(12) What Can the Righteous Do?

Apart from grace people can still think, choose, and perform outward things. But they cannot properly judge heavenly things or do any spiritual good. In his kindness God graciously and sovereignly makes some people "a new creation" (2 Cor. 5:17; cf. Gal. 6:15). Paul says that God "saved us … by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5). Regeneration literally means a new beginning.
This fresh start is the determining factor for what a person can and cannot do. So, having considered the limitations of the will of a natural person, let's ask, "What can the righteous do?"