January/February 2001
License to Sin?
by J. Michael Feazell
| It is only by God's pure and unfettered grace, as demonstrated once for all through Jesus Christ, that we are made something else -- righteous. |
It is a constant wonder how we guardians of the true faith can become so adept at gumming up the greatest news in the universe. We hold in trust the Good News of all good news -- God gives free grace to sinners for Christ's sake -- then break our necks to hide it behind a great wall of rules, regulations and laws.
"You must not take grace too far or you will turn it into license to sin!" we admonish one another, as though lack of license has ever stopped anybody from sinning. Hasn't anyone noticed? We are all sinners, for crying out loud. Always have been, always will be. It is only by God's pure and unfettered grace, as demonstrated once for all through Jesus Christ, that we are made something else -- righteous -- not by avoiding sin, but by trusting him.
I am afraid our vigilant efforts to prevent anyone from turning grace into license to sin has resulted, ironically, in our managing to turn sin into a barricade from accepting grace.
The church promises grace, then delivers condemnation. The church headlines the gospel, then expounds good behavior. The church disguises its moralistic hook with gospel bait, reels in the unwary catch and plops him or her into the hot greasy frying pan of salvation by works.
Consider how the gospel is held hostage by the unstoppable glaciers of denominational "rightness," doctrinal "exactness" and behavioral "standards." Christian church against Christian church, warring over phraseology, terminology, dress codes, political stands, seating arrangements, music styles, architecture: "Our way is God's way. Die, you heretic!"
Certainly, right doctrine is important. But surely we need look no farther than the Nicene Creed or the Apostles Creed for those doctrinal "issues" that really matter. Yet, many Christian churches still refuse the Communion to fellow believers who don't belong to the "right" denominational brand name or haven't jumped through all the required theological hoops.
The underlying message of religious behaviorism, "Behave right (according to our particular standards), or go straight to hell," buries the gospel under layer after layer of religious hair-splitting, nit-picking and measurement-taking.
That isn't the gospel. It's religion. It holds out salvation like some ethereal carrot-and-stick reached only through a lifetime of unquantifiable good deeds. It is a soul-sapping lie against the truth of God.
Jesus did not bring another religion. He brought the gospel, which is good news for sinners, which we all are. For the sake of Christ, God has thrown away all the report cards, homework records and detention notes in the world and given everybody a 4.0 GPA and a gold-plated invitation to eternal life.
Only some of us, it seems, "don't want no charity." We'd rather feel like we have been, or through discipline and devotion have become, the right and proper sort of person upon whom God could appropriately bestow eternal life.
We have been good Christians, and we don't want to be lumped in with a bunch of immoral losers who do nothing more than put their trust in the Christ we have worked so hard for so long to imitate and obey. (We thank you, O God, that we are not like the rest of people, greedy, dishonest, adulterous or, for that matter, like this embezzler.)
Take a challenge: give up the charade. Quit pretending to be worthy and righteous, admit you are a hopeless sinner without anything to your credit, and put your trust in Jesus Christ, for whose sake God justifies the ungodly (Romans 4:5).
It really is that simple. It really is good news.
-- J. Michael Feazell