Devotion #1: Dead in Sin

I remember standing in amazement on the edge of a 45-foot cliff on the island of Kauai, overlooking Shipwreck Beach. A few friends and I were planning to jump off the cliff into the ocean below. Just minutes before, I had assured my wife that everything would be fine, confident I would be okay. I am a decent swimmer and generally enjoy a bit of risk. However, my wife had pointed out the large red flag on the beach - a clear warning that the water was too dangerous that day. 

In my stubbornness, I ignored the flag and found myself at the edge, preparing to leap into the raging ocean, where waves were surging close to ten feet high. I actually have a video of the jump, in case anyone wants to see it. I remember the exhilarating drop, feeling how quickly 45 feet passed, and then hitting the water hard. That is when the real struggle began. Swimming back to the shore, where my wife was waiting, was a different story. There were moments during that swim when I honestly thought I might not make it. As I reached the point where the waves were breaking, they tossed me around like a rag doll, and swallowing mouthfuls of salt water heightened my desperation to reach the shore. Finally, I made it back, collapsing on the sand, breathless and reflecting that, as thrilling as it was, I probably should have heeded that red flag. 

I often lack fear in situations like this, or maybe I am just good at ignoring it, thinking, “God will protect me.” In retrospect, that is a foolish mindset. God has given me the ability to recognize when something is not wise, and ignoring that warning was, in a way, abusing His protection. 

Romans chapter 6 speaks to this concept of abusing God’s grace. Here, Paul raises a flag - not against a dangerous ocean but against a dangerous mindset: living however we want and just relying on grace to save us. Romans 6:1-2 says, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means!” Paul was addressing believers who were treating grace as a “get out of jail free” card, disregarding the life Jesus has called us to live. He reminds us that our lives should reflect the freedom found in Christ’s work on the cross. 

The grace of God is incredible. It is His unearned favor, God doing for us what we could never do ourselves. However, as His followers, we can abuse that favor. God’s desire is that we seek to honor Him, embrace that favor, and live to glorify Him. Paul describes himself as a slave or servant of God, indebted to this grace. What I love about how Paul describes this is not that he earned his way to grace but that it was given to him out of God’s love. As Romans 5:8 states, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” This act of love places us in His debt and calls us to live in a manner worthy of the Gospel - as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. 

My prayer for you as you read this is that you recognize the depth of your sin but also realize the depth of His grace. May that realization guide how you live. Let this reflection serve as a red flag, encouraging you not to abuse grace but to live as a resurrected, renewed child of God.