I understand """Php 1:29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake""" A little bit differently.. It appears as if you, OR I, have taken the scripture backwards... I read this and it appears to me as though the author was saying that what was granted to me was the SUFFERING for Him. In essence what I felt this passage to say was that I already believed in Him BUT for HIS NAMES SAKE I would [b]ALSO suffer.. My suffering would be for His names sake.. Does that make sense? Again, I have never been taught the proper order that sentences in Greek and Hebrew were organized yet I know Spanish is organized differently and I may be taking something out of place?? I have some other scriptures that I would like to ask about but I am sort of absent minded and can not recall right off the top of my head what they are and my notebook is downstairs and its midnight here and therefore do not wish to go looking for it.. However, I do have a simple question.. I hope its simple anyway.... Assuming that the reformed theology is correct, why are there still commands to us in the Bible?? If God is really in control of each action of my heart, mind, and soul... Would He not "make" me love my neighbors as myself?? Would He not make each one of His people show the same love to others as we were shown? For one of the scriptures I do remember is 1 John 3:16-24 16This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. There are commands given here that we should lay our lives down just as His was laid down for us. For if we cannot find compassion and pity for our brothers, how can God be in us? I know non-christians who find pity on others.. They will help those in need not looking for a reward and not looking for recognition but because they understand that there is another human being in need and they have the means to help.. Is this not the same thing spoken of in 1 John?? If they have the love for others that is spoken of, could they not experience the love of God?? Maybe down the road these people will turn to Christ, maybe not. But it seems that I know more people than not who would give money, clothes, food, and their time and effort to help others because they feel compassion towards them than I do people that would not.. And not all of these people are Christian.