The truth sets us free from the condemnation of the law (John 8:31-32; Revelation 6:14), but freedom in Christ can be scary because it allows for the possibility of sinning (Galatians 5:13). Christians have the promise of unlimited grace and will never be condemned or cursed, so what prevents them from seeking a lifestyle of sin?
Sin ultimately brings shame and harm (Romans 6:20-21). God desires us to live justly and with love, but as humans, we fall short (Romans 7:14-15,18-19).
I want to be a good person, but I recognize I am also selfish, proud, hypocritical, foolish, and often prioritize myself over others. Despite my desire to treat others well, I can be heartless, envious, and easily angered.
Condemnation Increases Sin
No one is righteous, and we cannot be made right with God through the Mosaic law (Romans 3:10-12, 19-20). Trying to be better people, we soon realize that our sinful nature always desires what is displeasing to God, and we cannot change that on our own. The law reveals our sin and sentences us to condemnation (Deuteronomy 27:26; Romans 7:7-11). Instead of turning away from our selfish desires, we give in to them even more in hopelessness and despair. As 1 Corinthians 15:32 says, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (NIV).
In fact, the law only increases our trespasses, as sin uses the condemnation brought on by the law to motivate us to sin even more (Romans 5:20-21). This is what happened with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden when they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (which represents the law). They realized they were worthy of condemnation, and as a result, they distanced themselves from God (Genesis 3:1-12).
Grace Increases Righteousness
The idea of being free from the law under grace was hard for religious leaders to accept because they thought it would encourage sinning (Romans 6:1,15). But being grateful is a better reason to live righteously than fear.
Genuine obedience comes from love, not fear. Luke 15:28-32 tells the story of the prodigal son’s older brother who was upset when his father showed grace to his younger brother. Although the older brother outwardly obeyed his father, he felt like a slave inwardly and offered his service resentfully.
Luke 15:29-30 (NIV) But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders… 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
When we only obey God out of fear, we might feel bitter and upset about giving up the things we want for the sake of obeying him. We also become judgmental and ungracious when we see others receiving grace. I used to have a negative attitude towards God’s grace, thinking, why should others receive grace even if they disobey God while I have to sacrifice my desires to obey him, or else suffer his punishment?
If we only obey God out of fear, we miss out on the joy of sincerely pleasing him. God wants us to love him, others, and ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40). The only way to do that is by accepting his grace and love towards us (1 John 4:19; John 15:5). God loves a cheerful giver, not one giving reluctantly or under compulsion (2 Corinthians 9:7). He doesn’t want us to please him because we have to or are supposed to, but because we want to.
Gratitude stems from Christ’s payment on the cross. Romans 8:1-4 says there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Jesus traded the blessings he deserved for the curse and condemnation we deserved (Galatians 3:10-14; 2 Corinthians 8:9). God didn’t go soft on sin or change his mind about sin, instead Jesus was brutally tortured and killed to pay its penalty. And he did so cheerfully without compulsion because he loves you (Hebrews 12:2; John 3:16; 10:18). As a result, no matter what sins we have committed, when we trust in Jesus, we receive eternal life and God’s favor (Romans 3:21-25; 4:7-8).
The injustice is scandalous. I, a sinner, who is selfish, arrogant, easily angered, and unmerciful, walk away while the perfect son of God suffers humiliation and dies a slave’s death, whipped beyond recognition and subjected to the worst punishment that humanity has ever inflicted.
Gratefulness is the only response to such an unimaginable and undeserved gift. When we comprehend what Christ did for us, the cost he paid, and what it signified, we fall in love with him. Luke 7:40-48 illustrates how the one who had a bigger debt forgiven will love more.
Luke 7:40-48 (NIV) Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
41 “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
God perfects us in love by removing the fear of punishment (1 John 4:18-19). This grace teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and live godly lives (Titus 2:11-12; 2 Peter 1:8-9). It inspired Paul to work harder than the other apostles (1 Corinthians 15:10).
Imagine getting a mortgage and buying a house during a recession, watching it lose all its value, and being forced to sell it at a great loss, leaving you with a massive and stressful debt. Then imagine your bank saying, “We understand your situation and would like to forgive your loan. You won’t owe us anything.” What would your response be? Would you give them a glowing review, tell everyone how great the bank is, and ultimately love the bank? Of course! You wouldn’t rush outside the bank and shout, “Debt is a good thing!”
Paul’s answer to the religious leaders is that God’s grace makes us eager to please God from the heart (Romans 6:14-23; Titus 2:14). We are thankful for what Jesus did for us and enjoy seeing others receive grace because we know how wonderful it feels to be free and forgiven.
Grace is Not a Loan
God wants us to please him from a genuine heart-felt desire, and the key to doing so is realizing that his grace is unlimited and will never run out, even if we never turn our lives around.
