You have rightly described the hatred for sin that believers who recognize salvation by grace, alone, have. It is repugnant and disturbing to know with Paul that we of all people should know better and do better. We realize that there is just still something at work in our flesh which will not die until the body dies. We realize the precious blood spilled for us should be so significant, so important that it should shame us into complete avoidance of all sin. Yet, we still see the evil at work in us. (Rom 7).
But, the view this OP represents holds perhaps a greater danger. And, it is so subtle as to rarely be considered. That is, when one says, "...we cannot, every day,...or commit other sins and assume God's automatic forgiveness." it belies the fact the person may believe they are not actually doing just that. They may not realize that their own lives are saturated, immersed in sin at every moment.
They are under the false assumption that if they are not physically committing sin, or if they are actively resisting sin, this is the equivalent to righteousness. But, nothing could be further from the truth. The fact that their minds touch on adultery, drunkeness, false accusations, gossip, even momentarily renders them just as guilty as the person engaging in these acts. The very fact they must "resist" sin proves they are loaded with the appetite for it. This is not righteousness and deserves the same death as commiting it. They may not produce the same "death" on those around them as those who do commit them physically, but even the reomotest thought of it, the slightest whiff of it, the smallest of passing idea is just as evil as the act...so says Jesus.
Such shortsightedness is what Paul is pointing out in Romans 1 & 2, rendering every man/woman guilty, at all moments. There is no righteousness in men. There is no hope in men. Unless God, by His free grace, grants faith, and forgives, there is no hope. Unless He clothes us Jesus' righteousness, there is nothing to adopt. Once God opens eyes and rescues a man by His divine choice, that man/woman is safe because of Him...not themselves.
Paul's point is not "once saved, always saved." (although this is true). His point is the fact that when one is saved BY GOD, God does not change His mind. The rescue is simply a product of His own power and promise. It is no longer in the hands of the man/woman. They could not get themselves into salvation; they cannot get themselves out.
To those on the outside of this understanding, this may seem like a "free ticket" to sin. But, they do not realize they are holding a much more dangerous view..."at least I do not sin like those people". Oh, yes, you do...all the time. Now what?
Very well said! Anyone who reads and meditates on God's word - aided by the illumination of the Holy Spirit - recognizes that NOTHING they bring before the Mercy Seat can make propitiation for their sins (and you are correct that sinning is as much internal as it is external). That's the WHOLE point of the law - as a schoolmaster to bring us to the grace of God in Christ Jesus. How foolish people can be when they imagine God is pleased by their efforts, works, deeds and attitudes when brought before Him to recompense for all our sins rather than the filthy rags that they really are!
Had any person been capable of saving himself by himself, there would have been NO need for Christ to have suffered and died. In light of that, how equally foolish to think our efforts, that could do nothing to win our salvation at the start, will benefit the keeping of that gracious gift to the end. It's either grace all the way, or works all the way - not both!
Excellent.
You are right about people’s (read Catholics especially) attitude towards sin.
It is the idea that we are good until we commit a sin, and then we confess it and we’re done. They do not understand that we are STEEPED in sin. That it permeates our being so that every thought, idea, emotion, is contaminated by it; that we have no *good works* to offer God that are not corrupted and defiled.