by Jerry Senn
“One of the dangers of preaching salvation by grace … is that it can be interpreted as a license to do whatever you want. Paul was well aware of this possibility (Romans 3:8) where he mentioned that some were slanderously reporting that some were saying, “Let us do evil that good may come.”
Because of this foolish idea, Paul was on guard when he made strong statements about grace. So when he said, “But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,” (Romans 5:28) he knew … some would misunderstand … Even people who have claimed to be Christians have thought this.
The church at Corinth thought that incest was a display of Christian liberty.
“A famous Russian Monk, Rasputin, who dominated the Romanov family in its final years, taught that salvation came through repeated experiences of sin and repentance. He argued that because those who sin more require more forgiveness, those who sin with abandon will as they repent experience greater joy.”
Today, this thinking is very common among those who wish to justify their sexual lifestyles” (Kent Hughes, “Romans”).
I have actually had this presented to me as an excuse for sinful behavior.
Listen again to Paul:
“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 with him therefore 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 live.”
—Romans 6:1-4