07 Sep '09 20:16>
ALL salvation IS by grace either directly or indirectly. We cannot "attain" eternal life unless it is given to us. We are not eternal. He is. Unless He gives life to us via an act of grace how can we "get" it. We can't even create ourselves or control our ageing process , how can we become eternal on our own without grace?
We can work at it and work with God but the process is always initiated by God. Any compassion or goodness that forms within us does so because it springs from God as it's source. Sure enough we play our part and make choices to live this way or that , but those choices would not even come our way if it were not for grace. Infact , we wouldn't even exist without grace.
If we think our righteousness belongs solely to us then we are fools. It's God who puts his righteousness in us (with our participation). We may look down on others who are "less righteous" (supposedly) and wonder why God may grant an unrighteous man salvation , but if we judge like this we have not understood that utlimately our own righteousness does not really "belong" to us anyway. We have borrowed it from God.
We can work at it and work with God but the process is always initiated by God. Any compassion or goodness that forms within us does so because it springs from God as it's source. Sure enough we play our part and make choices to live this way or that , but those choices would not even come our way if it were not for grace. Infact , we wouldn't even exist without grace.
If we think our righteousness belongs solely to us then we are fools. It's God who puts his righteousness in us (with our participation). We may look down on others who are "less righteous" (supposedly) and wonder why God may grant an unrighteous man salvation , but if we judge like this we have not understood that utlimately our own righteousness does not really "belong" to us anyway. We have borrowed it from God.