“Grace without discipline is a license to sin.”
HELLO FRIENDS,
My name is Andrew Barry and I am the worship pastor at WSFC. It is my honor and privilege to serve and lead this amazing congregation every week!
This week I watched a sermon on youtube by Rich Wilkerson. He is the pastor of a large church in Miami. Within his message he talked about a lot of different topics throughout the sermon from Paul being a prisoner for the Lord, having integrity, being humble and being hospitable. Although there was so much to unpack in this sermon, there was one little line that was said that has stuck with me all week.
Rich Said, “Grace without discipline is a license to Sin.”
What does this mean? I think when we look at God and what he has done, we can sometimes view what he did on the cross to be an infinite “get out jail free” card and that is not the case at all. Pastor John has talked about this over the last couple weeks: God has rules in place and just like our earthly father would discipline us if we broke the rules, so will our heavenly father (this can become very dangerous if its misconstrued and becomes overly religious but that a different conversation for a different time).
If you’re thinking “God would never do such a thing to hurt his people” let’s look to the bible. King David was disciplined and had consequences for his actions with Bathsheba. Samson who was disciplined for his actions with Delilah. There are stories all throughout the bible of God disciplining his people. (I know some of you are probably thinking that this is the worst Hello Friends blog ever. You didn’t log onto here to read how you’re going to be disciplined for your sins. I promise you this gets better just stick with me.)
The coolest part of all of this is that GOD STILL WORKED AND USED THE PEOPLE WHO HAD SINNED AGAINST HIM AND HE WILL CONTINUE TO DO IT NOW. I capitalized all of that because it is so important to understand that God can and will use you regardless of what your past says about you.
I heard a pastor say once that if the 12 disciples were around today there is no way they would be allowed to be on staff at a church because they were so messed up. Paul was known for hating the gospel and before encountering Jesus sought to kill Christians. After he gave his life to Christ he became one of the most devout well known followers of Christ to this day. We sing the song “Same God” by Elevation worship frequently. The same God who used David and Samson and Paul CAN use you too regardless of your past. We just have to be open and willing to allow the Lord to come and do his thing.
I hope this encourages you and I hope you have a great week!
Andrew Barry