The person stood in my office, looked at all the books on my shelf, and said, "I live by faith, not by knowledge."
I responded, "The opposite of faith is not knowledge. It's "living by sight.""
Another person, in another time and place, said, "I live by grace, not by effort."
I responded, "The opposite of grace is not effort. It's "earning.""
Dallas Willard writes,
"To put these ideas together, then, we make an effort to “work out [our] salvation with fear and trembling,” but in grace “it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” (Philippians 2:12-13). It’s right that we are to make the effort to “get understanding” (Proverbs 4:5, 7), yet it is by grace that “the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding” (2:6)."
(In Willard, Hearing God Through the Year, p. 297)
