"A man can no more take in a supply of grace for the future than he can eat enough today to last him for the next 6 months, nor can he inhale sufficient air into his lungs with one breath to sustain life for a week to come. We are permitted to draw upon God's store of grace from day to day as we need it."

D.L. Moody

So great is the grace of God that as long as we are living in these mortal bodies, we will never come to the depth of understanding how great it is. The sinner who has been touched by grace becomes completely humbled by the reality of God's awesome love and mercy. God's grace should and must be the greatest motivation of the Christian in his or her service to Christ.
On the other side of living by grace is legalism which Paul warned about in the book of Galatians. This is the effect of trying to merit our salvation by doing or not doing certain things. Paul calls it clearly, "another gospel, which is no gospel at all." It seeks to limit God's grace to a bunch of do's and don'ts and regulations. In the quest for holiness, many have done exactly what the Pharisees sought to do, create laws and think that by observing them that they are made righteous before God. Legalism strips away the very life that was breathed by grace and makes our faith nothing more than sterile religious observances void of the riches which Christ longs for His children to have. So horrible is legalism to the life of a believer that Paul says, "If anybody is preaching you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!"

"The essence of legalism is self-atonement. The seeker tries to make himself acceptable to God by some act of restitution, or by self-punishment or the feeling of regret."
AW Tozer

In truth, a right understanding and yielding to God's grace can lead a believer to live the holy life that we are called to live. This effective grace of God is powerful work and is able to accomplish what legalism is absolutely powerless to achieve. The Bible also speaks of a group of people which have, it seems, merely a surface knowledge of the grace of God. They will wholeheartedly tell you that it is by grace and grace alone that anyone is saved, and they will, as well, despise legalism. Yet, they abuse the grace of God and seek to use it as a license for sin. Their problem is that grace only becomes the pardon for them to live in comfort in their own sinful state while yet seeking to enjoy the benefits of salvation. The New Testament gives ample warnings about these ones who are, in fact, destructive to the body of Christ. Although they have been granted freedom, they in essence, by lifestyle and practice, promote bondage to sin. In their self-centeredness, they care nothing about using their freedoms to hurt and damage the lives of those others around them. They are willing to confess Jesus as a Savior but will not yield to Jesus as Lord. What is void in their lives is a genuine heart of repentance, and they display a careless attitude toward the supreme price Christ has paid to set us free from the burden and yoke of sin.

"No one can know the true grace of God who has not first known the fear of God." AW Tozer

When the Church loses her perspective on her call to holiness and God's desire to completely liberate His people from the bondage of sin, she has lost her understanding of the great grace of God which is at the very root of our salvation.

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery" Gal 5:1

Scriptures to Ponder….
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Eph 2:8-10

"For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord." Jude 1:4

" What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" Rom 6:1-2

"If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. "Heb 10:26-27

"No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him." I Jn 3:6

"No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God." I Jn 3:9 "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life." Gal 6:7-8

Questions you may want to consider

1) Am I seeking to live my life in such a way that God's grace is reflected?

2) Am I growing in the knowledge of God's grace which not only saved me from past sin but is also available to deliver me presently from any bondage to sin? 3) Am I motivated by God's grace to work through me, or, is my motivation legalism and guilt, trying to earn my way to God.

4) Do I spend time before the Lord in His Word and prayer, allowing His word to speak to my heart about areas He may be desiring to change?

5) Do I abuse my freedoms and liberties at the cost of hurting others around me?