1 What
shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
2 God
forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? (Romans
6:1-2)
Here Paul addresses a mistaken notion people seem to have
fallen into in his day. The notion seems to have been that if grace was a good
thing to have, then sinning more would allow them to experience more of God’s
saving grace.
Paul explains that if we die to sin—and it requires grace of
God to do that—then more sinning is repugnant to that condition and
inconsistent with a grace-changed life.
The assumption behind the error is that grace is only
accessed to be saved from sin and that grace goes away after changing a person
from a life of sin.
Instead, God’s grace continues to abound in the changed
life. And it must, otherwise there
will be a fall right back into sin. The flesh continues to rebel against the
spirit, and grace is needed for the spirit to win that battle every day. Grace abounds when we humble ourselves
and seek God’s help with our failings and weaknesses, when we pray to resist
temptation, when we ask for strength in our fatigue, when we need and pray for
more spiritual gifts to deal with new challenges and so on.
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