Those who suppose that the doctrine of God's grace tends to encourage moral laxity ('"final salvation is certain anyway, no matter what we do; therefore our conduct doesn't matter") are simply showing that, in the most literal sense, they do not know what they are talking about. For love awakens love in return; and love, once awakened, desires to give pleasure; and the revealed will of God is that those who have received grace should hence-forth give themselves to "good works" (Ephesians 2:10, Titus 2:11 f.); and gratitude will move any man who has truly received grace to do as God requires, and daily cry out thus--
Oh! to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be;
Let that grace now, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee!
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it;
Prone to leave the God I love--
Take my heart, oh, take and seal it,
Seal it from Thy courts above!
~J.I. Packer, Knowing God
Making Your Home an Oasis
3 years ago
Wonderful quote Trisha! And yes, how prone to wander we are...and how Great in Grace our Amazing LORD is!!! HE grows more precious as the years march on, doesn't HE? I L.O.V.E. the Doctrines of Grace!!! I only fully learned about these things after we were married. It is such rich and full and amazing Truth!!
ReplyDeleteLove to you!
Camille