God's grace is a very controversial subject in many Christian circles today. Some well-meaning brothers and sisters in the Lord fear preaching God's grace "too much". This is because they are afraid that if they preach about His grace too much then people will see that as a license to sin. To be fair, some brothers and sisters say that God's grace gives one a license to sin and they would be wrong for preaching that message. However, I do not believe that that is enough of a reason to deter us from telling people of God's radical grace in the lives of believers. I have personally witnessed the harm caused to my brothers and sisters in Christ when they do not have a proper understanding of God's grace. The purpose of this blog is to explain to you just how radical this grace really is because I believe the Gospel does revolutionize people's minds. I do believe that His grace does not give you a license to sin. As Paul tells us in Romans 6:1-2,
"What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can you who died to sin still live in it?"
As you can see, Paul considers those of us who are in Christ to be dead to sin. For this reason, we are not to keep on living in perpetual sin. However, this does not mean that we will never sin again, contrary to what the Sinless Perfectionists say. As Paul later says in Romans 7:14-17,
"For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now, if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So, now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me"
I know that there is a little bit of a controversy here concerning whether or not Paul was speaking of himself pre or post-conversion. However, the context of this passage seems to indicate that Paul is speaking of himself in the present tense, which would mean that he admits to struggling with a sinful nature AFTER conversion. If the Apostle Paul still dealt with indwelling sin after his conversion to Christ, then what makes any of us think that we won't deal with indwelling sin? What was Paul's solution to the problem of indwelling sin? Well, he answers that at the end of Romans 7:24. He says,
"Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
His solution was to look outside of himself unto Christ for his redemption. This goes contrary to what our culture says because our culture tells us to look within ourselves. Paul is telling us to look outside of ourselves because there is nothing good within us. When we look outside of ourselves unto Jesus Christ, that is when we can say with Paul the words of Galatians 2:20,
"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me".
This does not mean that we will never sin again, but it does mean that we will no longer live in perpetual sin anymore. I heard someone once say that being born again in Christ does not mean we will be sinless, but as we are being sanctified by the Holy Spirit, we will sin less. I wholeheartedly concur with that statement. Also, when we do sin, we have our Great High Priest speaking on our behalf to the Father. As the writer to the Hebrews tells in Hebrews 4:14-15,
"Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect was tempted as we are, yet without sin"
Our Lord Jesus was tempted in every single way that we are tempted, yet He was without sin. This means that being tempted is not sinful in itself. Also, since Jesus has been tempted like us, this means He understands us in ways that we cannot understand ourselves. This is why we can come boldly to the throne of grace and find forgiveness and acceptance from God. It does not matter what sin you commit or how many times you have committed said sin. There is always forgiveness for those of us who are in Christ. It is for this reason that Paul can tell us in Romans 8:1 that,
"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus"
It does not matter what you have done in this life because Christ has paid the ultimate penalty for your sin when He went to the cross. As a matter of fact, when God sees you now in Christ, He sees you as "holy and blameless" before His eyes (Ephesians 1:4). As a result of how God sees you in Christ, Paul can conclude in Romans 8:37-39,
"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord"
Did you catch that? Paul is clearly telling us that absolutely nothing in all of creation will separate us from the Father's love in Christ. In other words, God is completely giddy about His bride. We are the apple of His eye and nothing will ever change that fact. Our pesky sinful natures will never change how God sees us because He never changes. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). It is for this fact that we can find rest in Jesus and not worry about if we committed the sin that will take us from His grace.
So What?
Right now, you are probably wondering what all this has to do with mental health. Well, I know from personal experience what it is like to constantly worry about if I just committed the one sin that will send me to hell. I know full well the type of anguish that worrisome thought can cause a belief in Christ. I have not only experienced that feeling myself, but I also know many people who have felt the same way. Jesus Christ tells us in Matthew 11:28-30,
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light"
Our Lord is offering us rest for our souls, but how many of us can say that we truly feel that rest? I know that in my life I did not know how to rest in Christ until fairly recently. The yoke of Christ is supposed to be light, but we tend to make it heavy by adding all these rules and regulations to follow. Christianity is not a religion of rules, but of a relationship with the One True God who appears as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We do not need to complicate our relationship with God by adding impossible demands for us to follow. We merely just need to come to Him as little children.
