Ping to a few friends on both sides of the fence.
In the service of the Lord,
Christian.
Some say it was plagiarized from Sophia Stewart and thus, the great and awful differences between the first and the subsequent follow-ups.
Be that as it may, this article and the first "Matrix" and all of Scripture speak to the dead heart of man only being reborn by the hand of God.
These verses from Ezekiel show where God illustrates that the Law cannot save us. Even when our hearts have been turned from sin to righteousness, without the Savior we still fall short of the glory of God.
"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God." -- Ezekiel 36:-28.
So even with good intentions, we still reside asleep in the Matrix. Even with a heart of flesh given by God, unless we are regenerated in Christ, our good works fail us because we've been shown so clearly that none can keep the Law perfectly but Christ.
"The good news is that in the gospel God reveals the same righteousness and faith for us that God demands from us. What we had to have, but could not create or achieve or fulfill, God grants us freely, namely, the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21) and the faith of Christ."
Amen.
"Niceness" does not save.
I think too many Christians often buy into the lie that "niceness" trumps taking a stand for righteousness (biblical truth).
WOW! Wonderful article. Thanks