A REASONABLE SERVICE (1)

God is not a cruel taskmaster but a gentle and loving Father. Although God is a sovereign or supreme ruler, yet at the moment He forces no one to worship, serve, obey or submit to Him. But, at the close of the ages God will punish and crush every rebellion against His rule or Word.

“For it is written: "As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God." (Rom. 14:11 NKJV). “Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.” (1 Cor. 15:24 NKJV).

God does not want you to love, obey, serve or worship Him impulsively, forcefully, or grudgingly. It is unprofitable for you to serve God without joy and gladness of heart (Deut. 28:47-48). Having been redeemed from the slavery of Sin and Satan through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, it is only reasonable or sensible to devote yourself to God’s service. Any believer in Christ who continues to live for himself is simply an unreasonable, insensible or unintelligent person.

The early disciples of Christ cheerfully and wholeheartedly devoted themselves and their resources to Christ and His Kingdom because they were able to reason well. Paul declared: “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” (2 Cor. 5:14-15 NKJV).

Your love for God, your obedience to His Word, and your worship or service to God should not be a religious obligation or duty, but a loving response to God’s unconditional love which He demonstrated toward you by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for you when you were still His enemy, a sinner.

The Scripture testifies: “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:9-10 NKJV).

It is the nature of the new creation in Christ to do good works, to love, to obey, to serve and worship God. It is a contradiction in terms to be a born again believer and not do good works.

Nobody can serve God well enough to earn God’s favour, or to deserve a right standing with God. You cannot be justified by your good works, but only by your faith in Christ’s redemptive work on the cross. Faith in your good works can never secure a good relationship with God (Rom. 1:5). Salvation is purely a gift of God. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9 NKJV). However, good works are a primary evidence or proof of salvation.

While it is true that we are saved by faith and not by works, yet the saving faith is never alone. The Scripture plainly testifies that faith without works is dead, useless, or unprofitable. “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (Jam. 2:17 NKJV). “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” (Jam. 2:26 NKJV). Therefore, no one can claim to be saved by faith in Christ without a clear evidence of good works similar to that of Christ.

The believers in Christ are redeemed from all iniquity and created as new creations for good works (Tit. 2:14). The Scripture testifies: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Eph. 2:10 NKJV). It is the nature of the new creation in Christ to do good works, to love, to obey, to serve and worship God. It is a contradiction in terms to be a born again believer and not do good works.

The Scripture declares: “This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.” (Tit. 3:8 NKJV). “And let our people also learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful.” (Tit. 3:14 NKJV).

Your devotion to God and to good works is your reasonable service before God. This is why Paul said: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” (Rom. 12:1 NKJV). What are the basic elements of a reasonable service? It is reasonable for us to examine them lest we continue to serve God zealously but without knowledge.

First, a reasonable service to God is a voluntary service. Having being bought with a great price, the precious blood of Christ, you don’t belong anymore to yourself (1 Cor. 6:19, 7:23). Nevertheless, Christ gives you the liberty to choose to serve Him or not. When the unserious disciples of Christ left Him, Christ turned to the twelve, asking, "Do you also want to go away?" (John 6:67 NKJV). Christ asked them the question simply because He did not want anyone to follow or serve Him under any compulsion.

Any service or work you render to Christ or to anyone in the name of Christ out of compulsion is an unreasonable, unacceptable and unprofitable service. Many believers today are not receiving any reward from God for their tithes, offerings, and the good works or services they are rendering in their church because they are not being done cheerfully, willingly or voluntarily, but they are being forced, coaxed, flattered, or manipulated to do them.

Beloved, God only accepts, appreciates and rewards what you give or do cheerfully, willingly, or voluntarily. That is why God commanded Moses, "Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring Me an offering. From everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take My offering.” (Exo. 25:2 NKJV). Although many of God’s servants today don’t care whether you give your tithes or offerings willingly or not, what matter to them is that you give anyway; yet God still cares about whether you give willingly or not. It is simply an unreasonable giving if you don’t give cheerfully, willingly or voluntarily. Discover more elements of a reasonable service in the next piece.