Grace and behavior

Contemporary Christian notions of grace also frequently fail to take into account the effective nature of grace. That is, the aim of God’s gift of the Christ is to set us free from our slavery to sin, the law, and evil powers and to transform us so that we become new creatures, righteous in the Messiah (Rom. 5:20-21; 2 Cor. 5:17-21; Gal. 1:1-6; 6:15; Titus 2:11-14). In the Christ, we are ruled by grace, “grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life” (Rom. 5:21; cf. Rom. 5:17; 1 Cor. 15:10). It is inappropriate, then, to suggest that God’s gift of the Messiah, if the gift is accepted and subsequently held, would be ineffective in bringing about God’s transformative aims. So we should not set grace at odds with the required behavioral changes (good deeds) associated with allegiant union to Jesus the king.—Matthew Bates in Salvation by Allegiance Alone, 104 (emphasis original)