For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. (NIV)

Does God’s grace give us a hall pass to continue sinning?  

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The above verse in Romans is making a bold statement that those who accept God’s grace are no longer the slaves of sin. He’s also making the opposite claim that seems counterfactual – those who have tried to live righteously by following the law are actually slaves of sin. If “following the law” sounds too old fashioned, substitute “just trying to be a good person” or any other measuring stick that we use to attempt to justify ourselves in God’s eyes.  

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At first glance, it sounds like this is a dichotomy: Those who followed the law are slaves to sin and those who are under grace are free from sin being their master. Applying this to our everyday lives, does this mean that if we accept God’s grace that we can just continue sinning because God will continue applying grace? If we’re under grace, do our actions not matter in God’s eyes?

First, let’s deconstruct the word “grace” as we understand it. Grace does not mean that sin is simply removed from the life of a sinner without any cost, and it does not mean that there isn’t a consequence for sins committed. Grace is applied, but the cost of that grace was the death of God’s Son.  

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Second, while God is full of grace, he also hates sin with a hatred that I don’t believe we can fully fathom. When we say we will follow Christ and commit ourselves to following Him, there is no grey area when it comes to sin. We are called upon to capture all thoughts and put to death sin in our lives by the power of the Spirit. Not only that, but after receiving grace and knowledge about what sin is and how God feels about it, something changes in God’s expectations for us.  

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Hebrews 10:26 says, “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgement and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.”  

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What’s particularly sobering about this passage is that God repeatedly reveals through his Word that he’s not interested in behavior modification. Jesus said that if you’re angry with someone, that’s as good as murder; if you lust after someone, that’s as good as adultery. We’re dealing with a God who sees the heart of the person just as easily as what the person does physically, so there’s no hiding.  

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Sanctioning sin in our lives is an act of rebellion against God, and here’s the thing – even if you 100% decide you want to remove sin from your life, you are unable to remove it yourself. Removing sin from your life will require constantly returning to God for more grace and affirming God as the master in your life. And here’s the real paradox– there is freedom in making God the master of our lives.  

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When it comes down to it, following Christ is not rocket science; it’s very simple – but not easy. God will nudge our hearts to show us the areas in our lives that we need to submit to him, and we decide to either obey or continue living in sin. Choose wisely. Here’s where to start: ask God to point out the things in your life that he desires you to submit fully to him.

Holy Spirit, I pray that you would be gently nudging our hearts about sin in our lives. I pray that you transform us by the renewing of our minds and that when you point something out, we will start the hard work of submitting our hearts to you. Amen.