“I can deliberately sin because we are under grace” - a prevalent new-age doctrine.

Today, a very prevalent doctrine that I have seen spreading throughout churches and in online forums is: “Since we are under grace, we are no longer required to come to genuine repentance of our sins, nor are we required to keep the commandments of God”. I would like to stress that this is a doctrine of devils being parroted by individuals who are not of genuine faith and/or have a limited knowledge of scripture or who, through the love of sin, have deceived themselves and are now deceiving others.

Paul addressed this false doctrine: “What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” (Romans 6:15-18 ESV)

John also discussed this at length: “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.” (1 John 3:4-10 ESV)

Finally, our Lord Jesus gave many warnings: “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7:24-27 ESV)

Those of us who are saved by our faith in Christ are called to be disciples of Jesus Christ. We are to recognise Christ as Lord and make him the centre of our lives. We are to be walking by every word that comes from the mouth of God. We are to vehemently seek God’s Word and Will. We are to keep a close relationship with God through constant prayer. We are to fear God and keep His commandments, repenting of our sins. We are to resist the temptations that the devil puts before us, to the glory of God. We are to love God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind. We are to love others as we love ourselves. We are to exude love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We are to give willingly, cheerfully, and freely. We are to be bold as lions. We are to be ready to forsake everything that we have, including, if necessary, our very family, for the sake of God.

Sin is literally in the eye of the beholder and changes from belief to belief.
There are natural laws that make a human good company, neighbour, friend or anything really, qnd then there are things which make other people's lives a misery.

No normal person needs a god to behave nicely.
I don't. I am as godless as they come and I promise you I am one of the most reliable, honest and nice person. How is that possible?
Do I sin?
I don't know. All I know is that I am better and nicer than my oh so religious, cheating, lying family.

God is love, bruh. Pure love. There is no sin, other than sin that betrays love (adultery). All of the other sins are control mechanisms, reminiscent of the Old Testament God, Yahweh, in place by the church, where they twisted that God's control with the true Holy God's message.

Live in Love. Pray and preach Love. Let that be the center of your life. Let that happiness and joy fill your soul, instead of praying and pleading, begging, judging, fearing, forsaking, and all that other negative thought and practice.

I'm not saying to go out and be a d*ck, but... just take a breath. It'll be ok.

originally posted by: Hecate666
Sin is literally in the eye of the beholder and changes from belief to belief.
There are natural laws that make a human good company, neighbour, friend or anything really, qnd then there are things which make other people's lives a misery.

No normal person needs a god to behave nicely.
I don't. I am as godless as they come and I promise you I am one of the most reliable, honest and nice person. How is that possible?
Do I sin?
I don't know. All I know is that I am better and nicer than my oh so religious, cheating, lying family.

Amen!
One of the meanest people I've ever met would never dream of missing a Sunday church service or Wednesday prayer meeting in her 94 years on this planet.

Not a new or new-age doctrine. Been with us since Peter was, allegedly, crucified upside down.

People in the modern age who call themselves Christian but can so easily not only convince themselves of their own righteousness but also present themselves as sinless, merely emulate the divine right of the kings and popes of old.

That is their choice. If you want to pity them for being deceived by the darkness in their own souls, that is your choice.

a reply to: TheGoodNews

Is this like how people say "oh it's okay because I can repent later" or "Jesus forgives all" or whatever, because I have heard that before from people and I really feel like it misses the spirit of the whole message. Because isn't it really about the final judgment and that, if you are really a good person you would never have had to repent because you haven't sinned? I mean. I don't know. I know "everyone sins" or whatever they want to say. So I'm not saying that everybody doesn't sin, but I dont think just because you can repent its fine to sin.

a reply to: TheGoodNews

Tao Te Ching Chapter 38

J H McDonald

The highest good is not to seek to do good,
but to allow yourself to become it.
The ordinary person seeks to do good things,
and finds that they cannot do them continually.

The Master does not force virtue on others,
thus she is able to accomplish her task.
The ordinary person who uses force,
will find that they accomplish nothing.

