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Question 10
Origen warns someone might become “careless and negligent in good works” if they hear “faith alone is sufficient,” and answers that unrighteous living after justification “despises the gift” and is not a “license to sin”; where do you see your own heart tempted toward license (or toward despair), and what concrete practices would reflect “appreciation for this marvelous gift” in the way the lesson describes?
Another way to ask: Origen warns that “faith alone” can make people slack in doing good, and says living unrighteously after being justified rejects God’s gift. Where are you tempted to use grace as an excuse (or to lose hope), and what habits would show real gratitude for this gift?

Direct Answer The transcript urges self-examination: the heart can drift toward license by treating justification as permission to relax morally, or toward despair by forgetting justification is a free gift. Practices that show “appreciation” include persevering obedience, ongoing repentance and confession, forgiving others, and living in reverent fear before the God who judges according to works.

Support from Transcript:

  • Origen’s concern is explicit: someone may become “careless and negligent in good works” if they think “faith alone is sufficient for justification.”
  • His reply: if someone “lives unrighteously after justification,” he has “despised the gift of justification,” and pardon is not “license to sin again.”
  • The speaker says redemption is a gift, yet “this does not give us a license to live in sin”; God expects a godly life afterward “through the power He gives us.”
  • Continuing forgiveness requires ongoing repentance/confession: “If we confess our sins…” and regular prayer for forgiveness.
  • Another concrete condition is forgiving others: “Forgive and you will be forgiven,” and Jesus’ warning if we do not forgive.
  • Perseverance is emphasized: final salvation given to those who “have persevered in faith” and kept commandments (Irenaeus).
Discussion Follow-ups Which danger feels more natural to you—presuming on grace or doubting it—and why? What specific habits (confession, reconciliation, disciplined obedience, “reverent fear”) would make your gratitude visible this week?

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