A friend responded to my blog on James 2 in which I wrote:

There is often confusion on this simple concept. After all, “We’re saved by grace, right?” A friend of mine’s extended family members are hard over on this. Anything somebody suggests something they might want to DO as believers is rejected out of hand as “works righteousness.” 

He told me about a fellow who is like the people I wrote about:

One of the guys I am discipling is like this. I can’t EVER say anything to him that sounds like obedience without him making an immediate disclaimer like, “I know that if I do ‘_______’ in my ‘flesh’ I will always fail.  So I need God’s grace to walk in the Spirit.” … And I want to say, “OK, I get that … I believe what the Bible says about walking in grace by the Holy Spirit just like you do … but can we just DO what God tells us to do without the theology lesson each time we read something that sounds like obedience?” Deuteronomy 30:14 (RSV) says, “But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.”

My friend went on to cite Philippians 2.12 – 13:

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2.12, 13, ESV)

He writes:

As you know, Philippians 2.12 – 13 covers both sides of the equation.  We have “our work” – obey, work out our salvation, and God has “His work” – He works in us so that we “will” and “work” to please Him. However, God does His work in us without us first asking Him to do it.  So, when I choose to obey, the work of grace is already done. Because of this, from the believer’s perspective, obedience is a “one-step” process, not a “two-step”, like my/your friends imply: i.e. (1) I “walk” in the Spirit, and then (2) I “obey.”  However, from our friends’ perspective, there is a “thing” called “obedience in the flesh.”

It’s amazing how many excuses (sometimes disguised in theological language) we can come up with to NOT do what God asks us to do. “I can’t do that – it would be works-righteousness. OR “I can’t do that without it being obedience in the flesh.” In the meantime, who is going to take those freshly-baked cinnamon rolls over to our neighbor’s house?

But why do you call Me “Lord, Lord,” and do not do the things which I say? (Luke 6.46, NKJV)