A License to Sin

"So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience." Hebrews 4:9-11

If you truly know the forgiveness of sins we now stand in because of the finished work of Jesus Christ, there will come a time when you will be accused of teaching a license to sin. This is because when you believe that a Christian does not have to ask God to forgive their sins or that God is not holding our sins against us, this can cause an issue with many Christians. It is true that there will be people who will use the grace of God for a purpose He did not intend. They will take the fact that God no longer holds our sins against us as an excuse to continue to sin. However, that should not prevent us from teaching the truth about His grace. Now, it is understandable that we do not want to give people an excuse to sin. Regardless of whether people believe they have an excuse or not, they will still sin and will find a way to justify it in their own mind. People sin because they want to not because someone says it is okay or not okay to do so. Everyone is responsible for their own sins and will not be able to go before the Lord and say they were told they would not be punished for their sins, so they went ahead and committed them. What is a license? A license describes the laws that a person needs to obey and it also describes the penalty that people will experience in the event that they violate those laws. For example, when you are given a drivers license, you have been given permission to drive on public roads. This means that the individual driver understands the rules and the laws that govern the road and have agreed to abide by these rules and laws in order to ensure the safety of themselves and of the others who are on the road. However, if you fail to abide by these laws, you will be penalized for your violation by the governing body entrusted with enforcing the rules and laws. A license not only describes what you can do, but also what you cannot do and the penalties for violating the laws. Therefore, a license is another system of law. I am not teaching that Christians are under any kind of law. When people accuse me of giving others a license to sin, they are, in fact, the ones who are truly giving others a license to sin.

This is how they do it. What they will say to another Christian is, "This is your Christian life..." Similar to, "This is driving a car." Continuing, they will say, "To be a Christian means to do what you are supposed to do and you don't do what you're not supposed to do." This is followed by being given a list of all the things a Christian should be doing and a list of all the things you're not supposed to be doing. They will explain to you that if you violate any of these laws, which could be the Mosaic Law, the law of a particular denomination or some combination of rules, regulations, ordinances or doctrines, then your God will hold your sins against you. Then they will tell you that you can still obtain forgiveness for these sins. Now, when you are driving and you violate a law, you are usually issued a ticket. This ticket will explain to you the penalty for your violation and how to get in good standing again. Usually, you must pay a fine of some sort and the penalties escalate from there. And after you pay the fine, you continue to drive. In the Christian life, the penalties for sin can be things like losing fellowship with God, having the threat of God inflicting some pain and suffering in your life and perhaps even to the point where you could lose your salvation. These are some of the ways people describe the "ticket" or "penalty" associated with the license they have given a person. And how do you pay the "fine" for receiving this "ticket"? You confess your sins. Yes, that is the penalty for receiving a "ticket" from God for "violating" the laws; confess it and ask forgiveness. This too can be done in various ways; answering an altar call, entering a confession booth, keeping short accounts with God, reciting a prayer numerous times, etc. And once you have completed this action and paid your "fine," you go back to "driving;" living your Christian life. So, it isn't me who is giving a people a license to sin, it those who accuse me and others of doing so who are giving a license to sin; a description of the rules, regulations and laws a person lives by and the penalties and fees for violating those laws. What ends up happening to a person who has been given this license to sin is that they live in a perpetual cycle of sin, confession and forgiveness. They will be consumed by their sins, always left in fear that God is ashamed of them and never able to enter into God's rest and God's peace; cursed to wander in the wilderness and never enter into the Promised Land. (some excerpts from Aaron Budjen)