J.B. Tidwell, in his review of the writings of the prophet Jeremiah, observed the following:
“He [Jeremiah] made two special contributions to the truth as understood in his time.
(1) The spirituality of religion.
He saw the coming overthrow of their [the Israelites] national and formal religion and realized that, to survive that crisis, religion must not be national, but individual and spiritual.
(2) Personal responsibility (31:29-30).
If religion was to be a spiritual condition of the individual, the doctrine of personal responsibility was a logical necessity.”
This fits neatly with “working out ones own salvation with fear and trembling”. The Church is corporate, but made up of accountable, yet loved, individuals.
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