Grace: Its remedy abused... its design forgotten...

So, a pastoral friend of mine blogs and I found this on his site. He found it from a book so I figure that if I rip it from his blog when he ripped it from a book, then I should be okay in doing so. =D

I find the message of this quote to be highly profound and also appropriate for our times.
Consider how many of us desire to "feel forgiven" and not want to give anything in return. Don't get me wrong- the very idea of grace is to accept God's forgiveness as a free gift. But, what type of gratitude do we show God when we aimlessly live our lives as if nothing happened and as if salvation was only a meal ticket, not an opportunity to live for a beautiful and perfect God?

“You must understand this: the flesh weakens conviction by separating the remedy of grace from the design of grace. The Scriptures teach nothing more clearly than that God’s design in showing mercy is to make us holy people (Titus 2:11-12). But God also provides a remedy for our lapses: his loving pardon gives us peace, so that we know that if we do sin, ‘we also have one who speaks to the Father in our defense’. The flesh works to make you forget the design (that you are saved to be holy) and think only of the remedy (if you sin, you’ll be forgiven). It preaches a half gospel (a twisted gospel) to us: ‘Go ahead and indulge - it’s already paid for’. Those who fall prey to such deception are evidently many, since the Scripture go to such lengths to condemn it (Romans 3:3-8; 6:1-4; Jude 4)”


The truth arrests me in my moment of sin and then sets me free in a life of grace,
Brendon