From: mserv@mozart.cc.iup.edu (Mail Server)
Subject: Re: So far so good
Lines: 16

>>This may be a really dumb one, but I'll ask it anyways:
>>       Christians know that they can never live up to the requirements of  
>>God, right? (I may be wrong, but that is my understanding)  But they still  
>>try to do it.  Doesn't it seem like we are spending all of our lives  
>>trying to reach a goal we can never achieve?  I know that we are saved by  
>>faith and not by works, but does that mean that once we are saved we don't  
>>have to do anything?  I think James tells us that Faith without works is  
>>dead (paraphrase).  How does this work?

Short reply:  We can never achieve perfect health, yet we always strive for it.  
We don't seek to do God's will because we're forced to, we follow His way 
because His way is best.  The reason it's hard is because we are flawed, not 
because He's unreasonable.  But we seek to follow His way because we want to 
improve ourselves and our lives.

- Mark
