Surrender . . . the key to spirituality.

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Think of Jesus Christ, so that the standard of human life is no longer a code, but a character. E. Stanley Jones

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Surrender, I am convinced, is the key to spirituality. “Not my will, but Thine be done,” is the appropriate response on all occasions. It is the key—the only key, to experiencing the richness of life; all else is wood, hay and stubble.


Yet, the temptation of the temporal excites us to false hopes, false dreams, and false purposes. God, however, has other plans for us, and until we surrender happiness will elude us.

“Surrender to what?” … I heard someone say.

The short answer to that is, of course, to God; however, not just any God, not even the God of the Creeds, if by doing so we neglect the God of the heart. Orthodoxy is wonderful, but it is sterile staring back at us from the dark print on the white page before us. A book, not even the Bible, or any creed can save us, or infuse us with true spirituality. At best they can only point us in the right direction, make the right recommendations, offer encouragement and hope, but that’s about the sum of it.

That final step—that final awareness, can only come when we surrender to the full intentions of God; that is, to our created purpose. It is in surrender, and only there, that we find peace and true spirituality.

“Father, that they may be one as We are One,” is not just a prayer, it is a purposeful fact. It is our destiny; and once committed we have no choice, if we wish to experience the fullness of God. It is as simple as that.

I say, simple, but what I mean is that the process does not require a lot of theological gobbledygook for us to understand in order to commence the journey. As Luther has so rightly stated, even a milkmaid can understand the biblical message; and, of course, central to the message is one of surrender—total surrender to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

It is not without significance that the first Christian creed recorded in history was simply “Jesus is Lord.” These New Testament Christians captured the essence of what it is to be a Christian early on—that is, one must surrender to the lordship of Christ. We must become one with Him in order to become one with God, and that means surrender.

Christ, in His darkest hour sets the example when He cried out, “Lord, not my will but Thine be done.” Thus we can rightly say that if in the darkest hour when escape is a matter of choice (remember, He had 10,000 angels at his disposal) surely we are wise to choose surrender in all the circumstances of life.

The journey of choice is ours, but He charted the course in order for us to clearly understand that surrender is our best option. For once we are committed to Him—that is, totally surrendered, we can be sure that nothing, absolutely nothing can separate us from the loving embrace of a Father that cares, really cares. Forget nitpicking theology here, we are not talking about conditional commitment, we are talking about total commitment. We are in the journey for the long haul, for as long as it takes. There is no turning back. No tinges of regret, either. The journey is ours, and it is a happy journey because we know we are on the right journey.

The Psalmist wrote,

“The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation (Psalm 118:14).”

This, he could have only said, on condition of the Lordship of God, whom we rightly know as Christ. So, if we are weak, then we have not surrendered. He is our strength. If we are sad, then we have not surrendered. For He is our song. Do we feel hopelessly lost with nowhere to turn? Then we must turn to our Savior. None of which He is, however, unless He is Lord.

May God’s grace enable us to surrender, really surrender, not just in word but with a firm commitment to Christ with an unconditional surrender to the majesty of His Lordship.

Now, may His wisdom accompany us on each step of the journey; otherwise, we journey in vain.

JimR_/

Read 55 Amazing Facts on Jesus Death

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Below are facts on How Jesus Died For You. I do not think that we really understand how much Jesus did for us. Please share this post to spread the Good News of Jesus.

Crucifixion was invented by the Persians in 300 BC, and perfected by the Romans in 100 BC.

1. It is the most painful death ever invented by man and is where we get our term "excruciating."

2. It was reserved primarily for the most vicious of male criminals.

3. Jesus was stripped naked and His clothing divided by the Roman guards. This was in fulfillment of Psalm 22:18, "They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots."

4. The Crucifixion of Jesus guaranteed a horrific, slow, painful death.

5. Jesus' knees were flexed at about 45 degrees, and He was forced to bear His

weight with the muscles of His thigh, which is not an anatomical position which is possible to maintain for more than a few minutes without severe cramp in the muscles of the thigh and calf.

