Why Not Run Up A Big Tab?

Why Not Run Up a Big Tab?

Should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?

Romans 6:1-2

Some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Jude 1:4

Some people even slander us by claiming that we say, “The more we sin, the better it is!” Those who say such things deserve to be condemned.

Romans 3:8

Let’s say you’re staying in a high-priced hotel and the room service menu catches your eye. You remember that someone else is paying your hotel bill, so you think, Why not order some snacks? some dessert? a steak? After all, you’re not the one paying.

That’s what worries some people about the idea of sin and grace. They see that Jesus has paid the debt for sin—past, present, and future—and that he offers salvation as a gift. They’re afraid that some people will take advantage of God’s grace and run up a big tab of sin, knowing that Jesus will pay for it. They see that God has left himself open to be taken advantage of. And he has. If we don’t believe that, then we don’t understand the generosity of grace.

But the truth is, no one who is truly connected to Christ in a saving way wants to continue a life of sin, seeing how much he or she can get away with. The grace of God saves us not just from the punishment and guilt of sin but from the presence and practice of sin, from its destruction in our lives—its false promises, its heartbreak, and its consequences. The person who is connected to Christ doesn’t say, “Now I can sin as much as I want to!” but says instead, “If I don’t have to sin, I don’t want to!”

DISCUSSION STARTERS

How do people usually respond when something is being given away for free?

What does it mean to take a gift for granted?

When someone sins and says, “God will forgive me” even before he or she sins, what does it say about how the person views God? What does it say about how the person views sin?