Be Not Overcome With Shame

     Romans 6:20-21 says, “For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.  But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed?  For the end of those things is death.”  Many years ago I was in the home of an evangelist when a brother in Christ came to his house in tears, devastated and ashamed that he had given in to a particular temptation. Over the years I have seen many Christians in similar situations. Indeed, what Christian among us has not felt great shame at having committed an individual sin or a series of them?

     Shame at sin is good and something all Christians should feel. After all, Christ died so that we could be freed from bondage to sin and inherit salvation. Christians do not live in sin (Romans 6:15-18) so none of us should ever maintain a nonchalant attitude toward it. Paul reminds us that godly sorrow  (of which shame is part—see Psalm 51) leads one to repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10).

     However, sometimes Christians have been so overwhelmed by shame that they convinced themselves that God could not forgive them for what they’d done. I have heard Christians state that they no longer felt they could do “enough” to make up for the sins they had committed, that God could not be convinced to forgive them. Herein lies a sad misunderstanding of God’s grace. None of us, not even the most godly and righteous, can do enough to earn God’s forgiveness. What does “enough” mean? Who determines when “enough” has been achieved? Paul said, “Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased grace abounded all the more” (Romans 5:20). The wonderful teaching of this verse is that the greater the need for God’s grace, the greater the supply becomes! We can’t do enough to earn God’s grace, but because it is grace we don’t have to! Remember, “if it is the adherents of the law (those relying solely on their own ability to achieve salvation--AL) who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise void” (Romans 4:14). To walk by faith is to recognize that one’s own ability can never save him but only God’s grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8).

     All of this means that God does not require absolute perfection on our part (if He did who among us could ever be saved?), but a life lived in Christ. This life is no mystical, indefinable thing. It is the life of one who has “become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed” (Romans 6:17). This means that one’s practice is to walk in the light (1 John 1:7). They are not perfect but they are quick to repent of sins knowing that they will be forgiven because God’s grace is strong enough to forgive any sin (Romans 5:20) and has promised to do so (1 John 1:9)!

         So by all means, let us feel shame at sin. There’s a problem if we don’t! But let us always remember that we will not be saved on the basis of our own goodness and ability, but the grace of God as our lives continue to be those of faith. Praise God for that!