I have heard some people say, "I came to the doctrines of grace such and such years ago." Maybe they are simply inaccurate in expressing their experience. But it would have been better had their testimony been, "The grace of the doctrines came to me." There are none who have grace without doctrine, but there are many who have doctrine without grace. Many who have "come to the doctrines of grace" have later left those same doctrines for new ones that caught their fancy for the moment. Those to whom the grace of the doctrine has come never leave the doctrines or the One of whom the doctrines speak. Preachers who "come to the doctrines" are able to be silent about them in order to "slowly bring the congregation" to those same doctrines. Those who have received the grace of the doctrine are compelled to preach it with clarity and boldness. Those who come to the doctrines feel free to float around with no church affiliation or have little or no commitment to the church of which they are members.
Those who have received the grace of the doctrine count it a necessity to join with others of the same faith, worship Christ with them, and faithfully join in the labor of the gospel. Those who have come to the doctrines of grace often have little concern for godliness. But those who have the grace of the doctrines, though they often sin, never excuse their sin or count it an insignificant thing, but try to be like their Master in all things. May God grant that each of us posses the doctrine AND the grace!