Shall we go on Sinning?

Grigori Rasputin was a Russian mystic and self-proclaimed ‘holy man’, who became a close confidante of Tsar Nicholas II and his wife Tsarina Alexandra.  The Tsar’s only son, Alexei, suffered from haemophilia and Rasputin is known to have demonstrated divine healing on the child, further strengthening his influence over the Russian royal family.

However, there was a dark side to Rasputin, and although there was never enough evidence to prove such claims, there were allegations of excessive drinking, womanising, and involvement in dark mysticism.  A spiritual advisor to royals and aristocrats by day, whilst at night he was believed to crawl the streets of the city, guzzling cheap wine and seeking out sexual conquests.

Attaining divine grace through the actions of sin is thought to be one of Rasputin’s central doctrines that he both preached to and practiced with his inner circle of societal ladies.  The very idea that an increase of sin would lead to an increased experience of God’s grace was a convenient justification for continuing to feed the desires of the flesh.

Whether the allegations regarding Rasputin were true or not, the above account does throw up some interesting thoughts.

In 1 John 1:8-9 (NKJV) we are told, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”  In other words, before we were saved, we were all sinners.  However, when we confessed our sins and we were saved we became righteous.  However, we can continue to struggle with sin, even after we are saved.  We will never experience a life that is totally absent of sin until we are finally with the Lord in glory: when Christ appears, we shall be like him (1 John 3:2).

Ephesians 2:8 tells us, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not of yourselves (works), it is the gift of God.”

So, having established that we were all sinners, and that it is not by our own doing but through God’s grace that we are saved, does it really matter if we continue to live a life of sin?  Was Rasputin correct in thinking that the more sin we commit the greater the experience of God’s grace will be in our lives?

Paul very clearly addresses this issue as we start our Bible readings for this week; “What shall we say then?  Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?” (Romans 6:1 NKJV). Paul’s response was a resounding ‘No’, posing the alternative question of “How shall we who died to sin live in it any longer?” (v.2)  The Message translation puts it this way, “If we’ve left the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house there?  Or didn’t you realise we packed up and left there for good?”

Paul is not speaking to the Christians who occasionally succumb to sin, and who realise their actions were sinful.  After all, every one of us is in that category.  He is speaking to the Rasputins of this world, those who freely continue to sin and allow sin to become a way of life.

The Amplified Bible explains this well in 1 John 3:6, where it says, “No one who abides in Him [who remains united in fellowship with Him—deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin.  No one who habitually sins has seen Him or known Him.”  And again in 1 John 5:18, “We know [with confidence] that anyone born of God does not habitually sin; but He (Jesus) who was born of God [carefully] keeps and protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.”

That word ‘habitually’ is key. All believers will occasionally struggle with sin and will sometimes give in, but giving in to sin is no longer the norm.  Singaporean evangelist, Joseph Prince was once quoted as saying, “Sin does not stop God’s grace from flowing, but God’s grace will stop us from sinning.”

Pastor Alan here at GoChurch teaches “grace is not a cover up for sin, grace teaches us to say no to sin.”

This week, as we walk through the scriptures together, my prayer is that as we grow in God’s grace; as we grow in the knowledge of our God and as we are led by the Spirit, we will walk more and more in obedience to the Word of God.  For we are no longer slaves to sin – in fact we are dead to sin and alive to God!