DOES GRACE MAKE YOU DISOBEDIENT?

 

I have never heard any grace preacher saying we should live anyhow because we are under grace. But when grace is preached in its purity, those whose religion is threatened begin to assert that the preaching of grace is making people lawless. How can that be?

Obedience is not peculiar to the law of Moses. The Bible clearly says,

"Now to him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, SO THAT ALL THE GENTILES MIGHT COME TO THE OBEDIENCE THAT COMES FROM FAITH. (Romans 16:25-26 NIV). 

When we preach the gospel of God's amazing grace, there is obedience that comes from faith. This is the obedience that enables grace to save us and help us to also live right, according to the leadership of the Holy Spirit, not the Law of Moses. 

Ephesians 2:8 says we are saved by grace THROUGH FAITH. Through faith means we accepted the gospel of grace by faith and we were thereby saved without works. Romans 4:5 says,

"But to him who does not work but believes on  Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is  accounted for righteousness." 

Titus 2:11-12 reveals,

"For the grace of God that brings salvation has  appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying  ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live  soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age."

Grace does not only save you and leave you to the mercy of the law of Moses for your holiness. It continues to teach you how to live right until the coming of the Lord. For it is only by faith that we please the Lord (Hebrews 11:6). 

If obedience to faith makes me righteous then that same obedience to faith will enable me to live right by grace, not by the law. Listen to Romans 6:14,

"For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.." 

Nothing is clearer than this. Living under the law of Moses cannot give you dominion over sin. It is living by faith that empowers you to live the victorious life in Christ. Have you not read these scriptures?

1. "For in it the righteousness of  God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is  written, “The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:17). 

2. "But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not  eat from faith; FOR WHATEVER IS NOT FROM FAITH IS SIN." (Romans 14:23)

3. "Yet THE LAW IS NOT OF FAITH, but “the man who does them shall live by them.” (Gal. 3:12). 

4. "For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression. Therefore it is of faith that  it might be  according to grace, so that the promise might be  sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of  the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all." (Romans 4:14-16). 

I don't have the time to explain the details of each scripture above. Make time to meditate on them and acknowledge clearly that the law is not of faith. And we who are living by grace through faith are not disobedient. We rather obey the leading of the Holy Spirit and subsequently bear the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).  

If for any reason we err or even sin, it is not because we are under grace or using grace as an excuse to sin but rather we are growing just as every growing baby or child errs. 

"My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." (1st John 2:1).