In many conversations and from many pulpits, I have heard preachers and believers excuse disobedience by marking everything off as covered by God‟s grace or His love.Grace is unmerited; and it does cover but not in the manner that we have been taught.It is not an excuse to sin, but an empowerment to overcome sin and to live victoriously.Although grace covers, it is not merely a cover-up.It goes far beyond that.Grace enables and empowers us to live a life of holiness and obedience to the authority of God.The writer of Hebrews exhorts, Let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.For our God is a consuming fire. (Heb 12:28-29)The description of grace here is not that of a cover-up, but the force that empowers us to serve God acceptably with due reverence and godly fear.It is the essence of power behind a life of obedience. It is the validation or proof of our salvation.One of the greatest stumbling blocks to true salvation today is the misinterpretation of the word believe.This is one of the devil‟s most subtle and clever deceptions.In our English language the words "to believe in Jesus" has been reduced to mean mental acknowledgment of Jesus' existence and to believe (again to give mental assent) to the veracity of the scriptures about Jesus' birth, death, burial and resurrection.Multitudes have prayed the sinner‟s prayer because they were moved emotionally, only to return to their original paths of sin and disobedience.They continue living for themselves, all the while trusting in an emotional salvation that was void of the power to change them.Yes, they believe in God but the Bible states,"You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble! (James 2:19)What good is it to acknowledge Jesus Christ when there is no change of heart and; therefore, no change in action?The Scriptures portray a very different meaning for the word believe.It is more than acknowledgment of the existence of Jesus; it carries with it obedience to His Word, His will, and His Father‟s will!