Eve wandered the garden, drinking in its beauty. A crafty serpent engaged her in conversation, trying to shake up her reasoning. She liked what the serpent had to say. She caved and did what God had instructed her not to do. She sinned. And it forever changed her life. (See Genesis 3).
As Christians, we often talk a lot about grace. It’s one of the cornerstones of Christianity. Without Jesus’ sacrifice and God’s grace, we would be forever lost. Grace is vital to our salvation, because we just can’t do anything to earn it by ourselves.
I wonder though, if there might be times we rely on grace in a capacity it was never intended.
When we are at a crossroads. When we have a decision to make. One choice is really hard: walk away from temptation, run from sin.
The other: rely on God’s grace to forgive later.
Did God intend for us to calculate His grace into the equation to determine our actions? Let’s look at what his word, the Bible, tells us about this question.
When we choose to practice sin:
- We practice lawlessness. (I John 3:4-10)
- When we fail to do the right thing, and we know it, it’s sin. (James 4:17)
- We are slaves to what we obey. (Romans 6:16) When we choose sin, we are slaves to sin.
Sin has consequences. (Romans 6:23) Remember Eve in the garden? That fruit wasn’t going to kill her, she reasoned. But it killed her in a way she didn’t envision or anticipate. It killed her carefree life. It stole her innocence. The enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy, so these consequences should not be a surprise.
But somehow, they shock us when it’s happening to us.
Is there grace once a sin is committed, and the sinner sincerely repents?
Absolutely.
Does that grace erase the consequences?
No.
Eve had a completely different life after she disobeyed. And she could never go back to the former days in Eden. To walk with God in the cool of the day. To eat from the garden, food God Himself had provided. But when Eve chose that forbidden fruit, when Eve didn’t follow God’s instructions, she chose to be disciplined. Kicked out of the garden. She and Adam had to toil for food. Life was not the easy, breezy existence she once knew.
One of her consequences were never entering the Garden of Eden again. She never got back to God’s original best for her. She didn’t return to what He had originally authored for her life. Ever.
All because of a choice.
When we willingly choose to sin, we are voluntarily forgoing God’s best plan for us.
When we know what is right and choose otherwise, it is willingly disobeying God.
It is sin.
And sin keeps us from God.
I’m sure Eve had that realization later, but her life on earth would never be the same. I wonder how many times she replayed that conversation in her head, desperately wishing she had chosen differently? God provided for her, helping her make clothing from leaves, and taking her new situation in stride. He didn’t abandon her. But she was ousted from the Garden of Eden. Her new life, while walking with the Lord, was not as God originally authored.
How many times have you and I done the same with a different scenario? While we can’t turn back time, we can change the outcome of tomorrow’s choices. Let’s learn and mature from those mistakes. And be on guard for the future. Let’s filter our choices through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
We face many temptations, our enemy makes sure of it. But we are promised in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that God will provide a way out if we ask. Through him, we can resist temptation and not willingly and knowingly fall into sin’s trap.
Let’s ask Him for help in just that.
Prayer: Dear Lord, sometimes sin seems … not ugly, not wrong, not sinful. Somehow it even seems justified. Help me not believe those lies. Help me remain faithful to you. Help me to consult you, allow your Holy Spirit to prick my conscience, and keep me accountable. Thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide me, and for the redeeming blood of Jesus when I fail. Grow my heart and faith. May I reject the allure of sin starting today. May I truly develop a heart that wants to obey You. In Jesus’s name, Amen.