6. Jesus' weight was borne on His feet, with nails driven through them. As the strength of the muscles of Jesus' lower limbs tired, the weight of His body had to be transferred to His wrists, His arms, and His shoulders.

7. Within a few minutes of being placed on the Cross, Jesus' shoulders were dislocated. Minutes later Jesus' elbows and wrists became dislocated.

8. The result of these upper limb dislocations is that His arms were 9 inches longer than normal, as clearly shown on the Shroud.

9. In addition prophecy was fulfilled in Psalm 22:14, "I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint."

10. After Jesus' wrists, elbows, and shoulders were dislocated, the weight of His body on his upper limbs caused traction forces on the Pectoralis Major muscles of His chest wall.




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11. These traction forces caused His rib cage to be pulled upwards and outwards, in a most unnatural state. His chest wall was permanently in a position of maximal respiratory inspiration. In order to exhale, Jesus was physiologically required to force His body.

12. In order to breathe out, Jesus had to push down on the nails in His feet to raise His body, and allow His rib cage to move downwards and inwards to expire air from His lungs.

13. His lungs were in a resting position of constant maximum inspiration. Crucifixion is a medical catastrophe.

14. The problem was that Jesus could not easily push down on the nails in His feet because the muscles of His legs, bent at 45 degrees, were extremely fatigued, in severe cramp, and in an anatomically compromised position.

15. Unlike all Hollywood movies about the Crucifixion, the victim was extremely active. The crucified victim was physiologically forced to move up and down the cross, a distance of about 12 inches, in order to breathe.

16. The process of respiration caused excruciating pain, mixed with the absolute terror of asphyxiation.

17. As the six hours of the Crucifixion wore on, Jesus was less and less able to bear His weight on His legs, as His thigh and calf muscles became increasingly exhausted. There was increasing dislocation of His wrists, elbows and shoulders, and further elevation of His chest wall, making His breathing more and more difficult. Within minutes of crucifixion Jesus became severely dyspnoeic (short of breath).

18. His movements up and down the Cross to breathe caused excruciating pain in His wrist, His feet, and His dislocated elbows and shoulders.

19. The movements became less frequent as Jesus became increasingly exhausted, but the terror of imminent death by asphyxiation forced Him to continue in His efforts to breathe.

20. Jesus' lower limb muscles developed excruciating cramp from the effort of pushing down on His legs, to raise His body, so that He could breathe out, in their anatomically compromised position.

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21. The pain from His two shattered median nerves in His wrists exploded with every movement.

22. Jesus was covered in blood and sweat.

23. The blood was a result of the Scourging that nearly killed Him, and the sweat as a result of His violent involuntary attempts to effort to expire air from His lungs. Throughout all this He was completely naked, and the leaders of the Jews, the crowds, and the thieves on both sides of Him were jeering, swearing and laughing at Him. In addition, Jesus' own mother was watching.

24. Physiologically, Jesus' body was undergoing a series of catastrophic and terminal events.

25. Because Jesus could not maintain adequate ventilation of His lungs, He was now in a state of hypo-ventilation (inadequate ventilation).

26. His blood oxygen level began to fall, and He developed Hypoxia (low blood oxygen). In addition, because of His restricted respiratory movements, His blood carbon dioxide (CO2) level began to rise, a condition known as Hypercritical.

27. This rising CO2 level stimulated His heart to beat faster in order to increase the delivery of oxygen, and the removal of CO2.

28. The Respiratory Center in Jesus' brain sent urgent messages to his lungs to breathe faster, and Jesus began to pant.

29. Jesus' physiological reflexes demanded that He took deeper breaths, and He involuntarily moved up and down the Cross much faster, despite the excruciating pain. The agonizing movements spontaneously started several times a minute, to the delight of the crowd who jeered Him, the Roman soldiers, and the Sanhedrin.

