Not long ago, while spending time with a friend who had worked several years in ministry and who had struggled with serious bondages her whole life, she confessed to me that she was going back to her old life, and she was finished with the church. She had been very wounded by all of the attempts of her leaders to “fix” her by casting out demons in long deliverance sessions, instructing her to fast and pray in order to cleanse herself, get accountability partners, and do better. I understood her hurt and her anger completely, and felt partly responsible because of my participation in pushing her to “get free.” All these exercises served to condemn her and only drove her darkness further into the dark. When she told me she was throwing in the towel, I felt prompted to ask her this question: “Have you ever had a real encounter with Jesus, or have you always piggy-backed off the experiences of others?” She didn’t hesitate with her answer: “I piggy-backed off of others. I have never had a real encounter with God.” This answer told me that she did not know Jesus for herself. We can’t always know the condition of a person’s heart. Some people are really well-behaved and yet don’t know God, while others behave terribly, but have just forgotten who they are. However, her response that she had never known God gave me some direction in how to be her friend.
Paul made a distinction concerning how to relate to unbelievers and believers (or those who claim to be):
“When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that.” (1 Corinthians 5:9-10, NLT)1
When Paul told them “not to associate” with people indulging in sexual sin, I do not believe he was talking about immature believers who were growing in their understanding of grace and their identity in Christ. I also do not believe that Paul was telling the Corinthians to sever their relationships with any believer who had fallen into sexual sin. That word “associate” is actually stronger in the original Greek than just casual association. It “strictly denotes living in an intimate and continuous relation with one.”2 In others words, Paul was warning them that there is a certain level of closeness in relationship that we can’t go beyond with someone who indulges in sexual sin or else we’ll fall into the same trap. It’s called “putting confidence in the flesh.” And we also can’t just sit back and be flippant when people who claim to be Christians have no scruples about sin. These are people who believe that grace gives a license to sin. However, grace never condones sin.
Yet, when it comes to dealing with unbelievers, the instruction is different. How will they ever know the love of God if we separate ourselves from them? And it’s not our job to fix people. It’s our job to share the Gospel with them. In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul called us “ambassadors for Christ.” It’s as if God is pleading through us to our lost friends:
“We implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:20-21)3
How could grace ever be used as a license to sin when we tell people that? Do you know when the grace of God gets twisted into a license to sin? It’s when it’s replaced with “different gospel.”4
“For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and DENY the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Jude 1:4)
That word “turn” is the Greek word “metatithemi.” It’s the same word used in Galatians 1:6 for “turning away…to a different gospel”, and again, it means to replace one thing with another. In other words, when grace is replaced with another doctrine in the church, immoral living will be the result! And if we replace grace, it’s the same as denying the Lord Jesus!
(from pages 247-249 of Unveiling Jesus)
Want more from Tricia Gunn? Check out excerpts from the Unveiling Jesus 20-part series!
Unveiling Jesus, by Tricia Gunn, is a verse by verse study of the pure gospel of grace. It’s an amazing journey of love, identity, and freedom in Christ.
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1Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
2Frederic Louis Godet, Commentary on First Corinthians, Kregek Publications, Grand Rapids Michigan, 1977, p. 270.
3All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New King James Version. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
4Galatians 1:6
