Some say that God’s grace gives us a license to sin. But this is not only incorrect, it’s perilous to us in our walk with Jesus.
The body of believers, since the time of the Apostles, has been beset by heresies. Paul knew this as well as anyone, and he repeatedly wrote staunch warnings against false teachings. He wanted to make sure that those who truly followed Christ stayed true to their faith and did not stumble in the wind.
Yes, even in those days; those old days when travel between towns could take days or even weeks, false doctrine and heretical beliefs spread like wildfire and threatened to corrupt a person’s faith in the risen Christ.
Today, this effect is ever the more potent.
In the modern day, ideas can circle the globe instantly. As I write this, it occurs to me that people from other continents may read this – and they may read it just minutes or hours after I post it.
A thousand years ago, a message may have taken months to make it from one side of a continent to another, if it made it at all.
But now, ideas spread instantly and effortlessly. They spread seamlessly. Can this be a great thing? Absolutely! Can it be used to help people, build the Kingdom of God, and do great works for Him?
Absolutely. That’s why I blog 🙂
Yet this vast internet of information, this vehicle for transmitting ideas, thoughts, and calls to action, can be dangerous. It can lead to the spreading of heresies and false doctrine.
These false doctrines have one lasting outcome: they damage the faith of the person who believes them.
But I’m not here today to discuss how false doctrine or heretical teachings spread. I’m not writing to discuss strategies for fighting them. Rather, I’m here to single out and analyze one particular heresy that is extraordinarily popular in today’s evangelical scene.
And that heresy, quite simply, is this – that the grace given to us through Christ can serve as a license for sin.
This is a destructive doctrine. It is as far removed from Scripture as you can get. It is poisonous. It ruins lives. It damages faith. I believed it once – more recently than I’d like to admit, in fact – and looking back, I realize just how destructive it is to true, genuine faith in the risen Lord.
Nothing good comes from it. It promises a life of ease, but yields only pain, heartache, and brokenness.
What Makes it So Dangerous?
One of the biggest ways that this “doctrine” is so dangerous lies in its deceptive power.
Think about it.
We know the following things as Christians:
- We are all sinners in need of a Savior (Rom. 3:23)
- Jesus Christ came and died for the forgiveness of sins (John 3:16, Rom. 10:9, 2 Cor. 5:15, etc.)
- If we believe in Him and call unto Him for salvation, He will save us because He cannot be unfaithful to His own. (2 Tim 2:13)
To the mature or passionate believer, these facts are reason for immense celebration. They look upon their Lord with love and with great respect. They have been forgiven much, and because of their thankfulness to God, the thought of sinning simply “because it’s covered by the blood and will be forgiven” is offensive to them.
But it’s not the same way with everyone.
For immature believers, or those who may only believe that they’re believers, these facts can be interpreted as a license for sin. I’ve heard it many times in my own life, and furthermore, I’ve heard it most often from the youth – “Well, I can sin because Christ forgives me. I’m covered.”
They take their limited understandings of the doctrine of grace and they twist it to their own selfish ends.
They are using logic to make the assumption: since I’m a sinner, and since Christ died for all sins, then all I must do is believe in Him and confess Him with my words, and I will be saved from my sins. This means I can sin as much as I want, in any way I want, and Christ will still forgive me and I’ll go to Heaven.
Yes, to the immature Christian, this is logical. It makes perfect sense. That’s what’s so dangerous about this belief – it makes perfect sense unless you’ve really thought it through and walked in the faith a while.
It makes perfect sense, but it’s a trap. And a devastatingly tricky trap at that.
The Consequences of This Belief
Up until now, we’ve discussed how this belief works. It’s dangerous because it’s tricky. It’s dangerous because it’s deceptive. But why? If one is caught in this big snare, what makes it so bad?
The main reason is in the damage it does to the sinner’s conscience.
You see, we’re all born with a God-given conscience, or internal moral compass. Every human has one, whether they’re born into a Christian culture, a Muslim culture, a Hindu culture, or an atheistic culture.
In fact, if you travelled around the world throughout history, you’d find that the majority of cultures would have some sort of prohibition against killing others. You’d find prohibitions against rape, against violence, against taking advantage of people, and much more.
All human societies throughout history have had morality, and the morality has been – barring some differences – quite similar.
Now, returning to the notion of the built-in conscience, one of the biggest things that a person must realize is that he/she is a sinner in need of a savior. And your conscience, your sensitivity to sin, is what helps you to see this. This is why Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:23).
Notice the use of the word repent here. To repent is to change over, to confess and forsake, to be willing to leave something behind.
Repentance requires a person to see their sins, recognize them as bad, and then be willing to forsake their sins and turn to a new way of life – namely, the life Jesus calls them to.
