Romans 7:9 “I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.”
In the passage of scripture quoted above the apostle Paul tells us that there was a time in his life when his spirit was alive when he was without law. Paul was without law when he was still a child, before God held him accountable for his sin. Paul goes on to say that in the day that God held him accountable for sin for the first time, his spirit died. And so just like Adam, because Paul was born under law and had no access to grace, his spirit died when he committed sin. And so it is for this reason that we need to be born-again, for we were all once born of God but our spirits died on our thirteenth birthdays when we sinned and thus we need to be born-again. This truth obviously excludes those who have already given their lives to the Lord before their thirteenth birthday, for they are already born-again. It also excludes those who do not mature mentally, i.e. due to mental illness for example, for their spirits never die because, just like children, God does not hold them accountable for their sins.
Romans 6:14 “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”
The apostle Peter teaches us that God in His abundant mercy has begotten us again (1 Peter 1:3). And so we see that when we are born-again, that once again our spirits are made alive unto God. This time there is a difference however, for this time we are made alive together with Christ and we have become new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), because of which we have become partakers of His grace. In the passage of scripture quoted above the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul teaches us that as believers in Christ we are not under law but under grace. So why is it important for those who are born-again to be under grace and not under law? The answer is sin, for if we remained under law then the moment we committed sin after we are born-again our spirits would die, and we cannot be born-again, again. Nevertheless because we are under grace and no longer under law, when we as believers commit sin our spirits are not affected, i.e. they do not die and they remain alive in Christ.
1 Corinthians 5:5 “deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”
The question is asked; because grace keeps the spirits of believers alive when they commit sin does that mean that believers can continue in sin. The answer to that question is categorically no, because there is a limit to grace in this area (Romans 6:1-2). The above quoted passage of scripture illustrates this truth to us. Because the apostle Paul understood the truth about believers’ spirits not being affected by sin because they are under grace, he condemned this unrepentant believer to physical death. The context of this passage is that this believer was living in adultery and refused to repent of his lifestyle. And so Paul knew that even though this believer would die while living in sin that his spirit would still be saved. So why did Paul take this particular course of action? The reason is because Paul knew that grace in this area has its limits, and that if he and the elders of the church at Corinth did not intervene in this believers life then God’s grace would eventually be withdrawn and this believer would commit the sin to death, i.e. his spirit would die once again (1 John 5:16). And so rather than allowing this believer to continue in sin, Paul ended his physical life so that his eternal life would remain intact.
Galatians 6:7-8 “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. (8) For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the spirit will of the spirit reap everlasting life.”
As revealed to us in the above quoted passage of scripture God is not mocked, and those believers who abuse this area of grace and continue to live in sin will eventually reap spiritual death as the wages for their sin. In this passage the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul is warning believers, He is not speaking to unbelievers. Nevertheless for those believers who do not use grace as an opportunity for their flesh, but rather endeavour to walk a life that is pleasing to the Lord, this area of grace remains in place throughout their lives. And even if they do commit sin from time to time their spirits remain unaffected, because they are under grace and not under law.
1 Peter 1:13-16 “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; (14) as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; (15) but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, (16) because it is written, "be holy, for I am holy.”
Some in the body of Christ have become confused because of a distorted message of grace that has been taught in the church. They think that God was a God of wrath under the Old Covenant and that He demanded holiness from those who served Him. But under the New Covenant God is now a God of love and no longer requires holiness from us, and because we are under grace God no longer holds us accountable for our lifestyles. God however has never changed and He never will, for our Lord is just as holy as He ever was and still requires that those who serve Him must be holy. This truth is clearly revealed to us by the Holy Spirit through the apostle Peter in the passage of scripture quoted above. In our own ability however, none of us are able to live the righteous lifestyle that the Christian walk demands, for even though we have been made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, we still need to walk in that righteousness.
Hebrews 4:14-16 “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. (15) For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. (16) Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
God would be unjust to require us to walk in holiness if it were not possible for us to do that. God is not unjust, and so it is definitely possible for us to walk in holiness. Where a lot of Christians miss it however, is that they try to walk in holiness in their own ability and end up failing miserably. We have seen in the previous section that God’s grace was never intended for us to be able to continue in sin once we are saved. But rather the grace of God is intended to enable us to overcome sin, for we have a Saviour who overcame sin in the flesh for us so that we can overcome sin in the flesh through Him. As revealed to us in the passage of scripture quoted above, if ever we find that we are being tempted to commit sin then we are encouraged by God to boldly approach His throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and grace to help us overcome the temptation of sin. And so we see that it is only through God’s enabling grace that we can overcome sin in the flesh and thus walk in holiness. Clearly the Lord has made His grace available to us to overcome sin in our lives, and He has not made His grace available to us to allow sin to continue to reign in our lives.
2 Corinthians 12:9 “And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
In the passage of scripture quoted above the apostle Paul related to us what the Lord taught him about His grace. The context of this passage is that Paul was experiencing a lot of persecution for his preaching of the gospel, and so on three separate occasions Paul asked the Lord to remove the persecution from him. It was only on Paul’s third request that the Lord finally answered Paul, and as quoted above, the Lord explained to Paul that He was not going to remove his persecution because the Lord’s grace was all that he needed to overcome his persecution. And so Paul learnt a valuable lesson from the Lord Jesus on that day, i.e. that His grace enabled Paul to overcome any weakness he had in his life. That same principle applies to all of the Lord’s saints, for His grace is available to all of us and so we too are able to overcome any temptation of sin that we may encounter in life. Nevertheless if ever we do succumb to sin then we have a faithful High Priest who forgives our sins when we confess and repent of those sins (1 John 1:9). But that is not God’s best, for His best is that we come before His throne of grace and in faith ask for His aid in overcoming the sins of the flesh. When we do that His abundant grace is poured out in our hearts which enables us to overcome every temptation that this world brings across our paths, and we will find that we no longer succumb to those sins anymore.
Michael E.B. Maher
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