30. However, due to the nailing of Jesus to the Cross and His increasing exhaustion, He was unable to provide more oxygen to His oxygen starved body.

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31. The twin forces of Hypoxia (too little oxygen) and Hypercapnia (too much CO2) caused His heart to beat faster and faster, and Jesus developed Tachycardia.

32. Jesus' heart beat faster and faster, and His pulse rate was probably about 220 beats/minute, the maximum normally sustainable.

33. Jesus had drunk nothing for 15 hours, since 6 pm the previous evening. Jesus had endured a scourging which nearly killed Him.

34. He was bleeding from all over His body following the Scourging, the crown of thorns, the nails in His wrists and feet, and the lacerations following His beatings and falls.

35. Jesus was already very dehydrated, and His blood pressure fell alarmingly.

36. His blood pressure was probably about 80/50.

37. He was in First Degree Shock, with Hypovolaemia (low blood volume), Tachycardia (excessively fast Heart Rate), Tachypnoea (excessively fast Respiratory Rate), and Hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating).

38. By about noon Jesus' heart probably began to fail.

39. Jesus' lungs probably began to fill up with Pulmonary Oedema.

40. This only served to exacerbate His breathing, which was already severely compromised.

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41. Jesus was in Heart Failure and Respiratory Failure.

42. Jesus said, "I thirst" because His body was crying out for fluids.

43. Jesus was in desperate need of an intravenous infusion of blood and plasma to save His life

44. Jesus could not breathe properly and was slowly suffocating to death.

45. At this stage Jesus probably developed a Haemopericardium.

46. Plasma and blood gathered in the space around His heart, called the Pericardium.

47. This fluid around His heart caused Cardiac Tamponade (fluid around His heart, which prevented Jesus' heart from beating properly).

48. Because of the increasing physiological demands on Jesus' heart, and the advanced state of Haemopericardium, Jesus probably eventually sustained Cardiac Rupture. His heart literally burst. This was probably the cause of His death.

49. To slow the process of death the soldiers put a small wooden seat on the Cross, which would allow Jesus the "privilege" of bearing His weight on his sacrum.

50. The effect of this was that it could take up to nine days to die on a Cross.

51. When the Romans wanted to expedite death they would simply break the legs of the victim, causing the victim to suffocate in a matter of minutes. This was called Crucifragrum.

52. At three o'clock in the afternoon Jesus said, "Tetelastai," meaning, "It is finished." At that moment, He gave up His Spirit, and He died.

53. When the soldiers came to Jesus to break His legs, He was already dead. Not a bone of His body was broken, in fulfillment of prophecy (above).

54. Jesus died after six hours of the most excruciating and terrifying torture ever invented.

55. Jesus died so that ordinary people like you and me could go to Heaven.

All He Asks You is to Love Him, Your Lord, Your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind!! Can't you even do this for Him?

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Please stop what you are doing right now and Share this with your friends.

 

"... the eleventh Commandment."

 

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“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35 (NIV)

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Imagine with me, it’s the night just before you are arrested for a capital crime that you did not commit, your last meal is set on the table before you. Got the picture? You look around, see the traitor that is going to betray you. Now, may I ask you, what would be the last thing on your mind at a time like that? Wash his feet? Come on, give me a break. That man is a piece of scum, a thief (of long standing), and now a snitch. Wash his dirty feet? Not on your life! The rascal deserves at least a good beating, certainly not a foot washing or to share a meal with him.

Yet, this is precisely what Jesus did, knowing all along what lay ahead.

Now, before we get too far in our story, let me pause for a moment to interject that although Jesus modeled what it is to be a servant that was not what motivated him. His motivation was love, pure and simple. To put it another way, because of who He was and is, there was no other alternative. It was his nature. In short, everything Christ did is an example, not that He is a purposeful showoff, demonstrating what a good fellow he is, but rather that because He is the essence of love, He could have done no other.

