[Dr. Eckleburg]

lol. I thank God daily that He has graced me with the desire and ability to do His will, by His grace, for His glory.

The natural man is blind and deaf. He possesses a heart of stone and his mind is filled with superstition and rebellion.

The spiritual man who has been reborn by the Holy Spirit has been given new ears and new eyes and a heart of flesh and his mind has been renewed to understand God's word, to enable him to obey, repent and believe.

If that makes me a "robot," then all I can say is "Thank you, dear Lord. Thank you."

"“Our righteousness is in Him, and our hope depends, not upon the exercise of grace in us, but upon the fullness of grace and love in Him, and upon His obedience unto death” -- John Newton, pastor and author of "Amazing Grace."

[firebrand]

It's the chosen-before-we-were-even-born stuff that rings false to me. There would be no point in creating us if that were true.

As a friend of mine used to say, why bother creating a work of art? Just imagine it, and go on to the next thing.

It's not natural for us to understand how the spirit works within us, because we are born into the world of material things and spend part of our lives not being born again. Someday it will all be clear.

[ShadowAce]

I thank God daily that He has graced me with the desire and ability to do His will, by His grace, for His glory.

This makes no sense, coming from you. Doesn't everyone do His will, for His glory? Even people like Hitler, Stalin, and Dahmer? Doesn't He control every action, belief, and desire of every person on the planet?

Why thank God for making you into a robot--just like everyone else in the world?