As workers together with Him, we plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. Now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation. We must not fail to use this wonderful gift, for God gives grace to be used by those who receive it. The sanctification process requires our cooperation with Him to produce the right qualities and sensitivities through His creative efforts, resulting in Christian works. We must stop resisting Him through neglectful drifting, lest we receive His grace in vain. God's grace dwelling in us through Jesus Christ enables and obligates us to produce the fruit of righteousness, living as He lives right now, not as a way to God, but as a way of life from Him. This simple truth has been distorted by satan, leading some to turn the grace of God into an excuse for lawlessness, denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Such actions trample the Son of God underfoot, count the blood of the covenant as a common thing, and insult the Spirit of grace. To those called to have God dwelling in us, His grace is not a license for complacency, but a call to live according to His Spirit, producing works of righteousness in unity from the inside out, as a light to a world in darkness.

Grace can be received in vain, because salvation is not unconditionally guaranteed. The doctrine of Once Saved, Always Saved is appealing but deceptive, for a justified Christian who has come under the blood of Jesus Christ can fall from grace. Israel's experience in the wilderness is the lesson: many who were freed from Egypt never reached the Promised Land because they would not believe God and refused His gifts along the way. Paul pleads with Christians not to receive the grace of God in vain (II Corinthians 6:1), and Peter warns that those who know these things must beware lest they fall from their steadfastness, led away by error (II Peter 3:17). Hebrews 3 and 4 show that the gospel did not profit those who heard it, because it was not mixed with faith. Hebrews 6:4-6 and 10:26-27 warn that those who have been enlightened, partaken of the Holy Spirit, and then fall away or sin willfully lose the sacrifice for sins and face fiery judgment. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the denial, by the witness of one's life, that one was forgiven and given God's Spirit, when one fails to live by faith and returns to a life of sin. Salvation comes by what God freely gives, but it is lost when a person refuses those gifts. Therefore, after justification, a Christian must keep a determined mindset to live by faith and submit to God, relying on His grace to supply every need until the course is finished.