The kind person acts from the heart,
and accomplishes a multitude of things.
The righteous person acts out of pity,
yet leaves many things undone.
The moral person will act out of duty,
and when no one will respond
will roll up his sleeves and uses force.

When the Tao is forgotten, there is righteousness.
When righteousness is forgotten, there is morality.
When morality is forgotten, there is the law.
The law is the husk of faith,
and trust is the beginning of chaos.

Our basic understandings are not from the Tao
because they come from the depths of our misunderstanding.
The master abides in the fruit and not in the husk.
She dwells in the Tao,
and not with the things that hide it.
This is how she increases in wisdom.

I like the translation by Stefen Stenudd better, so, here's that last paragraph, which I find easier to understand.

Knowing the future is the flower of the Way,
and the beginning of folly.
Therefore,
The truly great ones rely on substance,
And not on surface.
Hold onto the fruit,
And not to the flower.
They reject the latter and receive the former.

I do believe that I could make a very strong case that Paul who wrote to the Galatians "Oh foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?", had backslidden quite badly himself into the Law. By the time he wrote the letter to the Romans he was equivocating, rationalizing how to meld Law keeping as righteousness and faith and spirit given love as righteousness.
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A couple of New Age forms of Christianity you might want to look at:
Prosperity Gospel and

Prosperity theology (sometimes referred to as the prosperity gospel, the health and wealth gospel, the gospel of success, seed-faith gospel, Faith movement, or Word-Faith movement)[1][A] is a religious belief among some Charismatic Christians that financial blessing and physical well-being are always the will of God for them, and that faith, positive scriptural confession, and giving to charitable and religious causes will increase one's material wealth.[2] Material and especially financial success is seen as an evidence of divine grace or favor and blessings.

Libertarian Christianity

What makes libertarian Christianity unique is that people who claim to be libertarian Christians are people who either implicitly or explicitly claim to have found some kind of ideological bridge that makes libertarianism and Christianity compatible. Whether people who claim to be libertarian Christians have discovered an ideological bridge that is genuinely faithful to the fundamental tenets of both libertarianism and Christianity is inevitably a question whose answer determines whether the libertarian Christian's bridge is ideologically sound or is based on pure presumption and wishful thinking.

When God dreams. He creates worlds. Creating people like you and me to experience all, within those worlds. We of cause see it as our world. See it as our experience. Its that perspective that blocks us from attaining higher levels of Christ consciousness. Its not that we are nothing. We are everything. Its giving up the limited for the unlimited. Yet the ego-mind that chases the unlimited will always falter. There can only be one God.

originally posted by: Hecate666
Sin is literally in the eye of the beholder and changes from belief to belief.
There are natural laws that make a human good company, neighbour, friend or anything really, qnd then there are things which make other people's lives a misery.

No normal person needs a god to behave nicely.
I don't. I am as godless as they come and I promise you I am one of the most reliable, honest and nice person. How is that possible?
Do I sin?
I don't know. All I know is that I am better and nicer than my oh so religious, cheating, lying family.

Evil, warfare, spite and fraud all exist.

Is selfishness, even unintended, but that hurts others in some way, sin?

a reply to: TheGoodNews

No one truly saved by Christ sets out to commit sin.
They also know not to drive themselves insane trying
to reach perfection in this world. While ALL ALL ALL
of my sins are forgiven. I despise when I fail and fight
to do better. Repent. Nothing I can do will save me.
I know this because if I could do anything to save myself
then what Christ did for me is worthless. And nothing can
ever convince me of that.

I remember noticing this a lot even starting around 20 years ago. I don't know if that's how people were conceptualizing it, but I remember meeting a bunch of people over a short time frame that essentially held this belief. They -said- they believed in God, and then just... ignored all the commandments they didn't like or were inconvenient. Basically, anything that actually required them to make a life change, they ignored.

originally posted by: Hecate666
... All I know is that I am better and nicer than my oh so religious, cheating, lying family.

What's with the 'better than thou' ('holier than thou') attitude then? Isn't that what ticks you off when religious people do that?

