Shoot, you can go back farther than that. God was constantly telling the Israelites that they were to be holy to the Lord. Fat lot of good it did them.
Are you telling me that either God was incompetent in His instructions to the Israelites or else He was deliberately telling them to do something meaningless?
So it is not by our strength that we do anything. As our Lord stated, "Apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5) And as Paul stated, "I can do all things in him [sic:Christ] (Phil 4:13) who strengthens me."
But doing nothing is not an option. Without God's Grace, we cannot be saved. All men are Judged on their last day. And not for the seat number in the celestial football stadium that some folks think that the Judgement means.
We are to encourage one another to good works, but those good works are the results of God's Spirit choosing to work through us. We submit to God but it is only because God helps us to submit to Him.
We are in accord. However, if everything is predestined, then I need behave only as I see fit whenever I see that fitness occur. By my own judgement, and not His.
But we would rather be in BMW.......
Not at all. I believe the nation of Israel is an illustration to the church of how corrupt we are-even if choosen by God. As far back as Moses, God told the people of Israel (His choosen) that they would end up worshipping false gods and sacrificing their children on the burning fires of Molech. HEY! Sure enough; that's is eactly what happened. It should be a warning to us Christians (and Paul tells us not to get too big headed).
But doing nothing is not an option.
No one is saying to do nothing. Our love compels us to serve God and to follow His commands. It just that we must recognize why we are driven by this. It is not because of us but because of God.