Meet Katie Gaultney

Up until recently, Nordstrom had an extremely, ahem, “gracious” return policy. The high-end retailer allowed merchandise to be returned at any time—even years after purchase—in any condition. No questions asked.

I suspect Nordstrom execs aimed to instill a sense of trust in customers that would encourage shopper loyalty. But as you might imagine, some shoppers took unfair advantage of this policy, returning, say, jeans that had been worn threadbare over the course of decades. Last year, the policy had to change.

You might say many of Nordstrom’s customers had an expectation that grace would abound. So they could abuse those designer jeans and still get their money back in a few years.

Crazy as that may sound, many so-called Christians operate under the same idea: Jesus already paid for all my sin; so if I sin more, what’s the problem? The problem, as Paul points out in verse 2, is that those who have a new life in Christ abhor sin. Dying to sin means setting our ways aside and obeying Christ (John 14:15). Will Christians be tempted? Count on it (1 Peter 5:8). But God is faithful to provide a way out (1 Corinthians 10:13); and God’s way is more attractive to believers than the way of our flesh. A life of obedience to God won’t always be easy, but it will always satisfy more deeply than momentary pleasure.

Following your own way because you know God is in the business of giving grace constitutes a shallow view of what it means to be a Christian. If you think you’re a follower of Christ but you continue to live in habitual sin, “examine yourself” (2 Corinthians 13:5). The cost of discipleship is high (Luke 14:25-33), but the reward is eternal (2 Timothy 4:7-8).