Walking with God is also a conversation with HimAll of the things we see in the Bible are there to teach us what is real and present to us today. When we read about God invading history in the lives of individuals, we are dealing with a reality that is continuing, and unless it continues, there really is nothing that you can call a personal relationship to God. If all there is to Christianity is getting the right belief and going to heaven when you die, what is the role of human existence from here on? Yes, it is certainly to preach the gospel and to invite others to receive the grace of God in salvation, but is that all there is to it? Or are we to live now in union with God in his kingdom? The presupposition of all of the New Testament teachings is that we will have a personal walk with God, and that will be a matter of real events that occur in our lives as we live and work with him, where we are, as his children. And that is what, finally, will be the only satisfactory answer to our friend who asks, "What is going on in your life?" The answer has to be, "I will tell you and I will show you how it works in my life, and you can have it too. You really can know what it is like to deal with God and for God to deal with you in the daily moments of your existence." God creates and sustains personal relationships with individuals by his individual word to them, within the confines of biblical teachings. His kingdom works by words! From The Allure of Gentleness: Defending the Faith in the Manner of Jesus. Copyright © 2015 by Dallas Willard. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers. |
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