However, note also that Jesus says another curious thing in that passage: “I have not come to call the righteous…” I must admit that when I read that verse for the first time, I was left in confusion.
After all, Romans 3:10 tells us, “As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one.” For the longest time, it didn’t make sense to me. But then, after some examination, it suddenly made perfect sense.
What Christ is talking about here is the difference between those who acknowledge and see the nature of their sins, and those who do not.
When Jesus walked the earth, His greatest opponents were the Pharisees. You’d have expected that those who would oppose Him most would have been non-Jews. Perhaps the Romans, or maybe some other faction of society, one would think.
But instead, it was those who claimed to be God’s own people.
They claimed to be of the Lord, but when Christ commanded them to repent, they refused. They called the Son of God a madman. They were “righteous” only insofar as they trusted and believed in their own abilities to save and distinguish them.
They did not recognize their own need for a savior because they thought themselves above such a thing. Hence, Jesus essentially said, “I have not come to call those who will not listen, but rather, those who do and can listen.”
Now, we’ll take this very concept and circle back to the concept of “the license for sin.”
You see, those Pharisees had hardened their hearts. They had dulled their consciences. You can harden your heart against God. That’s not popular to say in today’s world, but it’s true.
Contrary to what popular evangelicalism will tell you, words alone cannot save you. A profession of faith alone cannot save you. It can’t save you unless you’ve got the intention and heart behind it. God knows those who are truly His, and He also sees those who are just mixed in with the flock but don’t truly want Him.
For the one who sins because he “knows Christ will cover it,” there is grave danger.
There is a point at which a person will stop caring. There is a time when, after enough intentional, willful sinning, a person can harden their heart beyond repentance. They will essentially become a Pharisee.
They believed in the idea of grace, and they claimed to believe in the Son of God, but they simply used it as an insurance policy while they did everything they wanted to do.
They treated the grace of God as a cheap thing for so long, in such a hideous way, that they moved themselves beyond the ability to repent and forsake their sins in a turn to Christ.
Yes, it can happen. And if a person keeps on sinning, if he keeps on cheapening the grace of God to cover selfish desires, then there might come a day when repentance is impossible.
This is a scary message, but it’s truth. Yet there is GOOD news!
Finding Freedom From Sin
Does the Bible teach that you can fall away from God and be condemned, even in this life? It’s a tricky issue, but I think the answer is yes.
You CAN sin against, reject, and deny God for so long that you will be unable to come to Him and seek salvation.
But here’s the good news: if the thought of this causes you concern, sadness, or a desire to change from a pattern of sin, then you’re not condemned. Those who have rejected Christ completely and firmly, who have abused His grace repeatedly and feel no sorrow and no desire to change, are in grave danger.
Yet for you – if you feel in your heart that you want to change, if you desire freedom from sin and unity with Christ – there is still all the hope in the world! 2 Peter 3:9 says,
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
You see, the God of the universe wants you. Go up to any random person on the street, and God wants them. Our Lord is so great that He does not will that any would perish.
If you’re stuck in a lifestyle of sin, this is your call to get out. If you’re slipping into the heretical idea that you can sin as much as you want because God will cover it, you need to repent of this idea. You need to turn from it.
Run from it as you would a dangerous animal.
As you run and turn from your sins, run into the grace of God. Accept His forgiveness with open arms and a willing heart. Hold nothing back within yourself. Commit all you are to Him. Commit your actions, relationships, decisions, life, career, words, and deeds to Him.
He wants all of it. And you will not be sorry for giving it all to Him.
As I mentioned earlier, there was a time when I believed that I could keep on sinning freely, because God’s grace covered it. After I realized that was incorrect and dangerous, I grew fearful that I was beyond saving.
In my anguish, I cried to the Lord out of a desperate heart.
He came in.
He came to allay my fears and correct my wayward heart. He taught me the importance of seeing Him as the all-sufficient God, of counting Him as my highest treasure for all time.
This has been a journey, and I’m still in the middle of it, but each day I can see His mercies fresh and new.
Brother, sister, it is my prayer today that you’ll seek the Lord. It’s my prayer that you will turn to Him with a heart of genuineness. And if you feel as though you’ve gone too far, pray to Him. Pray to Him with all you have in you. Cry out to Him.
Go to your knees and weep.
If you call to Him out of a genuine desire to be reconciled to Him, He will be faithful to show you the way. He will restore you.
A bruised reed and a smoldering wick He will not put out.
He will disciple you, lead you, and show you the true path to life in Him. He loves you, and He wants your heart above all things. He is not willing that any would perish, but that all would come to repentance.
Please, repent today. Repent while you’ve still got life in you, and awake from your spiritual slumber.
Repent, because His mercy, while great, will someday run out. Run to Him, and run to Him with everything you have.
Your God awaits you with great love and great mercy.