Legal vs. Sinful

Romans 6:1-4 (NLT)

Well then, 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? Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.

I think it’s wonderful how people are setting out to prove that God exists. People are hungry for something to believe in. I believe that in the pursuit of Him, He will make Himself known. He will reveal Himself to anyone who seeks Him; of that, there is no doubt in my mind. Keep seeking Him, friends. On the other hand, in proving God is real, there should be some effort in acknowledging that sin is real.

We often revel in our salvation by a kind, loving, and merciful God. What we don’t do very often, however, is recognize what God has saved us from. We are not just innocent bystanders in a battle against good and evil. Mankind is inherently evil. We have a natural propensity to sin – ALL of us. In our current American culture, sin is no longer sin. We have deviant behavior, we have genetic predispositions for certain actions, we have ripe environments for criminal activity, and we have basically "different strokes for different folks."

I have lost count of the number of times recently in America when someone has said of some sinful behavior, "It isn’t hurting anyone." The problem is that it IS hurting someone – you. We tend to look at things as legal or illegal, but that isn’t the standard to which we should hold ourselves as believers in Christ. There are plenty of things that are legal that God calls sin. Our eternal souls depend on us living according to God’s law. Sin is not an Old Covenant concept, and the enemy of our souls is determined to have us believe that it is.

Sin is alive and well, and many are being led astray into believing that God’s grace is the only concern we should have. Pick up the Bible, read and study what is written. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you wisdom and understanding. Any church leader who is dismissing sin as normal and acceptable behavior is deceived. Sin is only normal for the unsaved; we have been made new. Sin should make us feel uncomfortable and ashamed. God’s grace is a beautiful gift, but we do not intentionally sin because God’s grace abounds.