Living in Grace

Every disciple of Jesus knows what it is like to stumble. The question is not whether Christians ever struggle with sin, but how faithful followers of Christ respond when they do.

In this episode of Walking With Our Master, we examine Paul's teaching in Romans 6 and explore the difference between continuing in sin and continuing to walk with Christ. Along the way, we are reminded that God's grace is not permission to remain in sin. It is the strength that enables us to rise, repent, and keep following our Savior.

Jesus never promised His disciples a life without struggles, but He did promise His presence along the way. As we continue walking with our Master, we discover that His grace is sufficient, His mercy is unfailing, and His hand is always there to lift us when we fall.

Join us as together we continue Walking With Our Master.

I invite you to follow our podcast and share it with others as together we walk with our Master.

The Prattville family meets at 344 East Main Street, Prattville, AL.  Our web site is: https://prattvillechurch.org.  

And please, leave feedback using the "Send us a text" link above.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hello friends. Welcome to Walking with Our Master. I'm your host, Dave Leighton. Whether you're starting your morning or winding down your evening, let's take a few moments to center our hearts on some thoughts about what really matters. Today, I want to talk about a struggle that many Christians quietly carry. It's the fear that because they continue to struggle with a particular sin, there is no hope for them. Perhaps you've prayed about the same weakness for years. Maybe it's anger or anxiety, pornography, selfishness, pride, gossip, bitterness, or another battle that seems to resurface no matter how hard you try. After enough failures, a discouraging thought can begin to take root. If I were truly faithful, wouldn't I have conquered this by now? If I still struggle, does that mean God has given up on me? Is there any hope left? If you have ever asked those questions, then today's episode is for you. There's a teaching that Paul gives us in Romans chapter six verse one that is a wonderful source of hope. First glance you might not see it. Paul says, What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? That's Romans chapter six verse one. So at first glance we may miss something important. Paul asks whether we should continue in sin. He does not ask whether Christians will ever commit a sin. There is a significant difference between sinning and continuing in sin. The New Testament clearly teaches that all of us struggle with sin. Romans 3 23, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. All is a very inclusive term. Likewise, John says in 1 John chapter 1, verse 8, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. You know what that means? It means we'd be lying to ourselves. And you notice John is writing to Christians. He did not expect perfection, he expected honesty. Well, the Bible reveals that a Christian life is one where believers keep getting back up and keep walking with Christ. One of the most common images in Scripture is walking. We are called to walk in the light, walk by faith, walk in love, and walk by the Spirit. Walking describes an ongoing direction. Just imagine a child learning to walk. The child takes a few steps and falls. Well, no loving parent concludes that the child will never learn to walk. The fall actually is part of the process. What matters is that the child gets back up and keeps moving forward. Well, the same is true spiritually. A stumble is not the same as settling down. A failure is not the same as surrendering, and a struggle is not the same as abandoning hope. Paul's concern in Romans six was with people who wanted to remain comfortable in sin while depending on grace to excuse it. That is a misunderstanding. That is very different from a believer who hates sin, confesses it, and keeps fighting against it. One of Satan's most effective tools is discouragement. He often whispers lies to us. He'll say something like You've struggled too long. You'll never change. God must be tired of forgiving you. Real Christians don't have these battles. Yet Scripture paints a very different story. Consider Peter. He boldly declared his loyalty to Jesus, and then he denied him three times. Consider David, a man after God's own heart, committed adultery and arranged the death of another man. And we all should consider Paul. He describes his own struggle in Romans 7, speaking of the battle between what he wanted to do and what he sometimes found himself doing. And these faithful servants of God were not perfect. Yet God's story for them did not end with their failures. And why would that be? Because they continued turning toward God. This is where hope enters the picture. Many people mistakenly believe that hope belongs only to those who never fail. Well the Bible again teaches something very different. Hope belongs to those who keep coming back to God, and to those who keep repenting, and to those who keep thrusting his grace. Hope belongs to those who refuse to quit. The very fact that we are concerned about our relationship with God may be evidence that our heart is still seeking Him. People who have completely surrendered to sin rarely worry about being close to God. They have stopped caring. The struggling believer who continues praying, continues seeking, continues repenting, and continues longing for righteousness demonstrates something different and something important. The battle is still being fought. And where there is a battle, there is still hope. Sometimes we think of grace only as forgiveness. Grace certainly includes forgiveness, but grace also includes strength. God's grace helps us stand when we feel weak. Notice it's not our strength, it's God's strength. God's grace helps us rise after we fall. God's grace helps us continue walking when the road is difficult. The Christian life is not sustained by our perfection. It is sustained by God's faithfulness. That truth becomes especially important for people who are struggling with the same issue for years. Progress may come slowly. Growth may happen one step at a time. Yet every step toward Christ matters. Every prayer matters. Every act of repentance matters, and every decision to keep walking matters. Perhaps someone listening today feels defeated. You may have convinced yourself that because the struggle remains, hope is gone. Well, I want to encourage you to look again at what Scripture actually says. Romans 6, verse 1 reminds us that we are not called to continue in sin as a way of life. At the same time, Romans 3 23 and 1 John 1 8 remind us that all need God's grace. The Christian life exists between those truths. We are imperfect people pursuing a perfect Savior. We stumble, we repent, we grow, we keep walking, and through it all, God's grace continues to sustain us. That is why there is hope. Not because we never fail, we do. It's because God's mercy is greater than our failures. There's another passage that I love, and it has been an encouragement for me, and actually long before me it's been an encouragement to believers for centuries. It's Psalm thirty seven verses twenty three and twenty four. It reads The steps of a man are established by the Lord when he delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand. Do you notice the imagery there? The psalmist speaks about a person whose steps are directed by God. Once again we see the language of walking. The focus is on the direction of a person's life. Then comes a beautiful promise. Though he fall, the verse does not say if he falls. It says though he fall. God understands that faithful people sometimes stumble. Even those whose steps are established by the Lord occasionally lose their footing. Yet the story does not end there. It continues He shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand. That is a wonderful picture of hope. God does not abandon his children when we stumble. He reaches for us, he strengthens us, he lifts us, and he helps us continue the journey. For the believer struggling with recurring temptations or recurring failure, this passage offers tremendous hope. As long as our hand remains in his, there is hope. Well perhaps someone listening today feels defeated. You may have stumbled more times than you can count. Psalm thirty seven reminds us that God's people sometimes fall, but they are never abandoned. The Lord continues to uphold those who keep walking with him. Yes, Christians do sin. Yes, we stumble. And yes, we struggle. But Christians do not have to live in defeat because God continues to uphold us as we continue walking toward Him.