Do You Serve Righteousness as Diligently as You Served Sin in the Past?

<Ro 5:12, 20-21; 6:1-2, 6, 12-23; Tit 2:11-12; 1 Co 15:9-10>

· Read <Ro 5:12, 20-21; 6:1-2, 6, 12-18>

1.   Some wrong understanding of grace:

1)   Grace is a license to sin

·     Read <Titus 2:11-12>

·     God’s grace does not end with salvation; God’s grace continues with sanctification.

·     Holiness is not the precondition to receive grace, but the fruit that comes from grace.

2)  Grace means that God has lowered His standards

· God did not lower His standards of holiness and righteousness. Instead He sent Jesus take on the penalty of sins on behalf of sinners, appeasing the wrath of God, satisfying the standards of God, imputing Christ’s perfect righteousness on those who believe in Him. 

3)  Grace means man does not need to strive

· Dallas Willard：Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning.

· <Ph 2:12-13>  mentioned the work powered by grace.

· God’s grace does not replace man’s effort, but to give us strength to strive.

· <2 Co 9:8> God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

2.   Grace leads man to righteousness.

· <Ro 5-6>: Relationship between grace and righteousness

· Grace not only saves, but also sanctifies

· When God saves a person, He will enable the person to know the seriousness, horror of sin and how man is unable to save himself, so that the person will see the greatness and value of God’s grace

· God sends the Holy Spirit to help believers, preventing them from abusing His grace.

o New heart, new disposition, new desire

· Grace (love) has such great power to transform a person

o What the law cannot motivate a person to do, love can.

o If a person received grace and love but still sin, the seriousness of his sin is multiplied. Therefore love has the effect of making people think twice before sinning.

3.   Are we more diligent as slave to righteousness as compared to the time when we were slave to sin?

· Read <Ro 6:19-23>

· Spurgeon：If you have received this grace, which has abounded over your sin, take care that you do more for grace than you ever did for sin.

· We ought to be more diligent for ‘righteousness’ than what we do for ‘sin’ in the past

· Formerly, we are in obedience to sin, but now are we more in obedience of righteousness (God)?

· In the past, we always look for chance to indulge in sinful desires, gratify our flesh, today we do strive to pay attention and seize opportunities to do good?

· When we were slave to sin, we were bold and shameless, why when we are slaves to righteousness, we are excessively fearful.

· We were never ‘lukewarm’ sinners, but thoroughly sinful, but why do we become lukewarm Christians now?

· <Ro 6:19> I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness.

· Do not feeling that being a slave to righteousness is a heavy burden, but we should rejoice we were formerly serving a bad master and now is serving a good master.

· Since we have received grace, let’s work hard so that God’s grace to us was not without effect. <1 Co 15:9-10>