Grace's Function

"For the grace of God, which can save every man, has now become known, and it teaches us--disciplines us--to have no more to do with godlessness or the desires of this world but to live, here and now, responsible, honorable, and God-fearing lives. And while we live this life we hope and wait for the glorious denouement of the great God and of Jesus Christ our Savior. For He gave Himself for us, that He might rescue us from all our evil ways and make for Himself a people of His own, clean and pure, with our hearts set upon living a life that is good."

Too often we get it backwards when we think of God's grace. The whole function of grace is not to encourage us to live life as we please knowing that we've been forgiven, but in actuality, grace's purpose is the exact opposite. God's grace teaches us and disciplines us so that we live godly lives more and more immune to the temptations of the world's desires, more and more committed to purity, and more and more energized to do good for others. The man who teaches that grace is a license to sin has no idea what grace is--zero. If I have truly been a recipient of God's grace, my heart's desire is to be more and more like Him, living in anticipation of His coming to earth again to end evil and godlessness among men. Grace's work is to "rescue us from all our evil ways."