I am saved by grace, what next, do I keep living as I was before, just with the knowledge of the grace of God? No. “We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” (Romans 6:2). We must not neglect the power of grace upon our lives, however, we should never abuse this grace. Once we have been saved, we have been set free from sin. Free from the penalty of sin and free to live as God intended. We are now the righteousness of God, by faith (Rom. 3:22), and we should live boldly with that truth. So, what does that mean?
Free to live
We can live our lives freely, knowing that the price has already been paid for our sins. We also know there is no condemnation for us who are in Christ (Rom. 8:1), so we do not walk around with guilt or shame. The burdens of our mistakes are lifted. The payment for our sin is complete and the power of death is defeated (Rom. 6). We live with a peace that surpasses all understanding. We live for Christ.
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who died and gave himself for me
Galatians 2:20
What we have received, through Christ, allows us to live with freedom. We are not slaves to the law, saying what we should and should not do. We are not under a legalistic covenant but a grace-filled one. And most importantly, we have a relationship with the Father through the Son; we live as children of a heavenly Father. Essentially, we are living a new life in Christ. Grace has freed us from our former way of life, where sin had dominion. No more do we let sin have free reign over our lives. To live free in Christ means understanding, accepting and walking in that freedom. Remembering, no matter what, we are forgiven.
Free to serve
Sin is no more our master. We are no longer slaves to sin, we have been freed from the shackles it had over our lives. We have an opportunity in the freedom of our salvation.
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love
Galatians 5:13
Becoming imitators of Christ, with the same servant attitude, we esteem others higher than ourselves. When we are ready to serve a brother or sister in need or to serve within our community, we point others to Christ. The grace we have been given is not of our own merits or because we deserve it (Eph. 2:8-9). We have been gifted with this grace and eternal life in Christ Jesus. How beautiful is it to share what we have received! “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace,” (1 Peter 4:10). Knowing our reward is elsewhere, we accept the call to serve on earth, and humbly surrender our will to the will of the Father. For as we have seen Christ do, we do the same.
Free to love
Without question the most important commandment is to love, to love God and to love our neighbours (Gal. 5:14). We must love.
And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma
Ephesians 5:2
The gift we have been given of salvation was only possible because of a love so deep, so wide and so immeasurably high. As it says in 1 John 4:9, “In this, the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him”. We are called to love even more, as we understand the love of God. Before the price paid by Jesus, there was a veil that kept us separate from the holiness of God, we were too sinful to be in His holy presence. However, Jesus tore the veil and now we can come boldly before God’s throne of grace (Heb. 4:16). Through Christ, we can share in this communion with the Father and closely experience this love.
Yes, we have grace but it does not entitle us to continue living unchanged. The good news of Christ is a changing force. Christ did what the law could not do, He made us right with God. There is a lot more to life under grace than we attribute.