“The question the gospel of grace puts to us is simply this: Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love?” BRENNAN MANNING
If you knew that there was NOTHING you could ever do that would separate you from God’s great love for you, what would you do?
Would you sin as much as you wanted?
Would you indulge in every fleshy desire you’ve ever had?
Would you just say all of those things that you ultimately want to say to people just to let them know what you really think?
If you knew... Like beyond a shadow of a doubt knew that no matter what you did God would still love you, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
I was first introduced to this question back in the early 90’s… so quite some time ago. And I remember my response being, “Well, if I can truly do whatever I want to do, like the really sinful stuff and God will still love me, then why not just go do the really sinful stuff?”
My mentality then was simply this: if I can do ultimately whatever I want and God will still love me even if I WASN’T doing what He wanted, then why not just do what I wanted? There was something in me that believed there’d be greater joy in self-indulgence and less joy in being with the One that loved me perfectly and unconditionally.
Not to oversimplify the nature of sin, but at the root of ALL sin is a core belief that doing what I want will be more enjoyable and refreshing and life-giving than doing all that God wants. Yes, I understand that sin is multifaceted, but behind every sin I commit is the idea that sin in that moment will be better than God. I’ve never said that out loud and I’m guessing you’ve haven't either, but as we all know, our actions communicate much louder than our words.
GOD IS BETTER.
Three very simple words, but three very helpful words because of the truth they remind me of. When the thought or idea or opportunity to sin happens (which is a lot), I think upon these three words because they remind me that sin is a choice.
Again, sin is multifaceted but at the end of the day, ALL sin regardless of what the sin is, is a choice I make. No one makes me choose pride or anger or lust or self-centeredness or pride... did I mention that one already?
Because the nature of sin is a choice, that means there's another option. Yes, not sinning is an option but if that choice is not tethered to a more beautiful, real, tangible and true anchor, we will gravitate towards what is easy, comfortable, convenient and will give us the most pleasure in the moment... even its fleeting.
I’m older now… not crazy old… but older nonetheless and I ‘wish’ my younger self would have realized sooner than I did that the Gospel of Grace proclaims a more beautiful, real, tangible and true anchor - GOD IS BETTER.
And despite being older now, not too old, but older nonetheless, what I need to consistently remind myself of daily is that no matter how attractive sin might seem in the moment, GOD IS BETTER.
