EXODUS 36: At the very heart of the "Good News" is the fact that God gives to us freely, as a gift, everything that He requires of us. God required Israel to build Him a dwelling place with a beauty and glory that approached His own. A tall order indeed. But He also gave the likes of Bezaleel and Aholiab the supernatural craftsmanship necessary to construct the Tabernacle and its furniture according to the divine specifications. God required, and God gave that which was necessary to obey what He required.
Fast forward a couple of millennia and hear Jesus' first command: "Repent and believe." Again, a very tall order indeed for self-centered and self-righteous creatures like us. But again, God gives freely that which He requires as both repentance (Acts 11:18) and faith (Philippians 1:29) are described by Paul as divine gifts, not as things that we have to generate by our own effort or striving.
Too glad to be true, but true nonetheless.
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