"So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him."

Fellow Highwaymen and Highwaywomen,

From my Arminian, evangelical background my knee-jerk reaction to this passage is that it's exhorting Christians to DO MORE. This is what most of us in mainline evangelicalism hear Sunday after Sunday regardless of the text preached: spend more time in the Word, more time in prayer, get invoved in church activities, small groups, mission outreach, etc. It all sounds so much like human effort and works.

But then I look at a passage like the one above and I ask myself: What does the author mean by "make every effort"? Is this not, in fact, a command to use whatever human capacity and ability we have to be found spotless and blameless? How else can it be interpreted?

Since becoming aware of Reformed theology and the doctrines of grace, I have seen how much of what I heard in mainline evangelicalism was a variation on the "What are you doing for God?" theme with the attendant warning that otherwise you would become a mediocre, fruitless Christian. I have rejected much of this teaching but have I perhaps missed something?

Any observations from someone more familar with a Reformed perspective would be greatly appreciate.

In Him,
Relztrah