Holiness, Godliness, Usefulness
11/18/2014, by John Kincaid
Lesson 424: The Gratitude of Mercy, Pt.2
We will continue serving God if we serve because He accepted us, not to win His acceptance.
When we confuse these, our motives for serving God will become selfish.
The unsaved world believes that Christians have self-serving purposes: that we are afraid of not being Christians (religion as fire insurance), or that we need help to reach our goals (religion as a crutch), or that we want to be seen as "respectable" in society.
But the true driving force in authentic Christian living is “not the hope of gain, but the heart of gratitude.” (J.I. Packer)
Strange as it seems, our desire for heaven and fear of hell can be twisted to serve Satan if our motive is personal gain, not a response to God’s love.
The rules of Christian service don’t change but our reasons and motives can. We should fear the consequences of our sin.
When God warns of consequences, avoiding disaster is a perfectly legitimate motive for turning from wrong.
Even so, we should be more overwhelmed and motivated by God’s love.
About This Series
The goal of this series is to become more useful in serving the Lord Jesus Christ, as an instrument in the Redeemer's hand. The theme verses for the series are Ephesians 4:22-24, Philemon 11, 2 Timothy 2:21
- to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
- and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
- Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.
- Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.
