215. [217.] 77. An argument that they emphasize is that a person cannot do good which is good of himself. That is true; but still, unless a person is engaged in good as if of himself, he does not adopt it as his, and so is not conjoined with the Lord. For conjunction to occur there must be reciprocity, thus a covenant, the arrangement being, "If you do this, I will do that." To make it possible for a person to act as if of himself, he has therefore been given freedom, and this freedom is a freedom to think, will, and do. He has been given the faculty of reason to see what salvation is. He has been given the faculty of will, and the power of choice and determination. He has been commanded to act. These gifts have been given in order that he may act as if of himself, even though the ability comes not from him but from the Lord. If he were not to do so of his own volition, he would be an automaton, and anything flowing in would simply flow on through him. The Lord also continually presses and urges a person to act, and this in such a way that it does not appear to him otherwise than that he does so of himself, to make possible his adoption of it and conjunction. A thousand passages from the Word could be cited to show that a person is condemned if he does evil and rewarded if he does good. (Select passages in which doing and works are mentioned.)* * As for example, regarding doing: Genesis 18:19; Exodus 23:2; Leviticus 5:4; Deuteronomy 4:25, 31:29; 1 Samuel 15:19; 2 Samuel 12:9; 1 Kings 10:9, 21:20; 2 Kings 17:17; Psalms 14:1, 3, 15:3, 34:14, 16, 36:3, 37:3, 27, 53:1, 3, 82:3, 106:3; Isaiah 1:16,17, 56:1, 64:5; Jeremiah 4:22, 18:9,10, 22:15; Malachi 2:17; Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:27, 35. Regarding works: Exodus 23:24; Deuteronomy 15:10; 1 Samuel 8:8; 2 Kings 22:17; Psalms 14:1, 33:15, 106:39, 141:4; Isaiah 29:15, 59:6, 66:18; Jeremiah 25:6, 7, 14, 44:8; Amos 8:7; Jonah 3:10; Matthew 5:16, 16:27, 23:3; John 7:3, 7, 8:39, 14:12; Revelation 2:2, 5, 9, 13, 19, 23, 26, 3:1, 2, 8, 15, 9:20, 14:13, 20:12, 13.