The law came along to multiply the trespass.  But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Romans 5:20-21 HCSB

There is a saying that says, “you can’t out give God”.  Now we usually apply this to tithes and offerings, but God’s abundance also applies to His mercy and grace.  There is no sin that you can commit that God won’t forgive other than blasphemy, which deals with rejecting God all together.

No matter what you’ve done, God loves you.  He is awaiting you with open arms.  He sent his son to die on the cross so that your sins could be forgiven (John 3:16).  What more could he do to express his love for us (John 15:13).

Our scripture passage is from Romans chapter 5, but it goes on to ask a question in the first section of Romans chapter 6- should we go on sinning because we know that grace abounds?  The answer is, of course not!

In Monopoly there is a get out of jail free card.  With our judicial system it seems as though there are many of those in real life as well.  If you knew that you had a get out of jail free card, do you think you might be tempted to break a law?

In our scripture passage today, Paul is explaining that we have a get out of hell free card.  That card is Jesus Christ.  He paid for our sin on the cross, so that we might have the choice to have eternal life.   It’s a choice because although He paid such a great price, it’s a gift that He does not force upon us.  So, you can choose Christ as your savior and you can choose to have eternal life, but if you choose that, do you sin just because you know that God will forgive whatever you do? No, you don’t.  Why not?  Well, because you don’t want to.

You see, when we make the decision to trust in Christ as our Savior, our old sinful self dies just as Jesus died on the cross.  Our new clean righteous self rises with Christ just as Christ rose from the dead.  When he cleans us up, He makes us new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17).  We want to please Him, we don’t want to sin. We know that He is faithful to forgive (1 John 1:9), but we don’t want to disappoint Him.

So, if you are struggling with sin today, there is a way out.  You have a get out of hell free card.  You can turn to Christ.  You can call on Him to forgive you.  You can ask Him to fill you with His Holy Spirit so that you can turn away from your sin and be strong enough to withstand temptation.

But know that this card has an expiration date.  The bad thing is you have no idea what that date is, but there will be a time when it will no longer do you any good.  Romans 1:24 tells us that if we continue to deliberately sin that there will come a time when God gives us over to our evil desires.  Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 24:36 that no one knows the day nor the hour when the rapture will take place.  None of us know when our time on this earth will be done.

Trust in God today.  Be sure that you are safe from the eternal torment of hell.  Also know that He will make you a new creature.  A creature that loves the Lord and wants to please Him.  A new creature that is transformed into someone with a peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7).

Don’t let the devil deceive you into thinking that what you have done is just too bad or too much for God to forgive.  Trust in God to forgive you and experience a lived in Christ, a life where we no longer want to sin even though we know He is faithful to forgive.

Have a great day!