This nature stretches all the way back into eternity, spanning the course of history, and reaches into that same eternity past our last tomorrow.

This is not a dead nature, either. Acts fade. Love endures. Through thick and thin and all the in-betweens, love is persistently present. Always. It never fails. Even in the darkest hours, it never fails.

Now, what is so beautiful to me about this truth is that love always communicates. It is never silent. It never takes an “I’ll just stand by and see what happens” attitude. No, Love get involved.

This is one of the reasons that Jesus is called the logos, or Word. Not only does He speak, He acts. He communicates, always. Look at Jesus, and what do you see? Well, if you don’t see the Word, then you are looking at the wrong Jesus. Everything He did and does, tells you who He is; and, more importantly, who we are not without Him.

This is not just preacher talk, either. It’s a challenge. A challenge to look at the real Jesus and understand what He is all about, and how that affects you.

It does not matter how good you are, or think you are, when you look at Jesus you will always see room for self-improvement. Love does that to you. His love. Not some mamsy-pamsy sentiment, either; but the very essence of love.

It is for these reasons that Maundy Thursday must always precede Easter, not just in the life of Christ, but in ours also; because without love there would have been no Easter, no resurrection for Him or us, either.

Want a sure ticket to Heaven? Try love. It works every time.

Once again, I am with you on this journey; more importantly, however, Love walks alongside us.

 
JimR_/

". . . suffered under Pontius Pilate."

The Apostles Creed, speaking of Jesus Christ, states that He “suffered under Pontius Pilate.” A rather innocuous inclusion some would say, just a matter of history, a paltry statement, nothing more.

I say, however, think again. It is not enough, in my opinion, to simply say that He died, was buried, and rose again; it is of utmost importance to know the conditions under which He suffered, and died.

Granted, the Jewish system wanted Him dead, but that is not the tragedy of this event. The real tragedy is that it was not only the Jewish system, but, indeed the world system. Rome wanted Him dead, also. For Pilate, therefore in was all a matter of power, politics as usual. Justice had nothing to do with it as far as Pilate was concerned. Maintaining a position of power, however, did. Pax Romana was first on the agenda, justice was incidental.

Sound familiar? Count the votes, Mr. President, and you win, but at what expense? Here’s some sobering stats on those who will never have a chance to vote, or even enjoy one breath of fresh air, Mr. President:

United States this Year 240,172.0	In United States today 1,692.2	US since 1973: Roe vs. Wade 57,732,036.0	US this Year after 16 weeks gestation 11,528.3
By Planned Parenthood since 1970 6,709,426.0	By Planned Parenthood this year 72,072.0	US this Year due to rape or incest 2,329.7	Black babies since '73 in US 17,319,610.8
Worldwide since 1980 1,328,811,663	Worldwide this Year 8,916,665	Worldwide Today 62,180 average	Worldwide Average About 1 per second

 

You will also notice, Mr. President, that included in these statistics are not only of your own race, but those of other nations, since you, too, are responsible for advancing your public agenda of Planned Parenthood through the various international agencies, including the UN with the use of our hard earned taxpayer dollars.

“…suffered under Pontius Pilate.”

At just the right moment in history, the Scripture declares that the incarnate Son of God was sent to redeem us (Galatians 2:4-7). However, in order for the Son to do that, He must first suffer under Pontius Pilate, be crucified, buried, and rise triumphantly, to conquer evil and to bring eternal life to all those who believe on Him.

That is the purpose of history. The sole purpose, I might add. All else is either preliminary or subsequent to that great event. History flows in and through Calvary as the seminal event of all ages, and, indeed, spans history to the far reaches of eternity.

Heaven is, and will never be the same because of Calvary—and this is not just religious talk, either; this is a fact.

But why Calvary, and why Pontius Pilate? Could not have God done it another way. The short answer is no. Not for a perfect God, that is. Calvary is the perfect answer of a perfect God.

How so, you say?

