With Great Truth Comes Great Responsibility

 

 

For if we deliberately go on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.

Hebrews 10:26

I've got good news and bad news.

The good news is that, even though "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) and "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23), "the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (also Romans 6:23).

In other words, every human being on Planet Earth deserves to die because of their insistence on doing things their own way, for their own benefit, regardless of God's clear standards.

That may sound like bad news, and it is, all by itself. But what turns it into good news is that the death and resurrection of Jesus pays sin's wages on our behalf and frees us up to have life with a capital L (John 10:10).

"What about that bad news you said you had?"

Yeah, about that...

Just because my sins are forgiven doesn't mean I can go on living life my way, gleefully indulging in my favorite infractions.

Paul put it this way: "What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply? Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it?" (Romans 6:1-2)

How indeed?

How can I see that my sin led to Jesus' death and then just go on enjoying that sin? It's as if the crucifixion never happened. (And that is certainly bad news.)

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Truth is...Nobody is perfect, even after calling Jesus Lord and becoming his follower. But there's a difference between "Oops, I Did It Again," and "I've Got Friends in Low Places."