What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Romans 6:1-2

Grace is, “God’s unconditional, undeserved, unlimited, unrelenting love“.  Paul says grace does not give us a free ticket to continue to live a life of sin.  The grace God bestows upon us through the person of Jesus Christ demands death to sin. Grace calls us into a right relationship with God, in which we are transformed from a degree of glory to the next (1 Cor. 3:17-18).

When we make grace a free ticket to continue to live in our old habit, we cheapen the grace of God. Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, “Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession…Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate” (The Cost of Discipleship). The grace of God is NOT cheap, it is a costly gift given to humanity.  God’s forgiveness and righteousness is given to us on the merit of Jesus because He willingly laid down His life on the cross and satisfied the full wrath and punishment that sin deserves.

As we enjoy God’s gift, let us not take it for granted!