You don’t obey your way into faith

aiki

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"You don’t obey your way into faith (the Pharisees proved that); you believe your way into obedience."
--- Bob Sorge

What do you think? I never heard of Bob Sorge until this evening.

This is entirely too human-centered, I think. As Scripture makes very clear, God must move toward us first before we are able to make any move toward Him (John 6:44; Ephesians 2:1-4). He enables us to see and choose Him (2 Timothy 2:25; John 16:8; Romans 12:3). And this dynamic continues in our walk with Him after our conversion (John 15:5; Colossians 3:4; Philippians 1:21). God works in us first all that He calls us to work out in our daily living. (Philippians 2:12-13) Love, joy, peace, holiness, faith, self-control, humility - these all are imparted to us from God in the Person of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:9; Galatians 5:22-23; Titus 3:5; Romans 8:9-11). Our obedience, then, is a reflection, an expression of, the presence and work of the Holy Spirit in us, not merely an effect of our capacity to believe.

It is Moralism that places the onus and emphasis on the believer to achieve a holy, obedient life. Such a life is merely a stepping-stone, the means to joyful communion with God; it is not an end in itself. Again, a holy life is the result of the Spirit's transforming work in us, not the product of our effort to be who God has called us to be.
 
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Rescued One

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I’m confident that every believer has been disobedient. I believe Ephesians 4 & 5 would disagree since Paul is warning “the Saints in Ephesus who are faithful to Christ” about grieving the Holy Spirit thereby becoming “sons of disobedience”.

Of course everyone has sinned. How would any non-Christian obey apart from God's grace? I'll have to read Ephesians 4 & 5, but I have to get offline for several hours now.
 
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BNR32FAN

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Of course everyone has sinned. How would any non-Christian obey apart from God's grace? I'll have to read Ephesians 4 & 5, but I have to get offline for several hours now.

No I said that every believer, present tense, has been disobedient.
 
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BobRyan

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Every believer began as a non-believer.

When I ask my adult children "do you ever remember being a non-believer?" they always say "no".. as I planned it. I tried to take no chances. From just before the time they could speak in short sentences - I had them hooked on Bible stories - set to their level - by me telling them those stories.
 
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