Prejudice and Discrimination—Getting to the Roots (Awake!—2009)

...

Pride. In the form of inordinate self-esteem or haughtiness, pride can make a person more susceptible to prejudice. For example, pride can cause a person to be prone to feelings of superiority or disdain toward the less educated or the materially poor. It may also make him inclined to believe propaganda that elevates his national or ethnic group. Clever propagandists, such as Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, have deliberately nurtured national and racial pride to rally the support of the masses and to malign those considered to be different or undesirable.

◼ What does the Bible say? “Everyone that is proud in heart is something detestable to Jehovah.” (Proverbs 16:5) “[Do] nothing out of contentiousness or out of egotism, but with lowliness of mind [consider] that the others are superior to you.” (Philippians 2:3) Ask yourself: ‘Do I take secret delight in flattering comments about my own race or ethnic group or in disparaging remarks about others? Am I inclined to be jealous of those who have talents that I lack, or do I take genuine delight in their abilities?’

...

Humility, an underrated quality amongst both the religious as well as those who deem themselves not to be religious (even as they believe in and express many religiously rooted philosophies/ideas, concepts, ideologies, and overlook the fact that "religion" in its broadest sense can also be personal, rather than one of the mainstream organized religions; or that the following things have all been referred to as religions by historians and other educated people: scientism, nationalism, patriotism, philosophical naturalism*).

*: the latter one is basically Mother Nature/Gaia worship 'in the closet', so to speak. Evolutionary myths are the defining beliefs of philosophical naturalism, and they boil down to the claim: '(Mother) Nature did it'. When it comes to subjects such as the origin of the universe, the origin of life, the origin of species, the origin of mankind, etc. Details:

The Pagan Religious Roots of Evolutionary Philosophies and Philosophical Naturalism (part 1 of 2)

You may not be as irreligious as you might think.

Some final thoughts and recommendations from Jesus:

“Stop judging that you may not be judged; for with the judgment you are judging, you will be judged, and with the measure that you are measuring out, they will measure out to you. Why, then, do you look at the straw in your brother’s eye but do not notice the rafter in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Allow me to remove the straw from your eye,’ when look! a rafter is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the rafter from your own eye, and then you will see clearly how to remove the straw from your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:1-5)

“All things, therefore, that you want men to do to you, you also must do to them. This, in fact, is what the Law and the Prophets mean.” (Matthew 7:12)

Pride and arrogance can cause quite some interference with that 'Golden Rule' (as it has been called). It can also very sneakily and subtly seep into your heart without even realizing it, and the entertainment media, propagandists and religious teachers have a tendency to push that button quite a bit. Flattery tends to nurture it as well.

...

Playing on the Emotions

...

Some propagandists play on pride. Often we can spot appeals to pride by looking for such key phrases as: “Any intelligent person knows that . . .” or, “A person with your education can’t help but see that . . .” A reverse appeal to pride plays on our fear of seeming stupid. Professionals in persuasion are well aware of that.

...

The propagandist makes sure that his message appears to be the right and moral one and that it gives you a sense of importance and belonging if you follow it. You are one of the smart ones, you are not alone, you are comfortable and secure—so they say.

Sources: The Manipulation of Information (Awake!—2000)
Do Not Be a Victim of Propaganda!

Flattery

The act of pleasing by artful commendation; adulation; false, insincere, or excessive praise. It is usually done to gratify the self-love or vanity of the one flattered and is therefore damaging to him. Its motive is to gain favor or material benefits from another, to create a feeling of obligation toward the flatterer or to bring glory to him. Often it is designed to lead the other person into a trap. (Pr 29:5) The use of flattery is not evidence of the wisdom from above; it is of this world, being characterized by selfishness, the making of partial distinctions, and hypocrisy. (Jas 3:17) Insincerity, lying, adulating or glorifying men, and playing on the vanity of others are all displeasing to God.​—2Co 1:12; Ga 1:10; Eph 4:25; Col 3:9; Re 21:8.

...

