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Real Grace provides emancipation from sin.

Fake Grace provides defense of sin, license for sin, excuses for sin, false comfort for sin, tolerance for sin, agreement with sin, provisions for sin.

John 3:16 does not say, “For God so loved sin that He gave his only begotten Son so that whosoever believes Jesus exists should not perish but have everlasting life.”

John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Sin so that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

What’s the difference?

Think about it this way.  God hates sin because He loves us and because He loves the whole world.  He does not like it when this world is so in love with injustice, cheating, lying, abusing, swindling, murdering, molesting, raping, bullying, manipulating, tormenting, and just being plain selfish and rotten to the core.

God does not like selfishness when it looks ugly, and He doesn’t like selfishness when it looks beautiful.  In fact, that is probably when He hates it the most.  Selfishness is not pursuing something good for oneself.  Selfishness is when someone values his own immediate comfort without concern for anything more important.

For instance, when a parent gets tired of being married to the same old person and begins to tramp around like a liar and a whore without regard for promises or the deep pain, injustice, and loss the rest of the family will suffer for that sin.

Then watch the hypocrite cry, “Oh, thou shalt not judge”…What do you call judging your own children and spouse and God unworthy of your integrity to your promises and your faithfulness?

Do you think Jesus said, “judge not lest thou be judged” in defense of sin?  When a crowd brought the adulteress to Jesus asking if she should be stoned and Jesus asked the one without sin to cast the first stone, do you think He told the woman afterward, “Go and keep sinning the way you were”?  He called her to go and sin no more.”  When the rich young ruler came to Jesus asking how he might be saved, did Jesus say, “Let your money be your god and ruler”?  No.  Jesus knew he didn’t own money — the money owned him, so Jesus asked him to sell his riches, give to the poor, then come and follow Jesus.  Why?  Was it because Jesus wanted the man to be miserable and lose out?  No.  Jesus wanted the man free — emancipated.  And for that to happen, this man had to take a step in the direction of that emancipation. 

So, if adultery owns you, you have to give it up.  If you are in adultery but adultery doesn’t own you and you can give it up any time you want, then chances are you’re lying.  It owns you.  Same for drugs.  Same for pornography.  Same for anything that can get you to turn on Jesus and sin against Him in any way predictably.

Christianity, when it’s real, begins at the moment of total surrender.  Christianity does not begin with the first moment of hypocrisy.  It does not begin with the following of rituals or good works to make up for sin.  In fact if we’re in sin, the Bible tells us our good works are as filthy rags.

When we’re in sin, we’re throwing our garbage to Jesus Christ and insulting God by telling Him that should be good enough, that He should be understanding, gentle, kind, loving, patient, appreciative, and humble enough to fit our image of God as the weak grandfatherly character who would give up anything for His loved ones.  Well, He is infinitely more loving than even that grandfather, and that is not to put down the grandfather.  But, there is nothing weak about God.  He is fully able to send anyone to hell simply because it’s necessary.  If sin reeks havoc and turns the place where it exists into a hell, then there is no sense in keeping those who love hell together with those who love heaven.  And whatever imaginations there are that lead people to believe we can all live for the devil and go to heaven, God chooses based on reality and not based on imaginations or demands of mankind.

There are reasons He is worthy and desires to be loved and praised.  It’s for the greatest good of the universe that God be given the honor due His Name.  It is good for us because we remember who He is and are comforted by His love and His power and His faithfulness, and His strength and His wisdom, and because He is so great, if we are in Him, we have no reason to fear.  But, if we are lying to ourselves and playing games with God, then we had better shake in our boots with fear because hell is not a good place to spend eternity, and if we’re setting a hellish example for our children, friends, and loved ones, hell is not the place where a loving person would want to send his loved ones.  So, having said that, what about God?  Is God sending loved ones to hell by the millions or billions?  No.  God lets us go there, and He gives us a choice, but if we neglect to surrender to God and choose heaven, that decision will quickly become final for all eternity simply because sin leads to greater sin and destruction, so the person who chooses sin becomes increasingly sinful and full of malice as time goes on so one day, the seemingly angelic person who lands in hell will eventually become as openly evil as a thousand Satans while Satan continues to degenerate even further than he currently is.

So, today is the day to set your direction toward heaven or hell.

Which way will you choose?