Ephesians 2:8-9 English Standard Version
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Here Paul gives us a gentle reminder that our salvation is by grace. This is correction of a long time practice in religious attitudes of the day. Righteousness was to come to those who obeyed the law but since no one could obey the law, all failed. They were left with religious rituals that only relieved their guilt for a short time.
Here we are on this side of the Cross and our guilt has been permanently dealt with by faith in Christ and His sacrifice. That does not address the larger issue of wrong attitudes. Corrections to our attitudes still has to be addressed.
What have we gained if we swap old life attitudes with new life attitudes that do not align themselves with the Word of God? Those new attitudes will need to be corrected. As an example allow me to address just one that has been seen over and over again within the fellowship of the saints.
“I’m good to go.”
This is true. From an eternal struggle with right standing before God, it has been dealt with completely. Come judgment day we get to stay with God and never be separated ever again. That ignores those things which we need to address in the here and now. We still live this side of eternity, in time. We cannot just accept that God’s grace is going to correct all of our attitudes without careful consideration of what God is asking of us in this present time.
Time must be spent in God’s Word to correct any attitudes that do not allow us to align our thoughts with the mind of Christ.
Titus 1:9a English Standard Version (ESV) He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine….