grace alone...

When St. Paul taught the doctrine of justification by Grace alone he was opposed by those who thought he was encouraging moral irresponsibility, and in fact undermining the law, but Paul insisted that on the contrary he was establishing the law. Similarly when Luther reasserted the same doctrine at the Reformation he was met with the charge of fostering antinomianism, but he showed that the contrary was the case, for out of justification flowed the life ruled by the law of love, and that far from subverting moral responsibility justification by Grace alone established it upon a profound and unshakeable foundation.

Theological Science, T.F. Torrance

Perhaps we should try to get our heads around this radical truth that is the Good News that our salvation is not conditional on our actions but that our actions consequentially follow God's saving action! After all, what is grace if we have to earn it? When we realize that we are saved despite ourselves, then we are freed to live in joy and love. We no longer have to serve God out of a feeling of obligation or duty, living in constant fear of whether we are doing enough, but we develop an unceasing desire to serve God in response to His great mercy, being empowered by the Holy Spirit to act. My friends, I pray that you would begin to grasp the enormity of how high and wide and deep the love of God is for us in and through Jesus Christ!

cheers,
jw <><