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God Gives Grace, but What’s the Catch?
By Marc | June 10, 2008
This morning as I was hauling the garbage can out to the alley (trash day!), a song popped into my head that I hadn’t heard for a few months: “Your Grace is Enough” from a Promise Keepers worship CD.
I know it is a reference to Paul and his coming to terms with the things that make him imperfect, but I really started thinking about using grace as a crutch, a bare minimum to always fall back on, and a way to rationalize sin.
It’s amazing to me the people who have grown up knowing Christ and just make it look so easy and you know their hearts are true to what they say. There is no ulterior motive, but a TRULY steadfast and God-seeking heart, not just a glitzy image they show. I wish life was as clear-cut as they make it seem.
In some of the testimonies I had been listening to, I noticed something.
There were some who had never known of Christ or really about what it means to follow him. (Peter Orasuk comes to mind.) Once they realized the road they were on and needed to change, they clung on tight to Jesus. They knew they had done wrong in their past and needed to know that God, in His mercy and grace, would not let them fry for their wrongs before they knew Him. They know they were given a second chance and they would try as hard as they could to not screw up again. As a person who had rejected even the notion of God for so long, I am so in touch with that.
Sure, they are bound to make mistakes. But we are all merely human, aren’t we? Sometimes our weaknesses are really hard to overcome, especially when the old temptations keep showing themselves. Lord, love the person who resists and increases resistance, but give grace to those who stumble.
Then there were others who had known God (or at least of Him), known of Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary, had a Christian upbringing, and fell away, justified sin, or tried to “use the system”.
Human weakness is one thing. I know how easily it would be for even the most well-intentioned Christian to fall into sin. Abusing alcohol, cheating on taxes, pornography are just the tip of the iceberg. But what about those who know exactly what they are doing?
What about those who say to themselves, “Well, I’m saved, so that gives me a free ride”? What about those who do horrible things then know they can always repent later? What about those who use grace like it was some sort of safety net?
I know that the gate is narrow and the path to that gate is difficult to follow, but there’s no catch. To follow Christ is to live like him. And if we make mistakes and repent, God knows our hearts. He knows if we are truly sorry.
But being someone who was so skeptical of everything, having this kind of peace is a little unnerving at times. There’s no catch, but sometimes it’s best to live like there is one.
I know that nothing I can do will earn my way into Heaven. The only way to make it is to trust in the blood of Jesus. But, that doesn’t mean I don’t have to watch myself. If I tell myself that it’s okay because I’ll repent later, what if there is no later?
I know: I’ll commit my sin, and then be sorry immediately afterward. That sounds like a good system, but what’s in my heart gives me away every time.
There is no catch with salvation, but if there is one, it would be: don’t try to pull a fast one on the Almighty.
He knows when you are sleeping, He knows when you’re awake. He knows when you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake
Be good for the sake of goodness. Even if you know you’re saved, spend each day like whatever you do can and will be used against you, regardless of whether or not grace is applied.
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