Is any solution free?

Tags

conditions, grace, salvation, solutions

Is any solution “free”? is the question I am pondering.

For example, our physician has a solution for the infection, and he prescribes an antibiotic.  Someone pays something for both the physician’s services and the medication.

The counselor offers a solution for a broken relationship, and he proposes particular actions that need to be taken.  Someone pays the counselor for services rendered.  The list of solutions goes on.

So, the question – are the solutions free?  It appears that they aren’t.

On one hand they cost the “solver” (physician, counselor, mechanic, teacher, etc.) time, resources, perseverance and other things as well.

On the other hand, the cost to the one receiving the solution is acquiescence to some degree, at least to the point of being willing to “try” the solution.

Does any of this train of thought transfer to the question of salvation by God?  Is salvation some kind of “solution?  Is it exempt from the comments in the first half of this musing?  I don’t know how it can be exempt.

This thinking does not lead to our “saving” ourselves.  The solution (salvation) certainly has been costly for God.  It appears that to go to the point of affirming that anything we do in relation to our salvation is an affront to God’s grace is not warranted.  If I recall correctly, John the Baptist used the expression “prepare the way” in reference to the public ministry of Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

Back to the analogies – patients who follow the doctor’s instructions are not healing themselves.  Being healed and being in the condition to receive the healing are two different things, and should not be conflated nor confused.

In like manner, being saved and being in the condition to receive the salvation are not to be confused with each other.

What do you think?

 

 

0100907

So what if God is not bound by time??

Tags

"clocks and calendars", "God's freedom", "God's purposes", conditions, time

One of the consequences is that God’s purposes are not oriented around dates.  That is, they don’t seem to have a specific time when they have to be met.  Let’s remember that dates and times are a function of a physical universe with its rotations and revolutions – things God has created.  Rather than being bound by His creation, God’s purposes with us, His creatures, are oriented around the pertaining of particular conditions.  That is to say that God looks for certain conditions to be in place for Him to act in a particular way.

As an analogy, let’s pretend that the building contractor tells me, “The ceiling will be put in place three weeks from today.”  I put the date on my calendar and schedule my appointments accordingly.  BUT, I have lived long enough to know that “the ceiling will be put in place three weeks from today” is based on some particular conditions being satisfied.  To flesh out the contractor’s statement, he was really saying, “if x, y, z conditions are met by three weeks from today, then the ceiling will be put in place. “

I know that the ceiling won’t be installed until the weight bearing walls are in place, until the electric boxes are set on the ceiling joists, until the exterior walls are finished, until the rough flooring is laid, until all the dry wall panels are on site, etc.  The variety of items conditioning when the ceiling can be done depend on sub contractors, deliveries of materials, weather, etc.  Setting a date for the completion of a job simply involves unstated conditions being met.

Moving to God, He will act with me, on my behalf, when particular conditions in my life are in place for His action to make sense. If I repent, whenever that is, God will do certain things.  If I have faith, whenever that is, He will do certain things.  If I seek His righteousness, He will do certain things.  God doesn’t operate on the basis of a clock or a calendar, but on the basis of God designated conditions being in place.  He is in no rush.  Time has no power over God.

God is not time bound.  He waits for the conditions to be appropriate for His action.  I would like to think that  by now in my life I can accept that as the reality in which I live!!

What do you think??

 

 

0090429