How many times have you gotten up in the morning and put on your fresh, clean clothes, but during breakfast you spilled some coffee or other food on your shirt, leaving a large, dark stain? It kind of ruined your clean look, didn’t it? Just a big, ugly stain. Of course you likely had plenty of other shirts that you could go and put on, but after you changed your clothes I’ll bet that you were a bit more careful during the rest of your breakfast, as you certainly wouldn’t want to go and repeat that mistake again.
It’s rather similar to the grace of God, because God’s grace acts kind of like your dresser full of clean shirts. You might have two drawers full of other shirts that you could put on and wear if one gets dirty, but you certainly don’t want to purposely waste them. God’s grace is there for us when we need it to have our sins taken away, but we never want to purposely sin because we know that there is an innumerable amount of grace available if we need it. God’s grace is a gift, and gifts should be treated properly, with respect, and never used in vain
2 Corinthians 6:1 We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.
The word “vain” means “to no end; without success or result; pointless”
If someone was to restore an old collector car back to showroom quality, and then take and use it for a demolition derby, all of that work would have been done in vain. It was pointless to restore it if they were just going to wreck it again.
Or when someone works for months and months saving up money to buy a new car. Every week they put aside part of their paycheck, slowly saving up until the day that they have enough to purchase it. But as soon as they leave the dealership parking lot, they run their brand new car into an electrical pole. All of that time working and saving money for months was pointless, and done in vain.
When we receive God’s grace we do not want to treat it improperly. Jesus came to the earth and died for our sins because there was no one who could keep the Law. He came down from Heaven and suffered the death meant for a criminal on the cross so that we could be saved. When Jesus forgives us for any sins that we commit, we do not want to continue to keep doing those things, and use God’s grace as an excuse to sin whenever we feel like it. His grace is free, but we need to receive and use it in a worthy manner.
Romans 6:1-2 “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”
If someone is charged with a petty crime, a judge may just waive the penalty if the person has never had any problems with the law before. Now, if that person is aquitted but goes out and commits the same crime again, do you think that the judge will be so easy on them? Do you think that the judge will let them walk away without any punishment? They have shown by their actions that they didn’t learn from their mistakes and take the grace that they were given to become a better person.
How much more with God, if we fall short and He gives us grace and forgiveness we want to make certain that we learn from our mistakes and don’t mistreat the gift of grace that He has given us. If someone receives grace but goes right back out and does it again, it’s like they are driving the nails deeper into Christ. Everytime they misuse His grace they are holding that scourge and whipping it into His back.
I use the apostle Paul as an example a lot, but look at what happened in his life. Before he became a believer in Christ, he used to persecute Christians, and send many of them to prison. But on the road to Damascus the Lord spoke to him and he turned away from his sins. Paul felt that he was the chief of sinners, but he took God’s grace and used it in a worthy manner. He didn’t continue his life of persecution towards Christians, but he lived the rest of his life for the furtherance of the Gospel of Christ.
You do not know which day will be your last, so don’t abuse God’s grace. Jesus died for you so that you can be forgiven, not so that you can continue to live in sin. Don’t get your shirt dirty again.
In Christ,
Andrew
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 