Abused Grace
Devotions with Pastor Jason Lim

In the late 19th century a Russian monk had considerable influence over the royal family of Russia. His name was Gregory Rasputin. Rasputin held a distorted and perverted view of God’s grace. He taught that to know and experience the grace of God, you needed to sin more, because grace was given freely. He taught that the more you sinned, the more grace would be made available. So Rasputin lived in gross immorality and drunkenness, a life that was a product of the abuse of grace.

The Apostle Paul counters this teaching in Romans 6. Being a seasoned preacher and having witnessed the conversion of many from varied backgrounds, Paul foresaw that people would take the beautiful teaching of grace and abuse it to condone their sinful ways and live as they desired. Therefore, in Romans 6:1-2, he says “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?”

If true grace is received into a man’s life, it does not and cannot result in more sinning. Rather, it results in righteousness. Paul emphasizes in verse 2: “How can we who died to sin still live in it?” To live a righteous life, you need to realize that you are “dead to sin.” It is not a removal of the possibility of sin, but it is the removal of the power of sin. You are no more under sin’s dominion and bondage; you are set free. He’s saying as a statement of fact that you have died to sin. You are freed from the authority of sin, you need not listen to and obey sin anymore. You can live in the glorious reality of a righteous life under grace!