Grace

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GRACE #2: GRACE IS NOT GOD OVERLOOKING SIN;
GRACE IS GOD KILLING SIN

Let us remember:
Grace means—
We are never going to be punished for our sins.
Some people do not like to hear this emphasized; however, it is true—
We are free.
In fact—
We are totally free.
Some people do not like to hear that, and we seldom hear it taught, but—
We are either free -or- We are not free.
And that means—
We are free even to disobey.
Also—
We are free to suffer the normal consequences that might result from disobedience, but those consequences are not engineered by God to punish us.
And if we ever say anything less than that, we are not talking about grace anymore; so—
Grace Is Forgiveness and It Is Total
If a Christian says If I sin, God will punish me, then he does not understand grace; he is not resting in grace. Again, if a Christian says Since I am forgiven I can live, however, I can sin as much as I want and there will be no consequence, then he does not understand grace either.
What is ironic is that a Christian who is carnal (one living in complacent disobedience as a normal lifestyle) is not resting in grace. It is, indeed, a paradox.
We have begun to define grace in its simplest aspect as unmerited favor, complete forgiveness for sins. But there has to be more to grace than that.
One way we know that is to see a remarkable instance of God’s grace described in the book of Luke. Luke, the writer, speaking of Jesus says:
The Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him. (Luke 2:40)
Does that not sound a bit strange to say The grace of God was upon Jesus of Nazareth? That could not mean that forgiveness of sins was working there, because He did not need forgiveness—He did not have any sin.
Obviously, grace means more than just forgiveness of sins. A fuller description of grace is, as follows:
Grace Means Power For Life
That was the power operating in J...