Either you don't read everything we say or you don't understand it, FK. It's not that difficult. Everything comes from God, including our faith and our salvation. God does not need us to cooperate with Him, but He wants us to do so (for a good reason, trust me), which is why He gives us the freedom to either accept His merciful offers of grace or to reject them.
Acceptance of His grace does not "earn" you points for salvation. Your salvation is not a simple one-moment event. One Orthodox priest once said it's like getting a visa to America and all you have is a dinghy at the coast of France (and a whole Atlantic Ocean in between)! You have been given the visa and you have a dinghy, but it's up to you to undertake the voyage; you must want it, and you must initiate it.
There will be tribulations and temptations and storms and obstacles that you must overcome to get there, and the only way you will accomplish this is if you persevere to the end, even if you perish trying. Living or dying is not an issue here; nor is it important as far as our salvation is concerned.
What counts is that you, for the love of God, and not because He coerced you or brainwashed you or because He attached a tractor beam to your forehead, stay the course and follow Christ's footsteps -- forgive others, repent, be merciful, and above all trust that whatever happens will be merciful and just, and what you really "deserved" in God's eyes.
If you can do that, you can also calmly and without any further speculation simply say "Thy will be done" and be done with it. You must be clear and without any doubt that whatever obstacles you encounter in good faith will not count against you; they will not earn you points; they will only bring you closer to God.
Our sub deacon the other day said his grandmother told him "first the cross then the crown." He said "it bothered him" to hear that when he was younger, but now he realizes how much she knew her theology. :)
Accepting Christ does not stop the world around you. You still have to deal with the world and everything it dishes out to you. Just because you are "saved" does not mean you now "rate" special treatment. How many Christians say "How could this happen to me? I go to Church, I accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior and yet these things happen to me..."
Let me tell you, getting a visa for America for many people is a "salvation." Getting there sometimes requires a lot more faith and perseverance than you think.
Ultimately, what matters is not whether we "succeed" or not, but whether we remain Christ-like in our hearts. No one is immortal, so we are all slaves to death whether we believe or not. The only "guarantee" we have is our faith that Christ can unshackle us from it.
Success is a relative term. It can be measured not with how much you have or make but how happy you are. And in Christ we are greatful for every day, for everything even if it is small and meager; when we get sick we don't complain "how can this happen to me...' but thank the Lord for all the health you have been given until now, or thank Him that you are blessed enough to have the means to be healed with.
If you can concentrate on that, intellectual discussions on whether we earn or salvation points or not become meanignless chatter.
We understand God's grace differently, but without us being the object of that grace, being able to accept it freely, or freely cooperating with God in that grace, makes grace meaningless too. So, salvation does depend on our being here to receive it. Otherwise, what's the point? No man, no grace. :)
Yes, that's a good analogy. It is apparent our Protestant brothers have a totally different concept of who God is and our relationship with Him. I guess it comes from Luther's totally corrupt man who cannot do anything without God doing it for man. We supposedly are not puppets or we supposedly have free will, but then we cannnot do anything, God must do it for us. There seems to be a disconnect between what they say in one post and what they say in another.
Regards
I have been told that God absolutely DOES need us to cooperate with Him. I have been told that this is the only way God can achieve His desire "to save all men".
Acceptance of His grace does not "earn" you points for salvation. Your salvation is not a simple one-moment event. One Orthodox priest once said it's like getting a visa to America and all you have is a dinghy at the coast of France (and a whole Atlantic Ocean in between)!
So if you do the work and row across, then you "earn" your salvation. God will point the way, but you are the one who is rowing. Why bother going to the trouble unless salvation is what awaits on the opposite shore?
Accepting Christ does not stop the world around you. You still have to deal with the world and everything it dishes out to you. Just because you are "saved" does not mean you now "rate" special treatment. How many Christians say "How could this happen to me? I go to Church, I accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior and yet these things happen to me..."
Yes, I completely agree with you here. In fact, I would even say that in a sense being "saved" will rate you worse treatment. God tells us not to worry about whether we will be persecuted, we definitely WILL BE! :)
Ultimately, what matters is not whether we "succeed" or not, but whether we remain Christ-like in our hearts. No one is immortal, so we are all slaves to death whether we believe or not. The only "guarantee" we have is our faith that Christ can unshackle us from it.
What? For us, the goal is not what is important? I'll bet you wouldn't say that if you just barely missed theosis. (I'm sure you won't. :) ... And, that sure doesn't sound like much of a guarantee to me. I don't see it as taking much faith to believe that Christ CAN do something. The trick is to know that He WILL. I believe that the Bible has plenty of passages that say just that.
Success is a relative term. It can be measured not with how much you have or make but how happy you are.
Sure, in our daily lives this is true and it is important to keep a Godly perspective. But in the eternal sense, success means winding up in the eternal presence of our Lord.