Devotional from Pastor Tim Chalas

Is it possible to have too much grace? Some certainly think so. They worry that if grace is emphasized too strongly, people will misuse it, turning freedom into license. Surely, it needs boundaries. Without law, how will people behave? Without guilt, how will they change? So they suggest a balance — grace with a side of law, freedom tempered by fear. But grace isn’t in need of balancing but believing, because it is not dangerous — it’s divine.

Scripture reveals that grace is not a passive allowance; it is an active teacher. “The grace of God has appeared…instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires…” (Titus 2:11-12). Grace isn’t a license to sin; it’s liberation from it. The law demands righteousness but offers no help to achieve it. Grace, on the other hand, delivers righteousness as a gift and then teaches us how to live it out. Grace doesn’t lead us into sin. It leads us into life. It is not a loophole —it’s the very life of Jesus in us, forming us, shaping us, empowering us.

Some accuse grace of being soft on sin, but it’s the only thing strong enough to free us from it. Grace doesn’t lower the bar — it raises us to new life. It makes us saints, not sinners. It gives us a new heart, not just new habits. And it empowers real transformation from the inside out.

Rather than looking to balance grace, let it overwhelm you with God’s boundless love and unwavering righteousness. Far from a slippery slope — grace is the solid ground of the gospel.

Romans 6:14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

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