by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. ( 1 Corinthians 15:10 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not found vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. )

Grace is not simply leniency when we have sinned. Grace is the enabling gift of God not to sin. Grace is power, not just pardon.

This is plain, for example, in 1 Corinthians 15:10 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not found vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. . Paul describes grace as the enabling power of his work. It is not simply the pardon of his sins; it is the power to press on in obedience.

Therefore the effort we make to obey God is not an effort done in our own strength, but “by the strength that God supplies — in order that in everything God may be glorified” ( 1 Peter 4:11 11 if any man speaketh, `speaking' as it were oracles of God; is any man ministereth, `ministering' as of the strength which God supplieth: that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, whose is the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen. ). It is the obedience of faith.

Paul confirms this in 2 Thessalonians 1:11 11 To which end we also pray always for you, that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and fulfil every desire of goodness and `every' work of faith, with power; –12 by calling each of our acts of goodness a “work of faith” and by saying that the glory this brings to Jesus is “according to the grace of our God” because it happens “by his power”:

To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The obedience that gives God pleasure is produced by the power of God’s grace through faith. The same dynamic is at work at every stage of the Christian life. The power of God’s grace that saves through faith ( Ephesians 2:8 8 for by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, `it is' the gift of God; ) is the same power of God’s grace that sanctifies through faith.