“What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply? Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (vv. 1-2)

Dear Christian,

If you miss the truth of these verses—if you either ignore or irrelevantize them—then you are in danger of nothing less than heresy. You jeopardize the validity of your confession. You damage the faithful witness of the church. And you cheapen the crucifixion of Christ—not in actuality, but in its effect in your own life.

If you keep choosing and excusing sin…

If you lean on a “commit now, confess later” practice…

If you live for the things Christ died for, and remain dead when He would instead give you life…

If your interpretation of “grace” is your excuse…

…then your faith is a thing foreign to the Bible. Your “grace” isn’t Gospel grace. You have missed the point of repentance—which is turning from sin to Him.

Will any of us manage perfect purity? Of course not. (That’s the next chapter.) But should the pursuit of purity, as the response to His great grace, drive us out of sin—and away from excuse-making?

I pray you know the answer.

— Tyler