Misapplied Grace
6/4/26 Bible Thought (Micah 3)
Main Idea: God cares about how His people live.
A Look at the Text:
The prophet Micah served during a time when many were self-deceived. The rulers in Judah should have known justice (Mic. 3:1), and instead they hated the good and loved the evil (Mic. 3:2). They mistreated their people and still thought God would come to their rescue (Mic. 3:2-4).
This was largely due to the failure of the religious leaders. The prophets would cry “Peace” in exchange for food (Mic. 3:5), and both prophet and priest declared, “No disaster shall come upon us” (Mic. 3:11).
“Its [Jerusalem’s] heads give judgment for a bribe;
its priests teach for a price;
its prophets practice divination for money;
yet they lean on the LORD and say,
“Is not the LORD in the midst of us?
No disaster shall come upon us” (Mic. 3:11).
Yet, the priests should have been the first to know that the people had broken their covenant with God!
There were curses for covenantal disobedience that God had clearly laid out in His law (see Deut. 28:15-68), and yet they ignored His warnings. In their folly, they leaned on God for security when they had actually abandoned Him. In response, He had hidden His face (Mic. 3:4).
Their evil deeds had separated them from their God, and He wasn’t going to come running to deliver an unrepentant people.
Bringing it Home:
The people of Micah’s day wanted to lean on God as Savior, but they weren’t willing to submit to Him as King. They wanted all the benefits of a Sovereign without any of the sacrifice. They were self-deceived. God was not mocked. They would reap what they had sown. Like Samaria, Jerusalem would be plowed as a field and turned to a heap of ruins (Mic. 3:12).
In the same way, many today profess to know Christ, but deny Him by their works (Titus 1:16). They like Jesus as Savior, but not as Lord. To this, we must know that we cannot pick and choose the aspects of Christ that we like or do not like.
If our lives are full to the brim with unrepentant sin, we cannot pretend to be right with God. God’s grace, while sufficient for all of our sins, has never been nor will ever be a license for sinful behavior (see Rom. 6:1). Instead, God’s kindness is intended to draw us to repentance (see Rom. 2:4).
While we all know and confess that we will not be perfect and sinless in this life, we likewise have to be honest with ourselves as to whether or not we are abusing His grace. God does care about how we live our lives, even as saved-by-grace people.
He will not be mocked. In the words of R.C. Sproul, “Jesus is either Lord of all, or He’s not Lord at all.”
Challenge:
Do I see God’s grace as a doormat to walk on or a treasure to cherish?