{"id":583,"date":"2013-05-08T14:44:52","date_gmt":"2013-05-08T21:44:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodandtruth\/?p=583"},"modified":"2013-05-08T15:15:09","modified_gmt":"2013-05-08T22:15:09","slug":"grace-is-not-opposed-to-effort-but-to-earning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodandtruth\/2013\/05\/grace-is-not-opposed-to-effort-but-to-earning\/","title":{"rendered":"“Grace Is Not Opposed to Effort, but to Earning”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>I\u2019m a bit ashamed to admit that until I heard of his passing today, I was unfamiliar with the work of philosopher and theologian Dallas Willard<\/a>. Since seeing reports of his death, I\u2019ve been looking into his work, and I\u2019m excited to read more \u2013 and sad that I wasn\u2019t able to start doing so while he was still alive. \u00a0A few quotes I\u2019ve particularly liked from articles and interviews online:<\/p>\n

The enemy in our time is not human capacity, or over activism, but the enemy is passivity \u2013 the idea that God has done everything and you are essentially left to be a consumer of the grace of God and that the only thing you have to do is find out how to do that and do it regularly. I think this is a terrible mistake and accounts for the withdrawal of active Christians from so many areas of life where they should be present. It also accounts for the lack of spiritual growth, for you can be sure that if you do not act in an advised fashion consistently and resolutely you will not grow spiritually. We all know that Jesus said, (in John 15) \u2018without me you can do nothing\u2019. We need to add, \u2018if you do nothing, it will be most assuredly without him.\u2019<\/p>\n

Of course we must be concerned about works righteousness. I talk a lot about the value of spiritual disciplines but also the danger of using them as if they help us earn our salvation. But it is crucial to realise that grace is not opposed to effort, but to earning. Earning is an attitude, effort is action. Without effort, we would be nowhere. When you read the New Testament you see how astonishingly energetic it is. Paul says, \u2018take off the old man, put on the new.\u2019 There is no suggesting that this will be done for you. (http:\/\/www.dwillard.org\/articles\/artview.asp?artID=92<\/em><\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[Relevant Magazine]: \u201cThe idea of Discipleship; acknowledging Jesus as Lord and Teacher of our lives; is daunting for most. Jesus seemed to suggest that one cannot be His disciple without laying it all down for Him and taking up one\u2019s own cross. That\u2019s not a very popular idea in today\u2019s culture. Have we misunderstood what it means to follow Christ?\u201d<\/p>\n

[DW]: \u201cWell, I don\u2019t think we\u2019ve misunderstood Him. The real problem is not misunderstanding Him, but it\u2019s setting it aside as a requirement for salvation. Now, a few decades ago you had leading speakers for Christianity across the nation who would say things like, \u2018We\u2019re not supposed to follow Christ, we\u2019re supposed to trust Him\u2019, and that meant not to trust His leadership and teaching, but to trust His death on the cross for the forgiveness of sins.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat has basically happened is that the meaning of \u2018Trust Christ\u2019 has changed. It has come to no longer mean trusting Him; it meant trust something He did. In that way, one theory of the atonement was substituted for the Christian Gospel. The results of this are that (now) discipleship is not essential, and people are not invited to become disciples. So then now you have crazy hermeneutics like, \u2018The Gospels are for the Millennium, but Paul\u2019s gospel is for us today\u2019. This is just taking possession of the whole country on the conservative side. On the liberal side something different is happening. It\u2019s amazing to see how every system within Christianity took a route that said, \u2018You know, you don\u2019t have to do that. That is not for you to follow. You just have faith in the death of Christ on the cross or have faith in Jesus as a great social prophet or whatever.\u2019 (http:\/\/www.dwillard.org\/articles\/artview.asp?artID=100<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019m sure there are plenty of areas where Willard and I wouldn\u2019t see eye-to-eye \u2013 he describes his theology as \u201cpretty Calvinistic,\u201d whereas Swedenborgianism tends to be on the complete opposite end of the spectrum. But Willard\u2019s key emphasis \u2013 that grace and effort need to work hand in hand \u2013 is at the heart of Swedenborgian theology, and I believe that a failure to realize the truth of this idea may be the single biggest problem in the Christian world today.<\/p>\n

Thoughts and prayers go out to the Willard family; may they find comfort in the Lord\u2019s love.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m a bit ashamed to admit that until I heard of his passing today, I was unfamiliar with the work of philosopher and theologian Dallas Willard. Since seeing reports of his death, I\u2019ve been looking into his work, and I\u2019m excited to read more \u2013 and sad that I wasn\u2019t able to start doing so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":275,"featured_media":584,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-religion","tag-as-of-self"],"yoast_head":"\n"Grace Is Not Opposed to Effort, but to Earning"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I'm a bit ashamed to admit that until I heard of his passing today, I was unfamiliar with the work of philosopher and theologian Dallas Willard. 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