God’s Gift Of Grace Cannot Be Manipulated

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Whoever has God’s gift of grace, unmerited eternal life, can also have assurance that they will be in heaven because the Holy Spirit guides them into all truth. The true believer’s very nature is changed from being a slave to sin to being a slave to righteousness. Being a slave to righteousness does not mean that a true believer no longer sins, only that he is under grace, not the law.

Some people are against accepting the Bible’s teaching of eternal security because they think it allows (or encourages) genuine believers to continue in sin, putting their salvation in danger. Is it unsafe to set up the safety of saints in such strong terms because this will encourage them to be careless with their lives? If you feel that you are licensed to sin by the security that God has granted, you have not been rightly taught.

Believers are Under Grace Not Under the Law

Believers will sin less over time because they are under grace; they have been set free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:1-2). Note that the Bible does not specify an exact time length that the believer must demonstrate this, except a lifetime.

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

Romans 6:1-2 ESV

Here, we have this objection named in the scriptures, showing that it was brought against the apostles–that their doctrines suggested carelessness and living in sin. The fact that such an objection was brought against them is evidence that there was something in their preaching that led many to think that they did not believe in obedience to God. But let us hear Paul’s reply that highlights the new nature of believers. How can we who died to sin still live in it? This plainly shows that the Christian is dead to sin and that this is the reason why he does and should obey God. He has lost his delight in sin; he is dead to it.

For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!

And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.

Romans 6:14-15; 3:8 ESV

Believers are far removed from the law with its curse and are under grace. They do not do evil to bring about good! Who can doubt from these passages that the apostles taught that salvation was wholly of grace, and not in any degree of works? We see now that people who teach that possessors of salvation are free, are charged and slandered just as Paul was in his day.

For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.

1 Peter 2:15-16 ESV

These foolish men say, “If my works can neither make nor keep me holy, I would not care how I live. I would enjoy the pleasures of sin all the time.” But God’s will is that His people will silence such nonsense by a godly life–showing to the world that we are the sons of God and that it is our highest pleasure to obey him–that we feel grateful to him for what he has done for us in the past. Yes, even more, that sin has become exceeding sinful to us, so that we flee from and dread it as poison.

Grace is a More Powerful Motivator Than Fear

God’s grace grants us the precious gift of eternal life that we don’t deserve and cannot earn. We have found that all misery was brought by sin, and all our happiness is the hope of being delivered from sin. The scripture exhortation is “by the mercies of God” not by the fear of hell or apostasy.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Romans 12:1 ESV

Your greatest incentive to obedience is to think of all that Christ has done for you on the cross: his groans and death. If this will not prompt you, it is not worthwhile to threaten you with “falling from grace.” Mercy is more powerful than fear. Love drives out fear (1 John 4:18).

So, we believers can see that God’s gift of eternal life, and the security of it, are more than worth our obedience; we can delight in obedience, with thanksgiving, because of it. Look now to the Holy Spirit to reveal Christ’s love and guide you into all truth. Let nothing but His love motivate you to do the good works that God has planned in advance for you to do.

This is post 6 in a series; you can read the previous post. This post started as the public domain works of J. H. Oliphant. While sections are the same in many ways, I modernized the language and added my thoughts to provide greater clarity for my readers.
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