Looking through Reformed glasses, one sees that one’s prayers are entirely mechanical exercises because nothing anyone does is of consequence, yet one does them because one ought to.
There are no consequences for not praying so why ought one to pray? Because we ought to.
Okay. Salvation now versus final salvation. You guys get better and better. :)
I’ll bite. What is salvation now and what is salvation then? How do they differ? They must differ because you point them out separately.
Then you've got the wrong prescription. :) Who says prayers are not of consequence? Not us. That they do not change God's mind does not mean they are meaningless. God ordains that we pray. The Bible tells us that God already knows everything that we need and even everything that we are going to say in prayer. Does the Bible then imply that they are a waste of time? Of course not. Prayers glorify God and are beneficial to us in the communication. For example, the more I pray the more I am reminded of my utter dependence on Him. From that my love for Him develops and grows. This is regardless of whether the subject of the prayer is granted.
I’ll bite. What is salvation now and what is salvation then? How do they differ? They must differ because you point them out separately.
In the way I am speaking of it, these are milestones in time. Principally, one can correctly talk about salvation "happening" when Christ died on the cross for the sins of the elect. Or, one could also correctly speak of salvation as being at the point of belief. Likewise, one could refer to the actual entry into Heaven. These are three different events in time, but are inextricably tied together for the elect. No single one can happen without the other two necessarily happening. It's all three or none of them. The Bible also uses the word "salvation" in three tenses, and this is an explanation.