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Grace Is The Power To Defeat Sin
We are saved by grace. Nothing we can do can get us saved. We can do our best to follow the Ten Commandments and every rule our church and denomination has in their bylaws. But our actions and attempts will not save us. We cannot get good enough to be saved. How then do we get saved? By God’s grace. God empowers us. God gives us the grace (the ability) through faith (by believing) in Jesus to get saved. So, it is by grace that we are born again.
A person might say, “Well then, if I’m saved by grace and not because I’m good, if Jesus died for my sins, that means whatever I do in life is okay.”
Ah, no…it’s not okay. Grace is not a license to sin. In fact, when you receive that license of grace, it becomes a license to not sin. It is your license to do the thing you normally couldn’t do. “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!” (Romans 6:15).
A Christian might confess, “Well, I’ve always gossiped a lot. My mouth runs faster than my brain. I just can’t control gossiping.” The truth is that’s a lie. If you’re born again, then you’ve been given the ability to do something a lost person can’t do. What is that? You can say, “I’m righteous.” That entitles you to stand before God and ask the Father for something in the name of Jesus.
“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). So you go to the throne and you say to the Father, “Father, You know and I know I have a problem. My mouth runs faster than my brain and I gossip. Your Word says in 1 John 5:14 that I can have confidence that if I ask anything that is according to Your will, You hear me and You will give it to me. I know it’s Your will that I don’t gossip about my brother and sister. It’s Your will that I don’t say bad things, and I’m having problems with that. I want to get it stopped. So in the name of Jesus, please give me grace to not gossip.”
When you go to the throne of grace, the Father gives you grace. By going to the throne of grace you have now received grace to do that thing you normally couldn’t do. You no longer have an excuse. So if you start shooting off your mouth, it’s not because you don’t have the ability to stop it; because the Father has given you the license, the permit and the ability to not gossip. If you continue to gossip, it’s because you just decide to do it. You defy grace. You defy what God has given you and you just do it. If you have gone to the throne of grace and asked the Father to help you to not gossip, then He has given you the grace to not gossip. If you continue to gossip, that means you have made a decision to defy God, and that’s a sin.
So then you need to repent and ask for forgiveness. You pray something like this: “Father, in the name of Jesus, I ask that You forgive me for gossiping and forgive me for defying your grace.” The Father then hands you more grace to be forgiven. You’re now forgiven and by grace you can start over again. As long as you’re sincere and humble and you’re doing your best, that cycle will continue.
This might still sound like grace gives us a license to sin. If someone gossips knowing it is a sin but knowing God will forgive them, is that a license to sin? No! It is not a license to sin. That is called abusing grace! When someone starts relying on grace as a method of sinning and getting away with it, they are abusing God’s free gift. God doesn’t like that and He will not allow them to continue “getting away with it.” “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” (Romans 6:1-2).
God has a lot of grace. He can help us.
God can give us the power to not continue in sin.
This grace is the power to defeat sin – Any sin!
by Larry Ollison, Ph.D.
We are saved by grace. Nothing we can do can get us saved. We can do our best to follow the Ten Commandments and every rule our church and denomination has in their bylaws. But our actions and attempts will not save us. We cannot get good enough to be saved. How then do we get saved? By God’s grace. God empowers us. God gives us the grace (the ability) through faith (by believing) in Jesus to get saved. So, it is by grace that we are born again.
A person might say, “Well then, if I’m saved by grace and not because I’m good, if Jesus died for my sins, that means whatever I do in life is okay.”
Ah, no…it’s not okay. Grace is not a license to sin. In fact, when you receive that license of grace, it becomes a license to not sin. It is your license to do the thing you normally couldn’t do. “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!” (Romans 6:15).
A Christian might confess, “Well, I’ve always gossiped a lot. My mouth runs faster than my brain. I just can’t control gossiping.” The truth is that’s a lie. If you’re born again, then you’ve been given the ability to do something a lost person can’t do. What is that? You can say, “I’m righteous.” That entitles you to stand before God and ask the Father for something in the name of Jesus.
“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). So you go to the throne and you say to the Father, “Father, You know and I know I have a problem. My mouth runs faster than my brain and I gossip. Your Word says in 1 John 5:14 that I can have confidence that if I ask anything that is according to Your will, You hear me and You will give it to me. I know it’s Your will that I don’t gossip about my brother and sister. It’s Your will that I don’t say bad things, and I’m having problems with that. I want to get it stopped. So in the name of Jesus, please give me grace to not gossip.”
When you go to the throne of grace, the Father gives you grace. By going to the throne of grace you have now received grace to do that thing you normally couldn’t do. You no longer have an excuse. So if you start shooting off your mouth, it’s not because you don’t have the ability to stop it; because the Father has given you the license, the permit and the ability to not gossip. If you continue to gossip, it’s because you just decide to do it. You defy grace. You defy what God has given you and you just do it. If you have gone to the throne of grace and asked the Father to help you to not gossip, then He has given you the grace to not gossip. If you continue to gossip, that means you have made a decision to defy God, and that’s a sin.
So then you need to repent and ask for forgiveness. You pray something like this: “Father, in the name of Jesus, I ask that You forgive me for gossiping and forgive me for defying your grace.” The Father then hands you more grace to be forgiven. You’re now forgiven and by grace you can start over again. As long as you’re sincere and humble and you’re doing your best, that cycle will continue.
This might still sound like grace gives us a license to sin. If someone gossips knowing it is a sin but knowing God will forgive them, is that a license to sin? No! It is not a license to sin. That is called abusing grace! When someone starts relying on grace as a method of sinning and getting away with it, they are abusing God’s free gift. God doesn’t like that and He will not allow them to continue “getting away with it.” “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” (Romans 6:1-2).
God has a lot of grace. He can help us.
God can give us the power to not continue in sin.
This grace is the power to defeat sin – Any sin!
by Larry Ollison, Ph.D.
