Does grace tolerate sin?

604 tolerates grace sinLiving in grace means rejecting sin, not tolerating or accepting it. God is against sin - he hates it. He refused to leave us in our sinful condition and sent his son to release us from her and its effects.

When Jesus spoke to a woman who committed adultery, he said to her: "I do not judge you either," Jesus replied. You can go, but don't sin anymore! " (Johannes 8,11 Hope for all). Jesus' testimony shows his contempt for sin and conveys a grace that confronts sin with redeeming love. It would be a tragic mistake to see Jesus' willingness to be our Savior as tolerance for sin. The Son of God became one of us precisely because He was utterly intolerant of the deceptive and destructive power of sin. Instead of accepting our sins, he took them upon himself and subjected them to God's judgment. Through his self-sacrifice, the penalty, the death, that sin brings upon us was removed.

When we look around the fallen world we live in and when we look into our own lives, it is obvious that God allows sin. However, the Bible clearly states that God hates sin. Why? Because of the damage done to us. Sin hurts us - it hurts our relationship with God and with others; it prevents us from living in the truth and fullness of who we are, our loved ones. In dealing with our sin, which was removed in and through Jesus, God does not immediately free us from all the enslaving consequences of sin. But that doesn't mean that His grace allows us to continue to sin. God's grace is not his passive tolerance of sin.

As Christians, we live under grace - freed from the ultimate penalties of sin for Jesus' sacrifice. As workers with Christ, we teach and extol grace in a way that gives people hope and a clear picture of God as their loving, forgiving Father. But this message comes with a warning - remember the apostle Paul's question: “Is God's infinitely rich goodness, patience and faithfulness worth so little to you? Don't you see that it is precisely this goodness that wants to move you to repentance? " (Romans 2,4 Hope for all). He also said: 'What shall we say to this? Shall we persist in sin that grace may abound? Far be it! We are dead to sin. How can we still live in it?" (Romans 6,1-2).

The truth of God's love should never encourage us to want to remain in our sin. Grace is God's provision in Jesus not only to free us from the guilt and shame of sin, but also from its distorting, enslaving power. As Jesus said: "Whoever commits sin is a servant to sin" (John 8,34). Paul warned: “Don't you know? Whom you make servants to obey him, you are his servants and you obey him - either as servants of sin to death or as servants of obedience to righteousness ”(Romans 6,16). Sin is serious business because it enslaves us to the influence of evil.

This understanding of sin and its consequences does not lead us to pile words of condemnation on people. Instead, as Paul noted, our words are to “speak kindly to everyone; everything you say should be good and helpful. Make every effort to find the right words for everyone »(Colossians 4,6 Hope for all). Our words should convey hope and tell of both God's forgiveness of sins in Christ and His victory over all evil. Just of the one without speaking of the other is a distortion of the message of grace. As Paul observes, God's grace will never leave us in slavery to evil: "But thanks be to God, having been slaves to sin, you have now obeyed from your heart the form of doctrine to which you were committed" (Romans 6,17).

As we grow in understanding the truth of God's grace, we understand more and more why God abhors sin. It damages and hurts his creation. It destroys the right relationships with others and slanders the character of God with lies about God that undermine him and a trusting relationship with God. What do we do when we see a loved one sin? We don't judge him, but we hate the sinful behavior that harms him and maybe others. We hope and pray that Jesus, our beloved, will be freed from his sin by the life that he has sacrificed for him.

Stoning of Stephen

Paul is a powerful example of what God's love does in a person's life. Before he was converted, Paul severely persecuted Christians. He stood by when Stephen was martyred (Acts of the Apostles 7,54-60). The Bible describes his attitude: "But Saul took pleasure in his death" (Acts of the Apostles 8,1). Because he was aware of the tremendous grace he received for the terrible sins of his past, grace remained a major theme in Paul's life. He fulfilled his calling to serve Jesus: "But I do not consider my life worth mentioning if I only complete my course and carry out the office that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God" ( Acts 20,24).
In Paul's writings we find an interweaving of grace and truth in what he taught under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We also see that God radically transformed Paul from a bad-tempered legalist who persecuted Christians to a humble servant of Jesus. He was aware of his own sin and God's mercy when he accepted him as his child. Paul embraced God's grace and devoted all of his life to preaching, regardless of the cost.

Following Paul's example, our conversations with human beings should be grounded in God's amazing grace for all sinners. Our words should testify that we live a life independent of sin in God's firm teaching. «He who is born of God does not sin; for God's children abide in him and cannot sin; for they are born of God »(1. John 3,9).

If you meet people who live contrary to God's goodness instead of condemning them, you should be gentle with them: «A servant of the Lord should not be contentious, but kind to everyone, skilled in teaching, one who endures evil can and rebukes the stubborn with meekness. Perhaps God will help them to repent, to know the truth »(2. Tim. 2,24-25).

Like Paul, your fellow human beings need a real encounter with Jesus. You can serve such an encounter in which your behavior corresponds to the nature of Jesus Christ.

by Joseph Tkach