Grace Movement

These are critical and important verses you have quoted here, brother. Jesus tells us to "keep my commandments" and "do whatsoever I command you", and it all boils back to living out the greatest commandments to love God with our whole heart and soul and to love our fellow humans as ourselves. The power to do this comes from God as we abide in Christ as branches that His fruit can flourish through.

My responsibility as a disciple of Jesus is to fully surrender my life to Him, so He can do His work through me. I am powerless without Him, yet I still need to willingly yield and make sure I'm firmly connected to the Tree. This takes action and resolve, and it is not a passive lifestyle. For me, I need to cry out to God continually for His grace, faith, strength, and ultimately love to flow through me. The "works" and fruit come from God.

My "righteousness" and works I produce from my own efforts are vanity. As Isaiah says,

Isaiah 64:6

King James Version

6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

The only righteousness that matters is that which comes from Jesus as you noted above, Pilgrim. We need to abide in Him and His love--it's as simple (and complicated) as that.

I am so grateful for God's grace. But this grace does not mean I can do whatever I want and just sit on the sidelines and watch the show. As Jude exclaims,

Jude 4

King James Version

4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace does not promote lasciviousness--a license to do as one pleases. Grace is there to protect us when we are weak. It's not a card I want to play to justify a life of sin. The grace I desire is that which lives within my heart, mind, and soul to produce God's fruit, His "works".

Loved reading this all amen

“The power to do this comes from God as we abide in Christ as branches that His fruit can flourish through.”

Amen

“The sower soweth the word.

And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.

And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.

And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.

And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit,

some thirtyfold,

some sixty,

and some an hundred.”
‭‭Mark‬ ‭4:14-20‬ ‭

as we learn from Jesus about God we’re meant to hear , and believe what we’re learning about God , man , life , the world , eternal life sin and righteousness life and death repentance ect

If we hear and believe we will be saved but it’s going to change a lot of how and what we think and why and what we do it’s just part of the salvstion process to come out of sin being set free by our redeemer and deliverer through faith

This will produce fruit if we hear and believe it will cause us to change our Will and deeds

“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”
‭‭Mark‬ ‭16:15-16‬ ‭KJV‬‬

As we hear and believe and learn and grow like children thisnis happening

“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2:12-13‬ ‭KJV‬‬

This is happening as we hear the truth from Jesus our minds and hearts are changing because we believe

“and be renewed in the spirit of your mind;”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭4:23‬ ‭KJV‬‬


and so we’re called to persevere

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭12:1-2‬ ‭

The reason we have to hear Jesus preach is because he came to the world to tell us the truth so we can know and believe and be saved our minds are changed by this

“Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.”
‭‭John‬ ‭18:37‬ ‭

as we abide in and follow after the lord as his disciples learning from and practicing in his teachings and ways we are being changed inside and out from what we were to what were being created to be and we have grace ole he’s accomplishing this

at he issue is that we work against our own salvetion by rejecting the parts th at teach us that we have to stop sinning and start serving God we try to remove that part and say it’s not grace but it’s throughout the New Testament literally on almost every page because that’s part of being saved by grace learning g about repentance and righteousness being called from and expected of us who believe more than that we’re enabled to accomplish it through the same faith

awe can be free of our old bonds if we will start acknowledging the truth as your talking about there too many people are “ dividing “ the things they don’t want to hear out of the Bible and replacing those things with thier own musings out how we’re saved Jesus came to tell us the truth of how we’re saved but we were warned that people would work hard to pull us away from the truth Jesus sent to all people for salvation that includes repentance and right living

awe just have to persevere as believers theres a lot in this world that’s trying to pull us away from it even friendly fire sometimes