07 25 07 Grace or Disgrace

“What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Absolutely not!”
(Romans 6:15)
Ok; so now that we are saved form our sin and forgiven; having been granted forgiveness by the blood of Christ, our belief in Him and repentance from sin, can we casually and flippantly continue in sin……God forbid! (KJV version) This is an expression of absolute denial by God; certainly not, absolutely not, by no means, NEVER!
Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.
Costly grace...is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble, it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.
How long will we continue to refer to ourselves as children of the living God, claim Christ as our Savior, yet live in such a way that shows no evidence of repentance, or change? Oh yes, the grace God offers us has a requirement in addition to belief: REPENTANCE! Grace is free for us, God’s unmerited favor toward a lost sinner like me, but it cost Christ a great deal on the cross! For Christ to be our Lord, we must be obedient to Him. All throughout the Bible, sinners are called to repent and be baptized. Once we believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior, we repent from our sin and become baptized as an outward sign of that commitment to follow our Lord. We have to get out of the boat and follow Him! We have to make a decision to leave our former lifestyle and follow the path of righteousness in Christ.

So as we claim grace, why do we live a life of disgrace? Why do we disgrace our Lord by justifying our sins as mistakes, slip-ups, or lack of maturity? I understand that there is a maturation process we all go through as believers, but when I hear things like “We’re gonna do what we’re gonna’ do” or “God knows my weaknesses”, even I feel disgraced, especially when I know the person knows sin from a mistake or a lack of maturity! I wonder how loudly God is screaming from heaven today, “Absolutely not!”

I wonder how long we will continue to cheapen God’s grace. I wonder how long we will disgrace the cross. I wonder how long God will hold back from judgment and allow His grace to fall upon us. I wonder……do we hear DADDY crying out to us?