While the use of flattery may appear to be the gainful course, the Bible points out that “he that is reproving a man will afterward find more favor than he will that is flattering with his tongue.” (Pr 28:23) When a person employs flattery to gain advantage over another person, it is the opposite of love. A hater may resort to flattery but will eventually have his deceptiveness roll back on him like a stone.​—Pr 26:24-28.

Flattery employs smooth talk in order to beguile its victim. The expressions “flattery,” “smooth tongue (lip, or words)” (Ps 5:9; 12:2, 3; Da 11:32), “smoothness” (Pr 7:21; Da 11:34, ftn), and “double-faced” (Eze 12:24, ftn) are translations of the Hebrew root word cha·laqʹ or related words. In every Bible instance cited, the motive of the smooth talker is bad.

Propagandists often use flattery to play on people's pride and vanity, to make people more "prone to feelings of superiority [over others that they deem different from them] or disdain [towards others that are different from them, hold different views, or have different ideologies or beliefs/opinions]".

Coming back to the article about prejudice:

A good start is to acknowledge that none of us are above developing prejudices. The book Understanding Prejudice and Discrimination says: “Perhaps the most important conclusions to emerge from prejudice research are these: (1) no one capable of human thought and speech is immune from harboring prejudice, (2) it often takes deliberate effort and awareness to reduce prejudice, and (3) with sufficient motivation, it can be done.”

The same counts for the type of pride* that causes prejudice (*: "In the form of inordinate self-esteem or haughtiness" as mentioned before). None of us are immune. We are all affected. It is quite difficult to root out (often because we don't want to see it in ourselves, and when spotted anyway, don't want to admit it to ourselves and do something about it, tone it down a bit).

originally posted by: whereislogic
...

Some propagandists play on pride. Often we can spot appeals to pride by looking for such key phrases as: “Any intelligent person knows that . . .” or, “A person with your education can’t help but see that . . .” A reverse appeal to pride plays on our fear of seeming stupid. Professionals in persuasion are well aware of that.

A reverse appeal to pride can also play on our fear of seeming self-righteous (the 'better than thou'/'holier than thou' attitude) or judgemental.

The irony is that when constantly being bombarded by people who push this button (often in the entertainment industry where certain stereotypical religious characters are shown, or in atheistic or agnostic circles and echo chambers, such as a youtube channel made by an atheist such as AronRa, Thunderf00t or Jaclyn Glenn), it can lead a person to generalize, for example deeming and judging all religious people as being self-righteous and judgemental (just like the stereotypical religious characters* in the movies and TV series). Or at the least, trying to fit whatever someone says or expresses (incl. their behaviour) into that stereotypical picture (into that box). *: in particular the 'fundamentalist Christian' type, they hardly ever do it to other religions (for example, Buddhists and Hindus are often depicted as characters that are openminded and not judgemental or self-righteous; but I recon the Hindus who burn Muslims alive only for being suspected of transporting beef in India where cows are sacred, or the Buddhists who killed their Buddhist brothers in Asia when fighting for Japan in WWII, or those nationalistic Buddhist monks who riled up their flocks against the Rohingya minority in Myanmar, can be quite self-righteous and judgemental as well. Inordinate self-esteem and haughtiness affecting them as much as everyone else).

...

Making Generalizations

Another very successful tactic of propaganda is generalization. Generalizations tend to obscure important facts about the real issues in question, and they are frequently used to demean entire groups of people. [whereislogic: like a whole "family", just for being religious, or all religious people, or all people professing to be Christians.] ...

...

Name-Calling

Some people insult those who disagree with them by questioning character or motives instead of focusing on the facts. Name-calling slaps a negative, easy-to-remember label onto a person, a group, or an idea. The name-caller hopes that the label will stick. If people reject the person or the idea on the basis of the negative label instead of weighing the evidence for themselves, the name-caller’s strategy has worked. [whereislogic: like the label "creatards" when used to demean those who believe that the universe and the life in it were created by God, as often used by those who believe in religiously rooted and motivated evolutionary myths instead; you can see the label quite often in the comment sections of youtube channels made by atheists when expressing their belief therein and arguing against said "creatards". Even while denying those beliefs in themselves, using phrases such as 'I accept that evolution is a fact', or 'I accept that evolution is a scientific theory/is science', etc.; as if that changes their beliefs/opinions concerning evolutionary myths; they got that behaviour from their gurus, just swapping out the word "believe" with "accept" or "know". Doesn't change that they believe these myths are facts or scientific rather than religiously rooted and motivated unverified philosophies/ideas and proven myths/false stories.]

