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Certainly none of us is the Messiah who is the Redeemer.
Yet does that mean none of us can seek redemption/forgiveness???
Do we not have to actively participate in our own behavioral change to merit forgiveness???
Or are we simply passive bystanders in the entire process???
I assume you are simply playing semantics here because if not, your assertion is absurd!
There is no merit. That is why it is called grace, and why works are not salvific, that no man may boast.
How can I put this well?
It's like chores.
They're expected of you. If you grew up on a farm, you likely did chores, which were required and not paid for (my allowance was always pegged otherwise). Chores are just part of living.
If you live in your old man's house, you do as is expected.
Good works are much the same. What the Father wants is 'teshuva'... Repentance in the Christian vernacular... But is more about turning back to the Father and living right, more than the act of contrition... Though I suppose true contrition must be obtained.
Does that explain it well enough
@Absalom ?