Have you ever owed money to a family member or friend? The sense of peace is not the same until the debt is paid. Similarly, we may mistakenly view God’s grace as a loan. We think he only covers our initial sins until we get saved, but we must then turn our lives around or risk running out of that grace. This perspective sees grace as mere tolerance, lacking complete forgiveness. It fails to generate gratitude or transform our hearts. Unlike the two debtors in Luke 7 who had their debts forgiven and felt love for their creditor, we feel fearful of exhausting God’s tolerance and having our debts return.
When we blend righteousness given through unmerited and unlimited grace with righteousness earned through our works, we undermine the transformative power of the gospel. Despite proclaiming “Grace” and recognizing Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, the emphasis on our works to maintain favor with God fills us with fear and falls short of transforming our hearts. While it is important to please God and understand his desires to live accordingly, we must remember that he never demands us to sacrifice grace to enforce righteous behavior.
The Spirit Changes Our Hearts
When we believe in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins and accept it, God puts his Spirit in our hearts, changing our desires to align with his will. As Philippians 2:13 (NLT) says, “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him,” and Ezekiel 36:27 (NIV) adds, “I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” Moreover, Hebrews 10:16 (NIV) states, “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” As a result, we become God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are transformed from the inside out, leading to ever-increasing righteous living (Mark 4:26-29). We wake up one day and realize that we are different people, and sometimes others notice a positive change in our behavior.
Romans 7:4-6 (WEB) Therefore, my brothers, you also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you would be joined to another, to him who was raised from the dead, that we might produce fruit to God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were through the law worked in our members to bring out fruit to death. 6 But now we have been discharged from the law, having died to that in which we were held; so that we serve in newness of the spirit, and not in oldness of the letter.
Keeping Our Eyes on Grace
To bear fruit for God, we need to focus on his grace. Just as Peter was able to walk on water when he fixed his eyes on Jesus instead of relying on his own abilities (Matthew 14:28-33), we need to trust in Jesus to produce good fruit. As John 15:4-5 (WEB) explains, “I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” By depending on Jesus and trusting in his sacrifice, we absorb God’s grace and love, naturally producing good fruit. In contrast, relying on our own efforts and self-righteousness leads to fruitlessness (Hebrews 6:7-8).
In Galatians, Paul contrasts the “works of the flesh” with the “fruits of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:19-23). We don’t produce fruits of the Spirit through our own works, but they are produced in us by God. Walking by the Spirit means accepting God’s love for us through Jesus and not relying on the law (Galatians 3:1-6, 5:1-5, 18, 25). As Paul tells the Galatians, “walk by the Spirit, and you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16 [WEB]). Therefore, we should look at God’s love for us expressed in Christ, letting it effortlessly change our hearts and produce the fruits of the Spirit in us.
Finally, the principle of fruitfulness is illustrated in Genesis, where Jacob placed striped sticks in front of his sheep, and they produced offspring of like pattern. Similarly, when we look at God’s love for us, we produce fruit that resembles his love effortlessly (Genesis 30:37-41).
Take a moment to read inspiring testimonies from people worldwide who discovered they couldn’t change themselves. They reached out to God for help, focusing on his love for them, and experienced victory over their addictions. They didn’t achieve this by trying harder, but by resting in and accepting God’s grace (Joseph Prince – Praise Reports – Addictions).
God Counts You as Perfect
As a Christian, your desire to please God and embody positive traits like kindness, love, and humility reflects who you are in Christ. When you fall short, it’s not because of who you are but because of sin that lives within you (Romans 7:16-17, 20). Thankfully, God doesn’t define you by your failures but sees you as perfect, just as Christ is (Jeremiah 23:6; 1 John 4:17; 1 Corinthians 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:8-9; Jude 24).
Colossians 1:21-22 (WEB) You, being in past times alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil deeds, 22 yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without defect and blameless before him
1 Corinthians 1:30 (Berean Standard Bible) It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.
Perfection is Not of This World
Even if we depend on Jesus and trust in his grace, we will never achieve perfection on earth. Sin has natural consequences, and it’s understandable to be afraid of those consequences (Galatians 5:13-15; Romans 13:1-7). Feeling grateful doesn’t mean we will never be tempted to sin.
We always need God’s grace. When we fail, it reminds us of his love (1 John 2:1), and he can turn even our mistakes into something good (Romans 8:28), reminding us why we love and are grateful to him.
We may naturally feel guilty and ashamed when we’ve disappointed God and ourselves, but we should not continue to cower in fear, guilt, and shame in God’s presence. Instead, we must remind ourselves to look to the one who received our judgment on the cross, keep our eyes on his grace, and trust his Spirit to change our hearts and produce his fruit in us (Hebrews 10:19-23). Remember, as it says in Hebrews 10:17, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”
Summary
Our earthly bodies will always struggle with sin. Focusing on punishment and more human effort only leads to despair and hopelessness. But Jesus paid the price for our sins and offers complete forgiveness. When we internalize this truth and focus on God’s love and grace, the Holy Spirit transforms our hearts and instills gratefulness. We have a new identity in Christ and don’t need to strive for perfection. Instead, we can turn to God for forgiveness when we fail and let that inspire more gratefulness and love. Embracing freedom and grace does not lead to sin but a lifestyle of righteousness (Romans 5:17).