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10.22.2005    |    Still think you're in charge?
God has divvied up the labor in His creation. He created us not to help Him; He clearly does not need our puny efforts. But one of the reasons for our creation is to work with God as His agents in the here and now. This is the sphere is which our free will operates, within the confines of His overall plan for creation.

So, we have choice, and we make choices all of the time. Some good, some not so good, some evil. Our choices, operating within His frame of reference. Salvation is clearly within God's fram of reference. Not ours. We are the receivers; He is the sole giver.

To think otherwise is to refute Scripture rather directly. The concept is stated with simple elegance in Phillipians 2
12...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
We use our free will to "work out" our own salvation. But never, never, should we think that it is anything but His will that will be done.

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posted by John Luke at 10:22 AM

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About this site and the author

Welcome. My name is John Luke Rich, (very) struggling Christian. The focus here is Christianity in its many varieties, its fussing and feuding, how it impacts our lives and our society, with detours to consider it with other faiths (or lack thereof).

Call this blog my way of evangelizing on the internet.

Putting it differently, we're only here on this earth a short time. It's the rest of eternity that we should be most concerned about. Call it the care and feeding of our souls.

I was born Jewish, and born again in Christ Jesus over thirty years ago. First as a Roman Catholic; now a Calvinist by persuasion and a Baptist by denomination. But I'm hardly a poster boy for doctrinal rigidity.

I believe that Scripture is the rock on which all Christian churches must stand -- or sink if they are not so grounded. I believe that we are saved by faith, but hardly in a vacuum. That faith is a gift from God, through no agency on our part -- although we sometimes turn a deaf ear and choose to ignore God's knocking on the door.

To be Christian is to evangelize. Those who think it not their part to evangelize perhaps haven't truly understood what our Lord told us in Matthew 28. We must preach the Gospel as best we are able. Using words if necessary.

Though my faith waxes and wanes, it never seems to go away. Sometimes I wish it would, to give me some peace of mind. But then, Jesus never said that walking with Him was going to be easy...

Final note: I also blog as Jack Rich on cultural, political and other things over at Wrong Side of the Tracks

Thanks for stopping by.