Barneyisfat

I know that people will fail to understand the Gospel of grace. People will take it too far, they will justify sin, and they will fail at righteousness. People will hear me preach the gospel of grace and take it as a license to sin. I know of one brother who, after hearing the gospel of grace, decided that because it “felt right” it was alright for him to sleep with his girlfriend. All of his life he had learned that it was wrong, but in the gospel of grace he found a loophole.

And the loophole does exist. Jesus Christ gives us the freedom to do what we want. He loves us enough to die on the cross, but also loves us enough to give us the freedom to daily reject him without consequence. Love is lived in tears. The gospel of grace exists on the principle that sin is fun, but not fun enough to equal the eternal glory of God. I’m sure my friend has had a lot of fun having sex with his girlfriend. Sex is fun. But, it won’t compare to the eternal glory of God.

“We’ve all been the adulterous whore at one point in our lives.” I spoke these words to one friend who carried on an adulterous affair for an extended period of time. She left the church, her friends, and even God to enjoy that relationship … but she eventually realized that it wasn’t fun anymore. She was miserable. She called me crying and asked for prayer. It wasn’t fun enough.

I know that people who hear me preach the gospel of grace will take their new found freedom too far. They will sin, they might ruin their reputations or their lives. I know this. I have experienced this. But I won’t stop preaching the gospel of grace. I won’t stop because it is the only gospel. There is no gospel of good deeds or of religious exercise or of legalism or of “do whatever you want as long as you are in church on Sunday”… gospel means “good news.” The good news is the grace available in Jesus Christ.