Reading: Ezekiel 11
My Verse: "And I will give them one heart,
and a new spirit I will put within them.
I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh
and give them a heart of flesh,
that they may walk in my statutes
and keep my rules
and obey them" (Ezekiel 11:19).
This amazing statement is repeated in Ezekiel 36:28. It articulates the tension between Your enabling, LORD God and our free will. How and when do the two meet and mesh?
You tell us we, ourselves, must turn to You.
Ezekiel 18:31 "Cast away all your transgressions that you have committed,
and make yourselves a new heart
and a new spirit!"
And You tell us that we cannot come to You unless You draw us. As Jesus said in John 6:44.
"No one can come to me unless the Father draws him . . ."
In Philippians 2:12 Paul tells us we are responsible to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."
This is a complex concept but vastly important - vital to our salvation. There is so much I do not understand and yet You, LORD God gave me a brain and free will. You draw me to you, and I am responsible to respond correctly to that drawing.
John Piper has a wonderful sermon on this. It helps me to understand a bit better this whole tension between my free will and Your enabling, LORD God.
"If we come to Jesus, it is because the Father drew us — which none of us deserves. And if we don’t come to Jesus, it is because the Father left us in our rebellion — which all of us deserve. And there is no fatalism in the Bible. We are responsible to come to Jesus. He is calling you to come right now." -Piper
As I read and think on this I begin to see how this is really the way it has to be. If we are able to come to You, LORD God completely on our own, then we would have something to boast of wouldn't we? Pride would destroy us. Thank You, for Your ultimate and complete wisdom!
"The drawing is the decisive impulse. We will see it again and again in this Gospel that this drawing is not at all in conflict with our choosing to come and our freely coming because we want to come. But his drawing is decisive. And without it no one would come." -Piper
Thank You, LORD God for Your mercy and grace.
Ditat Deus - God Enriches!
My Verse: "And I will give them one heart,
and a new spirit I will put within them.
I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh
and give them a heart of flesh,
that they may walk in my statutes
and keep my rules
and obey them" (Ezekiel 11:19).
This amazing statement is repeated in Ezekiel 36:28. It articulates the tension between Your enabling, LORD God and our free will. How and when do the two meet and mesh?
You tell us we, ourselves, must turn to You.
Ezekiel 18:31 "Cast away all your transgressions that you have committed,
and make yourselves a new heart
and a new spirit!"
And You tell us that we cannot come to You unless You draw us. As Jesus said in John 6:44.
"No one can come to me unless the Father draws him . . ."
In Philippians 2:12 Paul tells us we are responsible to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."
This is a complex concept but vastly important - vital to our salvation. There is so much I do not understand and yet You, LORD God gave me a brain and free will. You draw me to you, and I am responsible to respond correctly to that drawing.
John Piper has a wonderful sermon on this. It helps me to understand a bit better this whole tension between my free will and Your enabling, LORD God.
"If we come to Jesus, it is because the Father drew us — which none of us deserves. And if we don’t come to Jesus, it is because the Father left us in our rebellion — which all of us deserve. And there is no fatalism in the Bible. We are responsible to come to Jesus. He is calling you to come right now." -Piper
As I read and think on this I begin to see how this is really the way it has to be. If we are able to come to You, LORD God completely on our own, then we would have something to boast of wouldn't we? Pride would destroy us. Thank You, for Your ultimate and complete wisdom!
"The drawing is the decisive impulse. We will see it again and again in this Gospel that this drawing is not at all in conflict with our choosing to come and our freely coming because we want to come. But his drawing is decisive. And without it no one would come." -Piper
Thank You, LORD God for Your mercy and grace.
Ditat Deus - God Enriches!
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