Many of us have come for moralistic/legalistic backgrounds. Sunday school lessons were often focused upon the rules we’re meant to obey rather than the grace we’re meant to rely upon. As a result, many of us have swung toward the other end of the spectrum in order to avoid the strict self-righteousness that characterizes the legalism we grew up around. The problem is the other end of the spectrum is license, another deadly peril.

The glorious news of the Gospel is that Jesus has made us righteous and holy based upon grace rather than upon anything we can do. Yet, just because we’ve been saved by grace and we cannot earn God’s favor on our own, we aren’t to continue in sin. But the temptation toward license is the idea that we are free to live as we please since grace will always cover us.

The attitude of license completely undermines discipleship.

Paul directly battled this attitude in Romans 6:1-4.

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

We are to embrace grace and allow that to joyfully lead us to the pursuit of holiness both toward God and man. We’ve been freed not to lazily pursue whatever desires our flesh produces because grace covers those sins, but we’ve been freed from sin and the flesh to pursue holiness for the glory of God (Romans 6:19).

Avoid both legalism and license. And pursue holiness for the glory of God and the good of man by trusting in grace and not yourself.