Does Grace free us from the consequences of sins? Jeremiah 7 in Modern Times

Grace is given to us freely through Jesus on our request to empower us to live the life we should. But some have mistakenly considered grace as forgiveness of our sins and abuse it as the license to sin, sinning without the penalty.  That could not be so as we can see how God would treat His people in the time of Jeremiah where they have the His Temple with them. God changes not and in the New Testament, we have Hebrew 12:6 "the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son".

In the time of Jeremiah, there was the Temple of God, showing God's acceptance of the people.

The people proudly proclaimed the power of their God (Jer 7:4)

• Jer 7:4  Don't trust deceptive words like these, and say, 'The Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD,' 

and made sacrifices there too (Jer 7:21-23).

• Jer 7:21-23  This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat the meat. Indeed, when I brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, I didn't speak or command them about burnt offering and sacrifice, 23  but I did give them this command: Obey me and I'll be your God, and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways that I command you so it will go well for you. 

But at the same time, they continued to do evil in the sight of God, trusting their temple and their sacrifices to save them(7v9-10).

• Jer 7:9  Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear by false gods, burn incense to Baal, follow other gods that you don't know, 10  and then come to stand before me in this house that is called by my name and say, 'We're delivered' so we can continue to do all these things that are repugnant to God? 

But God through Jeremiah warned them to change or else He would destroy them including His Temple(7v14).

• Jer 7:14  Just as I did to Shiloh, I'll go to the house in which you trust and which is called by my name, the place that I gave to you and your ancestors. 

But if they only repent, He would let them stay (7v3,5).

• Jer 7:3  This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "Change your ways and your deeds, and I'll let you live in this place. 
• Jer 7:5  but rather, truly change your ways and your deeds. If you truly practice justice between each person and his neighbor, 

Even so, God will be merciful and give us many chances to repent (7v13).

• Jer 7:13  Now, because you have done all these things," declares the LORD, "I spoke to you over and over again, but you didn't listen. I called to you, but you didn't answer. 

However, there will be a time where it would be too late. Hence, wake up and change our way now.

Replace the word "temple" with "grace" and read Jeremiah 7 again. As they trusted in the Temple as we do with Grace today, we are to heed the warning of God. The consequences of our sins, the discipline of our Lord, are to awaken us to the evilness and the harms, to ourselves and to those related to us, of our sins.  If God just removes the consequences of our sins, we will have a distorted view of life, of right and wrong, and we would not be able to live rightly and realistically. We are not loved but spoiled, to become like a devil!

Repent and seek the Lord for the true grace that empowers us to live the life that we should.

See also:

•  The Secret of Effective Prayers and How God Answer Prayer on The Courts of Heaven
• "Grace is Unmerited Favor" - This Common Definition is wrong.

Lim Liat (c) 16-9-17