"I am the vine, ye are the branches; He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." (John 15:5)
"Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. [Note: It is “Work out, not work for, our salvation.] For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." (Philippians 2:12-13)
"Jerry Bridges, in his book, "The Crisis of Caring," writes “There are basically four ways to live the Christian life." Let's consider them.
One: By our own effort and willpower. We can do a lot of Christian activity and have apparent success, but we will often experience anxiety, burnout, and a lack of the real fruit of the Spirit. Our relationships with others will be hindered if we have pride in our own effort.
Two: "Let go and let God." At the other extreme, we can do nothing at all. We won't feel stressed, but we also won't do any of the things God wants to accomplish through us.
Three: "Lord, help me." Deep down where it counts, we feel that we can manage our Christian life up to a point but after that we need God's help. We pray for God's help in the morning, then handle the day's ordinary tasks on our own. We call on the Lord if we hit a crisis. It is as though we found a log too heavy to lift and said, "Lord, if You will take one end, I will take the other and together we will lift this log."
Four: Constant active dependence. We know that in reality we need God's enabling, not just His help, in every aspect of life. We pray for it constantly. Our prayer is, "Lord, You must enable me to lift this log if I am to do it. To all appearances it will seem as if I am lifting this log, and I truly am, but I am doing so only because You have given me all the strength to do it."
The difference between three and four is partial versus total trust; we can easily slip from the latter to the former if we aren't careful. The difference between two and four is that in the latter we are using all our God-given faculties in a conscious effort to serve.
"To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me." (Colossians 1:29) Emphasis added.
Our heart attitude is what makes the difference in the fruit we bear, not saying the right words about total dependence
Oswald Chambers says, "The ultimate thing is confidence in Jesus Christ. Believe steadfastly on Him and everything that challenges you will strengthen your faith, faith is absolute trust in God, trust that could never imagine that He would forsake us.
Reference: Jerry Bridges, The Crisis of Caring (Colorado Springs, Colo: NavPress,1985. My Utmost For His Highest, by Oswald Chambers, The Holy Bible.