God is working in us, so let's work out our salvation (Php.2:12,13). God has seated us in the heavenly places, so let's keep our mind on things above (Ep.2:6;Co.3:1,2). We are crucified with Christ, so let's take up the cross and follow Jesus (Ga.2:20;Lk.9:23). We have crucified our flesh with its lusts and desires, so let's put to death the deeds of the body (Ga.5:24;Ro.8:13). God has made us dead to sin, so let's stop giving our body to sin (Ro.6:11,13). What? Is the Bible inconsistent with itself? No. We need to learn to understand it in the right way.
One thing is, spiritual truths cannot all be put into precise human language. Scientific writing seeks to express facts accurately and precisely to the extent knowledge is available. But science is confined to material things and how they work. Spiritual things many times refer to things that cannot be seen physically (even though their effects can be seen). The ability to see and understand spiritual things comes when a man is born again (Jn.3:3). But then, as one grows in the knowledge and experience of God, this spiritual discernment becomes clearer. That was why Paul prayed for the Ephesian disciples that their spiritual eyes might be opened (further) (Ep.1:18).
When God created us, He gave us a certain amount of free will � the ability to make our choice based on our knowledge and interest. Once He did this, He was, in fact, giving the control of a part of our life to us. He will not normally interfere in that area unless we ask Him to. But what this shows is that there are things God would do for us, and there are also things we ought to do from our side.
Because our 'flesh' is born corrupted because of the original Fall (Ps.51:5), we seem to have a natural aversion for taking responsibility for what we ought to do. We like it when God will supernaturally do things for us, clean up our mess and make good and great things happen to us. So we have this tendency to focus on the promises of God more than His instructions for us. Then we refer to selected verses from the Bible which tell us about what He has done and prepared for us, and claim that He will do everything and we only have to believe! We make ourselves believe that this is the way to give Him the entire glory! We refer to anything we have to do as 'works' or depending on the strength of the flesh! The truth is, God has done everything from His side that we need for our salvation, and Jesus was able to say on the cross, "It is finished." God has also prepared and kept everything that we need for our life (2Pe.1:3). But there are things we need to do in order to receive what God has already prepared. First of all we must believe that God has planned to give us all He has promised. Then that faith prompts us to take action to experience them in practical life (Ja.2:21,22). If this action does not come out, then our faith is merely imaginary. We need to respond to God by faith and then receive.