I was thinking about this verse a lot last night, mimi.
And the push and the pull we were talking about.
Jesus said the ONLY thing God wants from us is that we believe in and trust the One He sent.
When we start to have fear and anxiety, we begin to think we aren't doing what we are supposed to do. And this temptation will overtake us if we let it. And then we begin to work for our salvation instead of trusting Him to renew our minds and teach us His will. He knows our utter weakness but sometimes we begin to forget it and when we begin to forget our weakness, poverty and need, we are overcome by anxieties that we are supposed to be better and stronger by what we do instead of what He does in us.
This is what happened to the Galatians and Paul said to them: how is it that you think you can finish by your own effort what was begun in the Spirit?? It's like, they trusted God for their salvation but then began to think their growth in holiness could be got by their own efforts.
I got stuck for many years in this. I understood that salvation was by trust in Him and nothing else but trust in Him. But I somehow didn't see that sanctification (growth in holiness) is ALSO only by trust in Him.
It is ALL, from start to finish, by trust in Him.
The agonies of this temptation you have at times to do something other than trust in Him - it's not a temptation only for you. We have all been tempted away from complete trust in Him alone for everything. We are often much more able to trust Him for our material needs than we are to trust Him for our spiritual needs.
These temptations are meant for us to struggle through by constantly going to Him with all our weakness and doubt and fear and anxiety. He is the One who brings us through it. He is BOTH the author and the finisher of our faith and its growth.
And the push and the pull we were talking about.
Jesus said the ONLY thing God wants from us is that we believe in and trust the One He sent.
When we start to have fear and anxiety, we begin to think we aren't doing what we are supposed to do. And this temptation will overtake us if we let it. And then we begin to work for our salvation instead of trusting Him to renew our minds and teach us His will. He knows our utter weakness but sometimes we begin to forget it and when we begin to forget our weakness, poverty and need, we are overcome by anxieties that we are supposed to be better and stronger by what we do instead of what He does in us.
This is what happened to the Galatians and Paul said to them: how is it that you think you can finish by your own effort what was begun in the Spirit?? It's like, they trusted God for their salvation but then began to think their growth in holiness could be got by their own efforts.
I got stuck for many years in this. I understood that salvation was by trust in Him and nothing else but trust in Him. But I somehow didn't see that sanctification (growth in holiness) is ALSO only by trust in Him.
It is ALL, from start to finish, by trust in Him.
The agonies of this temptation you have at times to do something other than trust in Him - it's not a temptation only for you. We have all been tempted away from complete trust in Him alone for everything. We are often much more able to trust Him for our material needs than we are to trust Him for our spiritual needs.
These temptations are meant for us to struggle through by constantly going to Him with all our weakness and doubt and fear and anxiety. He is the One who brings us through it. He is BOTH the author and the finisher of our faith and its growth.