Principle 8: Though we are forgiven, we are not to use grace as an excuse to continue in our destruction.
Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! Romans 6:1-2
Daily, I get up every morning and thank God for his grace and mercy. I pray that I will respond to his love and forgiveness by abandoning myself and following him. I don’t do it perfectly and I still manage to fail frequently, but my attitude is profoundly different now than it was in my addiction.
I can clearly recall the distorted logic of my last relapse. I had made up my mind that I wanted to use, but I could hear God warning, Do not do this. I looked squarely at God and told him that because he was merciful that he would have to forgive me. I can do what I want today, and you will forgive me tomorrow. I can have whatever I want and get away with it.
I also can clearly recall the bomb that went off in my mind when I took those first pills. I opened the bag of chips, and I wasn’t about to stop. Once I took that first bite, the second, fifth, and tenth were inevitable. Yes, I asked God for forgiveness the next day, but I didn’t stop. I just kept on going, telling myself that I would change tomorrow. Just one more time, then I’ll repent.
Paul must have encountered this kind of thinking as well. It is our nature to pervert God’s grace and mercy by insisting that since we are forgiven, that we can simply live however we want. Paul insisted though, that God’s grace is meant to lead us, not back to more sin, but to repentance (Romans 2:4). When we come to Christ, we are set free to follow him, but we can also abuse that freedom by returning to the slavery of following ourselves (Galatians 5:1).
The book of Hebrews provides a terrifying warning to those who use God’s grace as a license to sin (Hebrews 10:26). When we know right and continually choose wrong, we actually aren’t forgiven. When we exploit God’s grace to live however we want, we fool ourselves.
When I was in the daily cycle of using, asking forgiveness, and using again, I wasn’t repenting, and I wasn’t actually living under God’s grace. I was conning myself and eventually, I suffered the painful consequences.
As Christians, we need to know that when we fail, God is merciful and forgiving. Because of God’s grace, we don’t need to live in fear. If, however, we abuse that grace, using it as an excuse to continue living however we want, we should be very afraid.
Author’s Note: I’m currently writing through the principles that have helped me understand my condition as a Christian who still has very real struggles with my destructive appetites. I’ll include the full list here for reference.
- God created us to live in communion with Him, but man’s sin fractured that communion.
2. We all struggle with flaws in our corrupt flesh nature, though it has different manifestations in all of us.
3. When we come faith in Jesus Christ, we are born again into a new, perfect spirit life and restored to communion with God, but we still carry this gift in a flawed flesh life.
4. Though God may graciously deliver us from some thorns of the flesh, some battles are lifelong, requiring the ongoing work of denying self and following Christ.
5. We may always feel the gravity of the flesh, but we are not to live enslaved to it. We are meant to know and experience freedom daily in Christ.
6. The Christian life (discipleship) is a continual process of abandoning (crucifying) the flesh nature and following Christ.
7. Though we will fail, there is always grace and forgiveness for those who believe in Christ.
8. Though we are forgiven, we are not to use grace as an excuse to continue in our destruction.
9. God’s eternal forgiveness does not absolve us from practical, earthly responsibilities and/or consequences.
10. As we all labor, we must be continually honest about our battles. It is not helpful to construct a facade of perfection. In fact, such a facade is detrimental to recovery, sabotaging it.
11. We should regularly meet together with other believers with the purpose of spurring each other on to the pursuit of God.
12. God provides the only adequate replacement for our pursuit of self. This is core to recovery and identity. Though we try to find purpose, joy and fulfillment in self, we find the answer to our deepest needs only in God.
13. Transformation (sanctification) is not an automatic process. It is our responsibility to daily do whatever it takes to deny self and follow Christ. The Holy Spirit always does his part. We must do ours.
14. God allows the daily battles and honest struggles of recovery to deepen our awareness of our constant need for God.
15. Our eternal identity as Christians is in our new life in Christ. Acknowledging our persistent flesh life and its battles does not deny our position in Christ bur rightly identifies the forgiveness and power that alone can be found in Christ as we daily experience life through Him.
16. God saves us from ourselves. We must tell others what He has done for us.