15 says not to steal, but it does not say how to refrain from stealing. Our Lord Jesus said:

"Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?" - Matthew 6:26

As a believer in Christ, Apostle Paul said:

"For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich" - 2 Corinthians 8:9

"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" - Philippians 4:19

When a believer under Grace is being provided by the Lord, why would they steal? This way when a believer in Christ is walking under Grace, they are walking under the leadership of the Holy Spirit and are unconsciously keeping the law. Moreover the Bible says that love is the fulfillment of the law:

"Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law" - Romans 13:10

Here is the best part, one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is love. The Bible says:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law" - Galatians 5:22-23

A believer in Christ need not have to try to love, but rather they need to be conscious of the Lord's Grace upon them, and the fruits of Grace is love. Works are a result of self effort, whereas fruits are the result of life. The branches don't try to bear fruits, but rather they rely on the life flowing through the plant, as a result the branches bear fruits. We as believers in Christ, are the branchs connected to our Lord Jesus the vine, where we rely on the life flowing through the vine. Our Lord Jesus said:

"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing" - John 15:5

Apostle Peter started off by denying Christ three times, he did not remain there, but instead he was restored by the Grace of Christ where he became a preacher of the Gospel. Yet again Apostle Peter made another mistake by looking low on the gentiles because they were uncircumcised. Looking at Apostle Peter even Barnabus was getting influenced to draw away from the gentiles. The Lord used Apostle Paul to correct Apostle Peter who got rebuked for doing so, as seen in Galatians 2. In the case of Apostle Paul, who started off as a Pharaisee of Pharaisees, who used to murder the believers in Christ, he didn't remain as a murderer, instead the Lord made him into a Grace preacher, where Apostle Paul has contributed in writing 2/3rd of the New Testament. A sinner touched by the Grace of Christ will never again be the same, there definitely will be a decrease in sin. The Bible says:

"For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" - John 1:17

It is one thing to give something through someone, but its more personal to come in person. The law was given by Moses, but in the case of Grace, the Son of God personally came. This shows that the Lord is more intrested in Grace rather than man's works. Notice that the truth is on the side of Grace. Our Lord Jesus said:

"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" - John 8:32

The law is not the truth that sets us free, but rather Grace is the truth that sets us free. Our Lord Jesus said:

"If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed" - John 8:36

To reiterate, is Grace an excuse to sin? The answer is always NO. Believers under the Grace of Christ are dead to sin, and sin does not have dominion over them. Believers sin lesser, and lesser, and lesser as time progresses, where there is a decrease in sin. Believers don't remain in sin, as they are the sheep being led by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd.