I have a love/hate relationship with coupons. They are great inventions when you can 1) find the right coupon; and 2) locate it before its expiration date. If you happen to come across a coupon the day after it expires, it is a useless piece of paper.
Some treat grace as if it were an outdated coupon. They think that once they become believers that somehow grace no longer is effective in their lives. When they stumble due to succumbing to temptation, they become discouraged and think that they might as well give up.
As a pastor, time and time again I have seen believers with a vibrant walk with the Lord who have given up when they “mess up.” They feel as if they have let down their Lord and fellow believers, so they quit coming to church and drift back into pre-conversion habits. This view of grace is just as faulty as the “shampoo approach”!
The fact of the matter is that grace does not cease to be grace when a sinner becomes a child of God! No believer walks with Christ perfectly, and we never will in this lifetime. When we fall into temptation, the thing to do is to get back up and continue walking with Jesus. His grace is sufficient to forgive errant believers. In 1 John 1:9, the author emphasized this fact to his Christian readers:
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
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