It all depends on God and you

You may have heard the following…

Pray as if it all depends on God and work as if ¹it all depends on you; because it does... both of them.

Is this true? If so, how do we reconcile this seemingly contradictory and paradoxical statement? Can we?

First, God is the cause - driving force behind all things. As Paul under the Spirit's inspiration said,

“...For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever...” Amen. Rom 11:36

All that we are and have comes from God, is by Him, and points back to Him. Nothing exists or happens without God and outside His perfect rule.

This includes our obedience. It is God who works in us to will and do of his good pleasure... so work out your salvation (which is already ²fully ours in Christ... this means we are to bring forth in practice what God has already declared about us i.e. we are perfectly righteous in Christ, so live accordingly) with fear and trembling.

Why fear and trembling? Not because we are afraid we'll lose our salvation but because obedience matters and honoring God matters. There is significance to our conduct that has real consequences,  either positive or negative, for God, others and ourselves. 

Phil 2:12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. 

Our "work" is to believe God, what he says about himself and us. He says He is the almighty all-loving all wise God and his love is set upon us in Christ. It never stops no matter what we do or don't do and no matter what our circumstances. Nothing happens to us, in us, or through us without His complete care and rule. The more we believe this, the more his love and power are released in and through us to others. 

Make no mistake, it is only by God's love, which empowers us, that we are able to faithfully follow him. But we must believe God's love and His claims about his care and control and act accordingly, in order to partake of and participate in this power. We must receive His love - by faith - in order to give love i.e. for it to empower us...we play a major part in how God empowers us. We must believe Him and His promise, that nothing, no adversity, no challenge, no pain can or will ever separate us from God's loving care and will. To believe this, is our part in obedience. Without faith, we will not subjectively and consciously take part in what he freely extends to us in Christ… his full and perfect love, care, and guidance.

What is it exactly we must believe about God and ourselves that makes this work?

God - He is the all-wise, all-powerful, all-loving, and everywhere present God. He is working in all things, at all times to advance our greatest good and His greatest glory regardless of how it might appear to the contrary. All things are from, through, and to him. To him be the glory forever, Amen!! There are no exceptions. Full stop!

Us - We are his image-bearers, perfectly accepted, valued, and loved in Christ. Nothing we did, do, or don't do can change this. This is based on Christ and that we are in his image. This is who God made us be – first by creating us like Himself in key ways and second by restoring us by grace to Himself in and through Christ - and therefore it is a fixed reality. It is not based on anything we did, are doing, or will do; ever (other than simply believing it is true). He made us in His image and considers us worth his love, enough to send His Son to die in our place and restore us.  So much so that we were told by Christ Himself we are loved by God in the very same way he loves his Son 🤯. Christ's words, not mine!!!

To fully experience all God designed for us, and seeks to do in, and through us, we must believe all God says about us, to us, and for us, and about Himself regarding us. When we do, we will act (obey) accordingly, and the more we believe the more faithfully - full of faith - our pursuit of him will be i.e. we act/obey, regardless of how challenging it may be.

So while God is the driving force and cause and everything depends on Him, we are the means by and through which He works to bring about His good purposes and it is through our trust in this God, He works to accomplish this i.e. *it all depends on us...our trust in who he claims to be for us.

John 6:28 Then they said to him (Jesus), “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

Related posts:

Faith is hard work

The necessity of faith in an infinite God

Obedience... the fruit of abiding

The strength for self-denial

The fight of faith

The necessity of choice 

The spiritual and our spirit

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¹This is why man is always fully accountable for all his actions. He may not possess the power to obey God but he does possess a will by which he can either choose to believe what God says about himself and us or refuse to believe. Which one we choose determines how we will live and how we live, we are fully accountable for. No one else is.

²His love is always there objectively if we are in Christ but we won't experience it subjectively until we believe, receive and act upon it.