Source: same as before, The Manipulation of Information (Awake!—2000)

2 Timothy 3:1-7

But know this, that in the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here. 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, haughty, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, disloyal, 3 having no natural affection, not open to any agreement, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, without love of goodness, 4 betrayers, headstrong, puffed up with pride, lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God, 5 having an appearance of godliness but proving false to its power; and from these turn away. 6 From among these arise men who slyly work their way into households and captivate weak women loaded down with sins, led by various desires, 7 always learning and yet never able to come to an accurate knowledge of truth.

originally posted by: Hecate666
... All I know is that I am better and nicer than my oh so religious, cheating, lying family.

Colossians 3:12-14

12 Accordingly, as God’s chosen ones, holy and loved, clothe yourselves with the tender affections of compassion, kindness, humility, mildness, and patience. 13 Continue putting up with one another and forgiving one another freely even if anyone has a cause for complaint against another. Just as Jehovah freely forgave you, you must also do the same. 14 But besides all these things, clothe yourselves with love, for it is a perfect bond of union.

It also strengthens literal (genetic) family bonds. (in the Bible, Christians are described as brothers and sisters because it's meant to be a figurative family)

1 Corinthians 13:1-8

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but do not have love, I have become a clanging gong or a clashing cymbal. 2 And if I have the gift of prophecy and understand all the sacred secrets and all knowledge, and if I have all the faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.* [Or “I am useless.”] 3 And if I give all my belongings to feed others, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I do not benefit at all.

4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous. It does not brag, does not get puffed up, 5 does not behave indecently, does not look for its own interests, does not become provoked. It does not keep account of the injury. 6 It does not rejoice over unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never fails. ...

edit previous comment: when I added the remark in the external box about those arguing against said "creatards", I actually meant, when ridiculing them in front of others (it's used as an argument against believing that the universe and the life in it is the product of creation by God, to give people in their own camp, as well as themselves, the impression that these people are retards, but the ones on your side are smart, in the process demonstrating that one has been affected by the propaganda technique that I bolded earlier, an appeal to pride and reverse appeal to pride that plays on our fear of seeming stupid, or retards: "You are one of the smart ones, you are not alone, you are comfortable and secure—so they say." People actually begin to believe that flattery, and then they start using labels like "creatards" to deride those they deam beneath them in terms of intelligence and gullibility; and demonstrating that they are as gullible as they claim these others to be when it comes to the belief in religiously rooted and motivated evolutionary philosophies/ideas and myths/false stories, or when it comes to scientism and philosophical naturalism, or when it comes to falling for flattery and propaganda leading to inordinate self-esteem, which is sometimes in the field of psychology also called the Dunning-Kruger effect, a term the most famous atheistic philosophers are fond of bringing up and teaching their flocks who parrot that term without realizing it might also apply to them, or perhaps even more so than the ones they ascribe this effect to).

He also had a video where he brought up how fond atheists can be in bringing up the Dunning-Kruger effect, applying it to those who hold different views than them (mostly Christians), because someone in his comment section brought up the term (probably in order to apply it to the the channel's owner, I don't know his name). But it's kinda hard for me to remember which video that was. But he had even more pertinent things to say about the behaviour in that video. I'll give a few videos a try to see if I run into it again (it's been years since I've seen that one, that was actually the one I was looking for).

