The Worth of Grace

"What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so the grace may increase?"
-Romans 6:1
      For some odd reason, I recently thought about a message I had heard on Romans chapter six a long time ago. I specifically remember the speaker talking about the value of God's grace. I don't remember who the speaker was, but I remember that it was at some rally or retreat that I attended a couple years back. I don't know why I thought about this topic at all, but I guess God must have placed it on my heart.
      Romans 5 is a great passage talking about the justification we have by faith. It talks about how Jesus delivered us from sin and death, and how we are justified. Romans 5:21 ends the chapter by saying "so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord". Paul must have anticipated that the reader would have questions regarding God's grace and justification. Specifically, "what is our response to this amazing grace"? The reader naturally would wonder what we are to do with the abounding grace of God.
      Romans 6 starts off with a somewhat random question. In verse one, that I have written at the beginning of this post, Paul writes "are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?" This is not the first question I would have asked, but I suppose that it is a logical one to ask. Paul says in the previous chapter that "where sin increased, grace abounded all the more". In other words, the more we sin, the more grace is needed to cover our sin. So Paul anticipates that someone may ask "if I keep on sinning, shouldn't grace keep on increasing?" Paul obviously denies this proposition, as logical as it may seem at first.
      To find out what Paul says regarding this matter, I suggest you read Romans chapter 6. Today I want to talk about something we can learn indirectly from this passage. As I mentioned earlier, I heard a message on this passage where the speaker brought up the topic of grace's worth. The speaker gave us this analogy that I will share with you now. Most (if not all) of us know what a Nintendo Wii is. It is a gaming console sold by Nintendo. How does Nintendo determine the worth of the Nintendo Wii? In very simple terms, it is by the production costs, materials, time, and profit. However, another interesting thing that gives the Nintendo Wii worth is its availability. If there were a shortage of Nintendo Wii's due to lack of materials, the Wii's price would rise significantly. Alternatively, if there were an abundance of Wii's because materials became very cheap, the price of the Wii would drop significantly.
      So how does this apply to God's grace? As we know, God's grace is infinite. In terms of economics, the supply of grace greatly outweighs the demand. This could cause us to think that God's grace is cheap, since it is always available whenever we need it. However, the speaker said something that still resonates with me today. The more we sin, the more we cheapen the value of grace. If we continue to sin, we abuse God's grace. Now, does this mean that the more we sin, the less effective God's grace is? Not at all. God's grace is always sufficient enough to cover all of our sins. What it does mean is that the less we sin, the more we recognize the worth of God's grace.
      God's grace is infinitely available, but it is also infinitely valuable. How can I say this? It is because His grace cost the highest price; His own life. No man or woman on earth could have ever paid this high of a cost. Only Jesus Christ was able to fulfill the debt of our sins. There is one last point I would like to consider. Why did Jesus pay the price of our sins? It was not so that we could keep on sinning and then be covered by grace. While certainly His grace does cover any sins we will have, that is not why Jesus shed His blood. He died on that cross so that we might have life, and life to the full. He died so that we could live eternally with Him, in whom there is no sin. This is my call to you (and myself); don't abuse the grace of God. It is infinitely valuable.
-Smart