CAN I OUT-SIN GOD'S GRACE?

"Where sin abounded, grace superabounded" (Romans 5:20).

"WHAT IF U DO SO MANY WRONG AND BAD THINGS THAT U FEEL YOU CAN NEVER GET BACK INTO GOD'S GRACE AND MERCY?"

This sincere question came my way recently, and it is a good one.

My sense is that it arises in our lives when we keep doing the same sinful-thing(s) over and over again.  We get stuck in a rut of sin.  When a car wheel gets stuck in a rut, you can "gun the engine" all you want, and the car will rock forward, then backward, forward, then backward over and over again.  But after much car-engine effort, the vehicle is still stuck, and isn't heading anywhere else fast.

When it is your life that is acting like a stuck car, this can be discouraging.  Still, there are some important truths that can give anyone in this situation some traction.

Truth #1 - Jesus paid it all.   Romans 3, 1 John 2:1 and other passages give us a clear and unmistakable signal from God that the "penalty" and "guilt" of sin are taken care of in the substitutionary death of Christ on our behalf.  God's wrath against our sin and evil has been fully satisfied in the sacrifice of His son.  From that sacrifice, God's grace flows to us, and you simply cannot out-sin grace.

Truth #2 - God is not condemning you for repeated failure.  We are "cleansed from a guilty (or evil) conscience" by the washing of God's work in our lives (cf. Hebrews 10:21-23).  This does not mean we won't feel responsible when we sin, but that we will not be crushed by the guilt of sinning against our heavenly Father's holiness.

Truth #3 - There is help that can get us out of the ruts of sinning.  "It takes a village," if you will, to get out of the ruts of sinning over and over again.

• God is our help.  He will not let any of his own children be tempted beyond what any one  is able, but faithfully always provides a way of escape, so that we can endure the temptation and scoot away from it (1 Corinthians 10:13).
• Jesus himself is a very present help.  He is "... a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.  Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:14-16).
• The Holy Spirit, who lives within, is a very capable Helper.  The more we depend on Him, rather than ourselves, in the moments of temptation and weakness, the stronger He becomes.   He responds to simple, timely prayers.
• Fellow Christians are a tremendous helping resource.  No one is to run this race of living righteously alone.  You are part of a Body, the body of Jesus, and members in the body need each i other.  So a key to getting out of sin help is to "confess our sins to one another, and be healed" (James 5).  Regularly meeting with a few other Christians for this purpose can bring all of God's resources into your life.

THE CHALLENGE OF ADDICTIONS AND SINNING

To be sure, there are times when we get trapped in addictions, repeated sinful practices which imbed themselves in our "flesh," for which our "flesh" strongly crave.  When that happens, it takes more than personal willpower to win the daily battles.

If you are "addicted" to some practice of sin, because your body (or "flesh") desires it with a great power, you must admit that you need help and seek it out.  It could be alcohol, pornography, drugs, video games, spending, sexually addicting practices (masturbation, etc.), or immoral sexuality (outside of marriage heterosexual practice, same-gender sexual practice).  To be sure, God's grace and help by the Spirit of God are stronger, but that strength often comes through good professional help for overwhelming, addicting sins.

GOD'S PROMISES ABOUT HUMILITY

"God has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and He has not hidden His face from him, but has heard, when he cried to Him" (Psalm 22:24).  "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise" (Psalm 51:17).

I have discovered, and offer to others, this simple truth.  Humility opens all of the doors of help from God that my life needs; pride slams them all shut.  Humble yourself before God.  He will help you out of the rut, without condemning you.  You can find the hand of Jesus, often through fellow Christians who are filled with the Spirit, putting your "car" on a fresh road forward.