The Bible has a high view of sin, and an even higher view of grace. Paul says that “sin came into the world through one man, and death though sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Rom. 5:12). Death reigns as a result of each person’s sin, whether they know or acknowledge such sin.

“But” he continues, “the free gift is not like the trespass. . . . For if because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. . . . Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace bounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 5:15, 17, 20).

You can see why Paul had to refute the idea that we should sin all the more since grace abounds when we do. God’s grace doesn’t enable us to sin; it enables us to resist it. But for those who have received the gift of the eternal life and have God’s indwelling Spirit, grace is winning and sin is losing. The presence of sin, which we all still experience, is but another opportunity for grace to reign in honest confession, humility, repentance, gratitude and joy to God for yet another deliverance.

For the believer, even sin is an occasion of triumphant grace.