A MISUNDERSTANDING OF GRACE!

A MISUNDERSTANDING OF GRACE!

Jude 3-4

3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. 4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Rom 6:1-2

6 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?

           I’ve seen it! Some will allow sin in their friends because they are friends. They will not confront them or rebuke them. They turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to their errors. Worse! They condemn anyone else who dares to point out any wrong in their friends.

           I’ve seen the opposite as well. Some will venture to lose friends because those friends have wandered from the right path. They will hunt them down and condemn not only the sin but the sinner. Both are destroyed in their righteous indignation. They walk away vindicated but friendless.

           There must be a middle ground where the truth lives. We are all sinners. We dare not allow what God disallows and we must not crowd God out of His rightful place as Judge. It is a narrow but necessary line to walk.

           Legalism is faith IN my works. My works prove to me, if not to God, that I am right. License is faith WITHOUT works. My faith makes no change in my behavior. Liberty is “by grace through faith UNTO good works.” (Ephesians 2:10)

Dear Lord, let me be balanced in my judgment of others and my behavior before you. AMEN