I hope that this blog helps you better understand what it means to live the Christian life. It is because of what Christ has done on our behalf that we can finally rest in Him. We will never sin our way out of God's grace. As a matter of fact, the more we sin, the more grace abounds (Romans 5:20). Paul did not shy away from preaching a radical grace just because people could accuse of him being antinomian. As a matter of fact, he responded to that accusation by preaching even more grace! Let us follow in his example. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and may the grace of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all!
-David Lee Chu Sarchet
Christian Mental Health Advocate
Check out the Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website
"What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can you who died to sin still live in it?"
As you can see, Paul considers those of us who are in Christ to be dead to sin. For this reason, we are not to keep on living in perpetual sin. However, this does not mean that we will never sin again, contrary to what the Sinless Perfectionists say. As Paul later says in Romans 7:14-17,
"For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now, if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So, now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me"
I know that there is a little bit of a controversy here concerning whether or not Paul was speaking of himself pre or post-conversion. However, the context of this passage seems to indicate that Paul is speaking of himself in the present tense, which would mean that he admits to struggling with a sinful nature AFTER conversion. If the Apostle Paul still dealt with indwelling sin after his conversion to Christ, then what makes any of us think that we won't deal with indwelling sin? What was Paul's solution to the problem of indwelling sin? Well, he answers that at the end of Romans 7:24. He says,
"Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
His solution was to look outside of himself unto Christ for his redemption. This goes contrary to what our culture says because our culture tells us to look within ourselves. Paul is telling us to look outside of ourselves because there is nothing good within us. When we look outside of ourselves unto Jesus Christ, that is when we can say with Paul the words of Galatians 2:20,
"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me".
This does not mean that we will never sin again, but it does mean that we will no longer live in perpetual sin anymore. I heard someone once say that being born again in Christ does not mean we will be sinless, but as we are being sanctified by the Holy Spirit, we will sin less. I wholeheartedly concur with that statement. Also, when we do sin, we have our Great High Priest speaking on our behalf to the Father. As the writer to the Hebrews tells in Hebrews 4:14-15,
"Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect was tempted as we are, yet without sin"
Our Lord Jesus was tempted in every single way that we are tempted, yet He was without sin. This means that being tempted is not sinful in itself. Also, since Jesus has been tempted like us, this means He understands us in ways that we cannot understand ourselves. This is why we can come boldly to the throne of grace and find forgiveness and acceptance from God. It does not matter what sin you commit or how many times you have committed said sin. There is always forgiveness for those of us who are in Christ. It is for this reason that Paul can tell us in Romans 8:1 that,
"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus"
It does not matter what you have done in this life because Christ has paid the ultimate penalty for your sin when He went to the cross. As a matter of fact, when God sees you now in Christ, He sees you as "holy and blameless" before His eyes (Ephesians 1:4). As a result of how God sees you in Christ, Paul can conclude in Romans 8:37-39,
"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord"
Did you catch that? Paul is clearly telling us that absolutely nothing in all of creation will separate us from the Father's love in Christ. In other words, God is completely giddy about His bride. We are the apple of His eye and nothing will ever change that fact. Our pesky sinful natures will never change how God sees us because He never changes. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). It is for this fact that we can find rest in Jesus and not worry about if we committed the sin that will take us from His grace.
So What?
Right now, you are probably wondering what all this has to do with mental health. Well, I know from personal experience what it is like to constantly worry about if I just committed the one sin that will send me to hell. I know full well the type of anguish that worrisome thought can cause a belief in Christ. I have not only experienced that feeling myself, but I also know many people who have felt the same way. Jesus Christ tells us in Matthew 11:28-30,
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light"
Our Lord is offering us rest for our souls, but how many of us can say that we truly feel that rest? I know that in my life I did not know how to rest in Christ until fairly recently. The yoke of Christ is supposed to be light, but we tend to make it heavy by adding all these rules and regulations to follow. Christianity is not a religion of rules, but of a relationship with the One True God who appears as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We do not need to complicate our relationship with God by adding impossible demands for us to follow. We merely just need to come to Him as little children.
I hope that this blog helps you better understand what it means to live the Christian life. It is because of what Christ has done on our behalf that we can finally rest in Him. We will never sin our way out of God's grace. As a matter of fact, the more we sin, the more grace abounds (Romans 5:20). Paul did not shy away from preaching a radical grace just because people could accuse of him being antinomian. As a matter of fact, he responded to that accusation by preaching even more grace! Let us follow in his example. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and may the grace of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all!
-David Lee Chu Sarchet
Christian Mental Health Advocate
Check out the Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website