Don’t Make the Excuse
- Bishop Keith Butler
- May 28, 2023
- 2 min read
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? (Romans 6:1-2)
In Romans 6:1-2, Paul was talking to Roman Christians who were asking if it was “okay to sin.” Why would anyone ask such a question in the first place? It’s because some people were twisting Paul’s teaching and using it as an excuse to sin. They thought that if sinning led to more grace, then they might as well sin as much as possible.
Paul’s response was very clear: no, we should not continue in sin. Why? Because we have died to sin. When we accepted Christ as our Savior, we were baptized into His death, and our old self was crucified with Him. We are no longer slaves to sin; we have been set free from its power and all of its influence in our lives. So how can we, who have died to sin, continue to live in it?
But let’s not stop there. If we go back to Romans, chapter 3, we see Paul was addressing another issue: that our sin somehow makes God look better. Some people were saying, “If my unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness, then why am I being judged for it?” But Paul told them that this line of thinking is a perversion of what he was teaching them. He said that if that were the case, then God would be unrighteous to allow a penalty to happen with sin and our wrong doing would somehow be just.
Essentially, Paul was teaching Christians that we cannot use God’s mercy as an excuse to sin. We cannot twist His words to justify pleasing our flesh by gratifying our own sinful desires. Instead, we are called to run toward righteousness and live in holiness in response to His great mercy and love. We must put to death the deeds of the flesh and walk in the Spirit.
Practical Application
Are you living your life in a way that honors God, or are you using His mercy and love as an excuse to continue in sin? Examine your heart and examine your life to see if there is any part of it you have not given over to His Lordship.
