Fascinating.
Are you saying that whatever it is that you do is God’s will? You have no freedom in the matter? Would you compare it to picking a card, any card, but the magician directs your picking to a certain card 100% of the time? I am unable to discern other than programming, and I keep coming back to the same conclusions. You folks say it isn’t preprogrammed robotic behaviour. If you say that whichever deed you pick is God’s choice for you, what’s the qualitative difference?
If deeds happen, just like the running of the bases, as an aftereffect of salvation, are they meaningless in themselves, then, just a show, or a formality?
Absolutely I agree that there are almost certainly deathbed repentences that count with Him. I wouldn’t let it go that long, though. I mean, if you’re counting on that last second conversion, and you fall under an atomic bomb, there’s not a lot of time available for such a feat.
Paul, in speaking to believers and encouraging them to persevere in truth and joy, assures them...
"For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." -- Philippians 2:13
So it looks like Paul has answered your question.
Yes, God is sovereign and in full control of His creation. God's will is always done.
You have no freedom in the matter?
A loaded, but honest question. :) To my mind, in these discussions freedom is in the eye of the beholder. In my life I experience full freedom. I decide whether to get out of bed in the morning. However, unexperienced by me is God's controlling hand over everything. God, unknown to me, had already ordained that I would get out of bed yesterday, so I did. I pray He keeps the streak going. :)
Would you compare it to picking a card, any card, but the magician directs your picking to a certain card 100% of the time?
No, with a magician, the mark would experience that he is being manipulated for the purposes of entertainment. That is not what we experience. We experience unfettered freedom. Think of your kids when they were small. I am sure that you have manipulated them into making "free will" decisions for their own good without them having the slightest idea what was going on. I did it a million times. :) It's not bad at all since they were happy for your approval of their having made the right decision, even if they couldn't begin to explain how they arrived at it. :) I think God does the same with us all the time.
You folks say it isn’t preprogrammed robotic behaviour. If you say that whichever deed you pick is God’s choice for you, what’s the qualitative difference?
The literal experience of the person. Robots have no feelings, make no independent decisions, and have no reason. Humans experience all of that, in full, regardless of what is going on behind the scenes.
If deeds happen, just like the running of the bases, as an aftereffect of salvation, are they meaningless in themselves, then, just a show, or a formality?
No, they are not meaningless because they are required for entry into Heaven. If I announce today that I am saved, and then spend the next 40 years sitting on my butt, then I'm not going to Heaven. If I hit a home run and then refuse to run the bases, then the run doesn't count. Same thing. The deeds are very meaningful, and they are promised by God. The deeds will necessarily flow from the new heart that God gives us. There hasn't been a recall yet, and every new heart produced has turned out good fruit. :)
And not only are our good deeds beneficial to ourselves, but also obviously to the rest of God's creation. For example, God uses our good deeds to awaken more members of the elect.
Absolutely I agree that there are almost certainly deathbed repentences that count with Him. I wouldn’t let it go that long, though. I mean, if you’re counting on that last second conversion, and you fall under an atomic bomb, there’s not a lot of time available for such a feat.
Oh I couldn't agree more. Our pastor preaches urgency every single week. Getting right with Christ is nothing that should be "played". :)