Shoot, you can go back farther than that. God was constantly telling the Israelites that they were to be holy to the Lord. Fat lot of good it did them.
Yes, we are to imitate Christ. But the power to imitate Christ comes from the Holy Spirit who gives faiths and gifts in various measures. So it is not by our strength that we do anything. As our Lord stated, "Apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5) And as Paul stated, "I can do all things in him [sic:Christ] (Phil 4:13) who strengthens me." We are to encourage one another to good works, but those good works are the results of God's Spirit choosing to work through us. We submit to God but it is only because God helps us to submit to Him.
Remember Augustine's prayer, "Command what you will, and grant what you command."
Shoot, you can go back farther than that. God was constantly telling the Israelites that they were to be holy to the Lord. Fat lot of good it did them.
Are you telling me that either God was incompetent in His instructions to the Israelites or else He was deliberately telling them to do something meaningless?
So it is not by our strength that we do anything. As our Lord stated, "Apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5) And as Paul stated, "I can do all things in him [sic:Christ] (Phil 4:13) who strengthens me."
But doing nothing is not an option. Without God's Grace, we cannot be saved. All men are Judged on their last day. And not for the seat number in the celestial football stadium that some folks think that the Judgement means.
We are to encourage one another to good works, but those good works are the results of God's Spirit choosing to work through us. We submit to God but it is only because God helps us to submit to Him.
We are in accord. However, if everything is predestined, then I need behave only as I see fit whenever I see that fitness occur. By my own judgement, and not His.