This one isn't the one, but it does somewhat demonstrate the Dunning-Kruger effect along with pointing out some important things to realize about the way atheists argue and misleadingly define atheism (with a definition that counts more for agnosticism and therefore should not be applied to atheism or self-proclaimed atheists):

Found it (after 8:34; a whole bunch of atheist commenters referring to the Dunning-Kruger effect):

originally posted by: DragonsDemesne
I remember noticing this a lot even starting around 20 years ago. I don't know if that's how people were conceptualizing it, but I remember meeting a bunch of people over a short time frame that essentially held this belief. They -said- they believed in God, and then just... ignored all the commandments they didn't like or were inconvenient. Basically, anything that actually required them to make a life change, they ignored.

The behaviour has even been mentioned in the Bible, showing that it's been around much longer than the so-called "New Age Movement". (the title of this thread claims it's a New Age doctrine; even if they teach it too, doesn't mean this way of thinking or teaching wasn't around before, i.e. it does not originate with the New Age Movement as some people might think after reading that title)

For example at Jude 4: "they are ungodly men who turn the undeserved kindness* [other translations will say "grace" here] of our God into an excuse for brazen conduct* [Or “shameless conduct.”] and who prove false to our only owner* [Or “master.”] and Lord, Jesus Christ."

Among the early Christians, there were some who attempted to “turn the undeserved kindness of . . . God into an excuse for brazen conduct.” (Jude 4) These unfaithful Christians apparently thought that they could sin and then count on God to forgive them. Worse still, they endeavored to entice their brothers to join them in their contemptuous ways. Even today, anyone doing that “has outraged the spirit of undeserved kindness.”​—Heb. 10:29. (The Greek word rendered "grace" here in many Bible translations means "undeserved kindness"*, that's why this translation spells it out for you. *: technically, it's the closest approximation in English considering the context in the verses quoted here, long story for which I will spare you the details)

Today, Satan has misled some Christians into thinking that they can presume on God’s mercy and commit sins with impunity. But while God is willing to forgive repentant sinners, he expects us to put up a strong fight against our sinful tendencies. He inspired Peter to write: “You, therefore, beloved ones, having this advance knowledge, be on your guard so that you may not be led astray with them by the error of the lawless people and fall from your own steadfastness. No, but go on growing in the undeserved kindness and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”​—2 Pet. 3:17, 18.

originally posted by: chr0naut

Evil, warfare, spite and fraud all exist.

Is selfishness, even unintended, but that hurts others in some way, sin?

Yes. Definition for sin: Literally, a missing of the mark, according to the Hebrew and Greek Bible texts. God himself sets the “mark” that his intelligent creatures are to reach. Missing that mark is sin, which is also unrighteousness, or lawlessness. (Rom. 3:23; 1 John 5:17; 3:4) Sin is anything not in harmony with God’s personality, standards, ways, and will, all of which are holy. It may involve wrong conduct, failure to do what should be done, ungodly speech, unclean thoughts, or desires or motives that are selfish. The Bible differentiates between inherited sin and willful sin, between an act of sin over which a person is repentant and the practice of sin.

Regarding that last point...

1 John 3:4, 8: “Everyone who practices sin is also practicing lawlessness, and so sin is lawlessness. He who carries on sin originates with the Devil.” (How forceful this is! Those who deliberately choose a course of sin, making a practice of it, are viewed by God as criminals. The course they have chosen is the one that Satan himself first took.)

Rom. 5:8, 10: “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. . . . When we were enemies, we became reconciled to God through the death of his Son.” (Notice that sinners are referred to as enemies of God. How wise, then, to avail ourselves of the provision that God has made for reconciliation to him!)

1 Tim. 1:13: “I was shown mercy [says the apostle Paul], because I was ignorant and acted with a lack of faith.” (But when he was shown the right way by the Lord, he did not hold back from following it.)

2 Cor. 6:1, 2: “Working together with him, we also entreat you not to accept the undeserved kindness [other translations say "grace" here, see previous comment] of God and miss its purpose. For he says: ‘In an acceptable time I heard you, and in a day of salvation I helped you.’ Look! Now is the especially acceptable time. Look! Now is the day of salvation.” (Now is the time when the opportunity for salvation is available. God will not forever extend toward sinful humans such undeserved kindness. So, care needs to be exercised in order that we do not miss its purpose.)