Grace - The Power to Change

Dr. James B. Richards has written a wonderful book entitled, "Grace - The Power to Change." Allow me to share some of it with you.

"Few people see sin as the source of their pain. They think their pain is God's conviction; they are wrong. Every pain in our lives is linked to a sinful belief or behavior. Yet we don't see and believe that.

"I recently asked my congregation this simple question. 'When you got saved, did you stop sinning because it was the right thing to do? Because you had to? Or because you wanted to?' Many people only quit sinning because they have to. Those people will never be able to make quality decisions (repentance) about sin.

"We view sin as that long list of fun things that God does not allow us to do. We view serving God as that long list of difficult things we must do. We even have cliches, 'This is good, it must be sin. We had so much fun, it must have been sin.' These statements reflect our attitude toward sin.

"God wants you out of sin for a reason; He does not want you to be destroyed by its power. He does not want it affecting your ability to have a meaningful relationship with Him or those around you.

"Until, however, we see sin as a list of things that bring absolute destruction, we will cling to it and make excuses for it. We will find every reason, theological, emotional or otherwise to justify staying in sin. But the real truth is that we can come out of sin when we want to. NO SIN HAD DOMINION OVER US BECAUSE OF GRACE!

"If you want God's grace you must make a firm decision, confess the Word of God and start taking steps. When the grace of God comes, there will be victory with joy. Victory over sin is not quitting sin but still wanting to give in to it. Real victory comes when we see the utter pain and destruction of sin in our life, make an absolute decision about sin and victory, and trust it to happen because of God's power in us." [pp. 113-115]

AMEN!

I have often said that we look at grace backwards. We see grace as a means of obtaining forgiveness for sin only. Rarely do we look at sin as God's ability within us to overcome sin. Grace is just as available before we sin. Why wait? Why go through the agony of defeat? When faced with temptation declare that God's grace has the power to keep you from falling. I can assure you that it's much more enjoyable than simply needing grace to pick yourself up off the floor.

Go in God's grace and enjoy the victory that He has for you today.