One of the hardest things for Christians to understand is the connection between God’s grace and our actions. After the initial euphoria of being born again, the new believer soon starts to encounter this difficulty. He finds that he is straining to keep God’s commandments and not succeeding. Otherwise, he finds he is being rigorously disciplined, but there seems to be little joy or life in his obedience. Often frustration and confusion sets in. Where is the momentum that seemed to push one along without even thinking about it? The new Christian has been confronted with the need to understand cooperating with God’s grace in his or her life.

One of the hardest things for Christians to understand is the connection between God’s grace and our actions. After the initial euphoria of being born again, the new believer soon starts to encounter this difficulty. He finds that he is straining to keep God’s commandments and not succeeding. Otherwise, he finds he is being rigorously disciplined, but there seems to be little joy or life in his obedience. Often frustration and confusion sets in. Where is the momentum that seemed to push one along without even thinking about it? The new Christian has been confronted with the need to understand cooperating with God’s grace in his or her life.