Theology for Everybody: RomansSample

Is God too gracious? Some people think, If God loves and forgives me no matter what I do, then I’m going to do a lot. I’m going to check and see if His grace really is bottomless. Paul answers, “By no means!” (v. 2). Other translations say, “God forbid” (KJV), “Absolutely not!” (CSB), “Of course not” (NLT), and “That’s unthinkable” (GW).

God is a God of grace, love, mercy, and forgiveness. He’s a God of relationship. Once He commits Himself to you, He’ll never change his mind about you, no matter who you are or what you do. Some people think That’s going to encourage rebellion. That’s going to cause people to abuse grace. And the question is, should we live however we want and do whatever we want, knowing that no matter what we do, we’ll be forgiven?

There are three ways various Christian groups have responded to this question.

1. No rules. Nomos is the Greek word for ‘law,’ and anti means ‘against.’ Therefore, antinomianism means “anti-law.” People who ascribe to this belief think that because we are under the reign of grace, there are no rules or commands. We get to do whatever we want, and God will take care of it. This belief leads to carnal Christians— people who have met Jesus, but it didn’t change them. “Free grace” is a theology that teaches, “Do whatever you want because God will fix it.” Some people want to meet Jesus but not change. They want Jesus to be their Savior and forgive their sins but not the Lord ruling over their lives. Paul argues against this belief because if you meet Jesus, you will change.

2. Rules. Some Christians realized people might abuse God’s grace, so they made many rules and laws to keep people as far from sin as possible. This turned into the holiness movement (or tradition). This includes the Wesleyans, Methodists, Nazarenes, and Assemblies of God in the Pentecostal world. Among Anabaptists, this includes the Mennonites, Quakers, and Brethren. In the Fundamentalist world, this means hardcore Fundamentalist separatism. Common rules include no playing cards, consuming alcohol, listening to secular music, dancing, or getting tattoos. Women cannot wear makeup or pants. The problem with all these rules is that you may stay away from sin, but you may also not build a relationship with Jesus.

3. Relationship. If you build a relationship with Jesus, then you will walk away from sin. It’s more about the relationship than the rules. Jesus is perfectly capable of helping you walk away from sin and avoid abusing God’s grace. People change out of love for Jesus and through the power of the Holy Spirit. The primary motivation for Christian holiness is not fear of what God will do to you but love for what God has done for you. You will do more for love than you will for fear. You will do more for relationship than you will for rules.

Today’s Reflection

How have you treated God’s grace in the past? How will you treat it in the future?