March 2000
Over the last little while I have had the opportunity to meet Christians who regularly attend church but are not involved in any ministry. They always seem to have good reasons why they should not venture out in ministry, such as: "Ministry of any kind is an awesome responsibility, for which I find myself inadequate." We might commend our brother with his attitude of humility, but he has forgotten the reason for which he was saved:
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no-one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Eph 2:8-10)
To come to God believing that He died on the cross, and yet refuse to fulfill God's purpose for our lives, is to void the faith we claim we have:
You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. … You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. … As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. (Ja.2:22,24&26)
For God has saved each one of us for a purpose which only He can fulfill:
(God) Who has saved us and called us to a holy life
--not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. (2Ti.1:9-10)To claim to believe in God yet reject his purpose for our life is disobedience, and nullifies our faith:
We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. (1Jn.2:3-6)
For Christ did not save us to be saved, but saved to do good works which He called us to do:
Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him. (He.5:8-9)
For God's grace is through faith unto good works, so to neglect the works is not only to question the faith, but also the grace received:
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. (1Co.15:10)
Paul did not work harder then others because of his own desire or effort, but because God's grace took hold of his life:
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed-- not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence-- continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. (Php.2:12-13)
God's grace comes not only with the will to do His work, but with the gifts necessary to accomplish His purpose:
We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. (Ro.12:6)
God, in his grace, would not ask us for something He did not equip us for:
Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others
, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. (1Pe 4:10)The gifts come by the Spirit to render service to Christ by the power of God:
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. (1Co.12:4-8)
We may not feel very adequate in the using of our gift, but we must start. But we must make that first step and God will develop gifts through our obedience:
For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. (2Ti.1:6-7)
To refuse to use our gift because of our feelings of inadequacy is not an acceptable excuse. Consider the man in the parable of the talents, who said:
Then the man who had received the one talent came. `Master,' he said, `I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.' (Mt.25:24-25)
In essence he said, "I was afraid of doing something wrong so instead I did nothing. The master of that servant responds:
His master replied, `You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. "`Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' (Mt.25:26-30)
The servant in the parable neglected both the gift and his responsibility as a servant, for which he is sent to hell. Neglecting the work for which God saved us and the gift which He has empowered us to do it, is a damnable offense to God. For after the parable of the talents we read of the judgement of the sheep and goats:
When the Son of Man comes in his glory
, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. (Mt.25:31-32)This is not a parable, it in fact it will happen. The judgement that takes place is between the clean, that is saved people. If it was between the saved and unsaved, it would be the sheep and the swine or dogs. Of those saved, all the nations of the earth will be represented, for we read:
And they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. (Re.5:9)
In this judgement their king divides his servants, the clean, by what they did or did not do with their faith:
Then he will say to those on his left, `Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' "They also will answer, `Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' "He will reply, `I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." (Mt.25:41-46)
As believers in Christ we must respond in obedience to the works God saved us to do. To accept God but refuse His purpose is like the five foolish virgins- also in Matthew 25. They came to meet the bridegroom with only the oil contained in their oil lamps, faith. The five wise virgins brought not only the oil in their lamps but also oil contained in other vessels- works invested in others:
The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. (Mt.5:3-4)
The five foolish virgins tried to enter the wedding feast, but the bridegroom responds:
"Later the others also came. `Sir! Sir!' they said. `Open the door for us!' "But he replied, `I tell you the truth, I don't know you.' (Mt.25:11-12)
The Bible tells us that faith without works is dead- we are not saved by works but saved unto works which God prepared for us to do. Therefore let us not forget the reason why God saved us- that in all we do, we should bring glory to our Lord and Master.