Cheap Grace?

I spent some time in the Word this evening looking at grace/salvation. One of the best chunks of scripture on this topic, in my opinion, is Romans 6.

Since we're free in the freedom of God, can we do anything that comes to mind? Hardly. You know well enough from your own experience that there are some acts of so-called freedom that destroy freedom. Offer yourselves to sin, for instance, and it's your last free act. But offer yourselves to the ways of God and the freedom never quits...I'm using this freedom language because it's easy to picture. You can readily recall, can't you, how at one time the more you did just what you felt like doing—not caring about others, not caring about God—the worse your life became and the less freedom you had?

But now that you've found you don't have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God's gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master. (The Message)

I also spent some time in the Gospels and Epistles. It is far too late and involved to expound on this tonight, but in closing, I will say:

The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23)

Everyone will have to give an account for their behavior on Judgment Day (Romans 14:12; Matthew 12:36)

God desires that no one shall perish (2 Peter 3:9) This is one of the main reasons that the idea of Election does not sit well with me

Grace through faith is a gift (Eph. 2:8) Salvation isn't earned, but...

Faith without works is dead (James 2:20) because

We will be known by our fruit (Matthew 7:20)

We are to work out our salvation with fear (reverence) and trembling (Philippians 2:12) We are to actively pursue obedience and sanctification

So, while grace is indeed amazing, let us not think of it in such a light that our hearts stagnate. Let us always be examining our lives for blemishes, so we can quickly confess our sins (1 John 1:9).

When you think of your how you live your life, do you think God would respond, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"?