Well, first of all, at Calvary, God disarmed the Devil and his henchmen and made it public by triumphing over them through Christ (Colossians 2:15). 

Earlier Christ had said, “My Kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36)” and Calvary was God’s final answer to those that thought otherwise.

Calvary was the convenient answer to an inconvenient problem—the problem of evil. Calvary was therefore God’s way of exposing the expediency of politics. Calvary was God’s perfect answer to the problem of evil.  Calvary is God’s theodicy—His answer to the problem of evil; Calvary not only tells us why, but how. Evil exists because of choice, and choice because of freedom, and freedom because a God of love did not create automatons. Robots are incapable of love. Only a free moral agent is capable of that. I say, free because of obvious reasons, I say moral because love is a moral choice, and therefore a responsibility—and, reasonably so, I might add.

God is the essence of love. God is love, and those who are in harmony with God reflect that quality. Thus when we love our neighbor as ourselves we are in synch with God, and as such expressing our moral responsibility.

Calvary, the Passion of Christ, and, yes, even His temptations are permeated with Christ’s love—His love for humanity, for God, and for Himself.

Love is inextricably tied in with who we are, and who we are is inextricably tied in with our Creator in whose image we have been made. Anything of the opposite can only lead to an evil chaos.

So, it must be understood that the world is in the political shape it is today because without God moral responsibility has no beacon of certainty. Not only is that true, but man is incapable of love outside of God. We must first love God, and then, and only then, does the love for our neighbor attend. Thus, we can reiterate,

If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. (1 John 4:20 (NIV)

How then can anyone say, “I’m a Christian,” but in fact destroy the innocent and pass it off as just so much bio-mass that has been extracted from the womb. Is this not hatred of our brother, our sister? Most certainly it is.

Unfortunately, the history of this pseudo-Christianity, or false morality that disguises itself under the umbrella of a woman’s choice and one’s freedom is patently ungodly.

This is, of course, in line with the tenor of Scripture reminds us that:

There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.

They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these teachers oppose the truth. They are men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone. (Timothy 3:1-9 (NIV)

I am, as usual, yours for the journey, but, more importantly, He walks alongside of us.

Jim_/

A Song of Ascent . . .

Dear Friends, prayer and financial partners,

Today, I gave the last lecture on World Religions and the Christian Witness, the last master’s degree class for me this semester; and, I must say that like a good Alka-Seltzer tablet, “Oh, what a relief it was!” Great students, brilliant by any standard, I must say.

As expected, Islam generated the most interest—particularly the jihadist mindset that some Muslims have, and of which others have a hard time understanding. It would be easy—too easy—to just chalk jihadism up to the Devil’s shenanigans and leave it at that, but then that would be leaving out the willful and depraved nature of man, wouldn’t it? In that regards, I reminded them that Christ called Peter Satan on one occasion, not because he was possessed, but because he had taken the Devil’s side of the argument. Had Peter persisted, no telling where he would have ended up—perhaps, in Judas’ camp, who knows? The upshot of the whole point is that it doesn’t take demonic powers for anyone to do the work of the Devil, man is perfectly capable of doing it for him.

So, in understanding jihadism, and fanaticism in any form for that matter, one must understand the capacity of man to absorb evil and act out evil intentions with the precision of intellect and cunningness that baffles the imagination. Burning a captured Jordanian pilot is just child play for them; as is burying little innocent children in the sand, suffocating them to death, just because they happen to be Christian with parents standing conveniently by to witness the slaughter as a caution deterrent to ever even think about opposing ISIS and the agenda of these mad men.

Granted not all Muslims are jihadists, nor are all Christians complacent, either; so, I am not trying to paint the picture any darker than it already is—all I am saying is that it is already dark enough! Hell is at our gates, and yet we leave our doors wide open, and all in the name of fairness and political correctness. Our borders, ports and airports are like sieves, full of holes that our Congress and President cannot—better yet, will not fix.

