parting and a separation rather than a partnership—not on the Lord’s
initiative but on our own.
To allow the partnership to be reciprocal, we have been given free
choice. With it we can travel the road to heaven or the road to hell. Our
ability to act reciprocally is a result of the freedom we have been given to
unite ourselves to the Lord or unite ourselves to the Devil. (The nature
of this freedom and the reasons we possess it will be illustrated later on in
the text when we come to free choice [§§ 463 – 508 ], repentance [§§ 509 –
570 ], reformation and regeneration [§§ 571 – 625 ], and the assignment of
spiritual credit or blame [§§ 626 – 666 ].)
[ 3 ] It is a lamentable thing that the reciprocal partnership between the
Lord and us, even though it stands out so clearly in the Word, is still
unknown to the Christian church. It is unknown because of theories about
faith and free choice. The theory about faith holds that faith is granted
without our contributing anything to acquiring it—we do not adjust our-
selves to receive it or work on receiving it any more than would a log. The
theory about free choice holds that we do not have even a speck of free
choice about spiritual things.
The salvation of the human race depends on the reciprocal partner-
ship between the Lord and the individual. Therefore, to prevent this
partnership from remaining unknown any longer, it is a necessity that it
be disclosed. The most effective way to accomplish this is through exam-
ples, because they illustrate the partnership.
[ 4 ] There are two types of reciprocal partnership: one is alternating;the
other is mutual.An alternatingreciprocal cycle that results in a partnership
can be illustrated by the lungs filling with air. We take in air, which expands
our chest. Soon afterward we release the air we inhaled, which contracts our
chest. This inhalation and consequent expansion are rendered possible by
the air pressure in this column of air. The releasing and contracting is
accomplished by our own ribs as driven by our muscles. This shows the
reciprocal partnership of the air and the lungs. The life of all our physical
sensations and movements depends on this partnership, as we can tell from
the fact that we lose both sensation and movement when we stop breathing.
[ 5 ] A reciprocal partnership that comes about through alternating
cycles can also be illustrated by the partnership of the heart with the
lungs and of the lungs with the heart. The heart moves blood from its
right chamber into the lungs. The lungs return the blood to the left
chamber of the heart. This is how the partnership on which the life of
the whole body depends becomes reciprocal.
singke
(singke)
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