And, of course, this is only part of the problem we face.

Racial tension is at a new all-time high, gun related homicides rates are astronomical, our financial systems seem to be sound … but, the cautious are warning us of another meltdown. I am no pundit, but I can say one thing, I am so happy that I can put my confidence in the Lord, from which comes my strength, and joyfully join the Psalmist in singing—

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—

Where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord,

The Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip—

He who watches over you will not slumber;

Indeed, he who watches over Israel

Will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord watches over you—

The Lord is your shade at your right hand;

The sun will not harm you by day,

Nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all harm—

He will watch over your life;

The Lord will watch over your coming and going

Both now and forevermore.

And, to that I can add a hardy, Amen!

If all goes as planned, you will receive this newsletter when Bonnie and I are processing through immigration here in Colombo to board our flight which will take us to Singapore (with a 24 hour layover), then on to Doha, Qatar (for another 8 hour layover), then on to Dallas, where we will arrive after almost 60 hours in transit.

We ask for your prayers, and once again thanks for helping us make this ministry possible.

Blessings, and remember we are not alone, He is with us each step of the way.

Jim__/

 

Works or Grace?

Paul writes,

And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. (Romans 11:6 KJV)

For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (Ephesians 2:8 KJV)

Then James seem to contradict him with the rejoinder that,

You see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. (James 2:24 KJV)

In light of this, Joseph Mizzi, writes, in opposition to what he perceives to be Catholic doctrine by taking a broadside at the former Pope, Benedict XVI by accusing him of substituting the works of faith for the works of the Law and thereby effectively negating the necessity for sola Grace altogether. In other words, according Benedict XVI, Mizzi says,

Thus when Paul says that we are not justified by the works of the Law, he was really saying that we are not justified by the Law of Moses, but he does not exclude that we are justified by the works of love.

“That’s the Pope’s argument in a nutshell,” writes Mizzi. “The Pope,” he continues,

“Rightly points out that in his epistles Paul discusses the division between Jews and Gentiles, and that now all believers are united in Christ irrespective of the ethnic background. But that was not his only concern. Paul also addresses the universal human tendency to self-righteousness, that is, our attempts to gain favor with God on account of personal works and merits.

That’s not all, Mizzi, continues,

The Law of Moses served the purpose of keeping God’s covenant people, Israel, distinct from pagan idolatry, as the Pope said. But the moral aspects of the law, whether written on tablets of stone or on the human conscience, also served to expose our depravity, guilt and helplessness. ‘Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin’ (Romans 3:20).

Moreover Paul could not have limited the concept of ‘works of the Law’ to the Torah. He presented the Patriarch Abraham as the primary witness to his doctrine. He wrote:

What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness. (Romans 4:1-5).

Thus, Mizzi concludes, that

In this context ‘works’ could not refer exclusively to obedience of the Torah, for Abraham lived many centuries before Moses. It is therefore wrong to force Paul’s concept of ‘works of the Law’ exclusively to the Law of Moses. Clearly Paul applies the same principle to works in general. Abraham could not boast before God because he was justified faith and not by works. The same applies to us all.

This argument would be convincing, indeed, if, however, the former Pope had advocated works without grace can save us. This he did not. All he was saying was that neither faith nor works operate in a vacuum—Grace, God’s grace, is foundational to all.

In that regards it should be said that each time the former Pope or any other theologian expresses an opinion on matters of faith, it is not necessary to include an elementary introduction to presumed beliefs.  Grace, and the doctrine thereof being one of those.

Now, what Benedict XVI may have been alluding to is prevenient grace which according to the Cornelius paradigm is that affirmed when—

Peter opened his mouth, and said, "‘Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that fears him, and works righteousness, is accepted with him.’” (Acts 10:34-35)

Now, that’s a pretty hard one for Mizzi to wiggle himself out of; since, it should be said, God’s grace is operative here also, as I am convinced Benedict XVI would agree.