Saturday, November 29, 2008

Serving with the Right Motives

I had the distinct pleasure of having a recent email conversation with Daphne - a promising younger sister in the Faith. She had asked a number of good questions on serving and doing God's work with the right motives. It gave me loads to think about, reflect and gave me the impetus to put it into words. I've re-posted the email with permission as follows:

Daphne (Daph) > Hi Ollie, I've been thinking about this for quite some time: being flawed people, our sacrifices (e.g.: service and striving to be holy) to God are never perfect, but because we have been atoned and justified for at the Cross, Christ's blood makes our sacrifices pleasing to Him. All this assumes that the Christian consciously submits and dedicates his life and actions to God.

Oliver (Ollie) >> Good question. Let's first look at this from the bible:

Romans 5:8-9
- Christ death on our behalf justified us, removed the penalty of sin and saved us from God's wrath.

Romans 5:19
- Christ obedience made us righteous.

Romans 8:1-11
- The flesh (or old non-believing self) cannot please God. Christ death removed our sins; His righteousness is credited to us. God's Spirit dwells in us and we can now please God.

Ollie >> Once we believe into Jesus as our Saviour and surrender to His Lordship, we are made righteous - i.e. we are justified by Faith. What this means is that all our work or sacrifices do not count for our justification, but rather our Faith in Jesus that made us righteous before God. Jesus lived and died for us. By his death he took on our sins and paid the penalty on our behalf, thereby averting God's wrath and paying the prize for our sins. Also what happens is that we also take on the life Christ lived - that is Christ righteousness from his living a sinless God-pleasing life is credited to us. This is what happened at the cross and this is substitutionary atonement - Our sins removed, and Christ righteousness credited to us. This means the act and event of salvation is all of grace through Faith because of what Christ has done not anything from us. I believe you already know all this; this leads on to the next idea which is the continual process of sanctification which I usually find most of us evangelicals are a little less clear on. ((Actually if you look in the bible, it speaks of us saved (justification); being saved (sanctification) and will be saved (future glorification) )).

What happens after justification and us being made righteous before God is that God's Spirit indwells us and now we are no longer enslaved to sin - meaning we can now have the right motivation and heart to do what is pleasing to God. This process of sanctification is usually a progress of growing more Christ-like and this occurs, quoting Jerry Bridges, when we respond in dependence to God's Spirit. This means that after we believe into Jesus, we can want to please God and do things to please Him.

Daph > What about people who try to live the Christian life with the wrong motives? A person comes to church/fellowship/serves/practices spiritual disciplines for other people or for mere obligation and subsequently through the work of the Holy Spirit, comes for the "right" motive. I'm very sure all Christians experiences this in different aspects of our life (especially worship) since our motives conform more to what God desires as we grow more and more.

At a young adults camp meeting just now, someone shared that God accepts the sacrifice of a Christian, whether his motive was right or wrong. I think this is really quite fallacious because if it is so, God would have accepted Saul's sacrifice instead of deposing Him, Psalm 51:16-17 says

You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.

Also, our desire to joyfully live as God's living sacrifices would be something extra we do for God since wrong motives can also be accepted - the idea of claiming some merit for the Holy Spirit's work.

Ollie >> Ok. I am assuming we are talking about Christians serving God with wrong motives and the wrong heart, for as said above non-Christians though they may "do" good (afterall they are still made in God's image), they are operating in the flesh and enslaved to sin and cannot please God.

Besides Psalm 51:16-17 which said that God does not delight in sacrifice or offerings of service rendered for that matter, but rather the right heart, there are other verses in the OT and NT.

Isaiah 29:13
- God looks beyond the exterior - what is said - to the heart (or motives)

Luke 16:15
- What is deemed right before men but done with the wrong heart is detestable to God.

Acts 5:1-11
- What seemed a generous act by Ananias and Sapphira done with the wrong motives is deplorable to God, and God judged them.

Ollie >> When it comes to pleasing God, the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart. As God's people we may do "good" or "religious" things, but what please God is the right heart and motives. In fact, the Pharisees were the most "religious" of the Israelites during Christ time, but their religiosity fed their pride, they wanted to look good in front of others - i.e. wrong heart and motives and Jesus reserved the most scathing remarks for them. The heart matters more than the act of service or sacrifice.

Daph > My alternative, however, is that God, in His forbearance, uses the sacrifice to change the person's motive, and that's His mercy. I don't think I can decide whether God will accept his sacrifice at this moment when the motive is wrong and the believer is not keen to change (thus "right" motive) but God definitely will if the believer's heart dedicates it to God.

So the crux is the believer's dedication to God.

Am I biblical in my explanation? My friend still didn't seem to agree.

Ollie >> Let's pull everything together and look and reflect through this.

All being said, this side of heaven, we are never perfect hence the ongoing process of sanctification and we cannot judge accurately the heart if the person who is serving or making the sacrifice (though I would think that over a period of time, you can probably discern the fruits that come after). However, like you, when someone says "God accepts the sacrifice of a Christian, whether his motive was right or wrong", I am uncomfortable. As we can see from the bible, the heart or motives matter most to God; God detest sacrifices made with the wrong heart. Although I would readily admit that most times when I do things, due to my sinful nature, it would be with mixed motives - I can hardly say that everything I do is out of pure motives and with the right heart. That is why I practice the discipline of self-examination. During these times, I thank God for the things I done with the right heart and I repent for those done with the wrong motives. I remember the Gospel and continue to do what I can in gratitude of what has already been done.

What I see is that while God is not pleased with what was done with the wrong motives or heart, God is Sovereign and Good, what was done wrongly can be turned to good by God (Genesis 50:20). That is usually what I pray after repenting; that what was done with mixed motives can be turned to His Glory. The crux of the matter is God's mercy and that He is Sovereign and Good.

Lastly, I'm concerned that what your friend said, if accurately reflects his/her beliefs, is tinged with works-righteousness (I am not saying he/she does not believe in justification by Faith, but rather his/her view on living the Christian life that pleases God seems to be driven by works rather than grace). When someone says my heart and motives doesn't matter; but rather what I do, it seems to me that he/she expect his/her works to please God and gain approval of others. Kingdom living as shared by Jesus in the Beatitudes is from inside out - from the heart. This "works-righteousness" belief could stunt growth as growth in Christ-likeness or sanctification is also by Grace - God's Spirit who indwells us initiate and sustain us in our living the Christian life and doing good. When we know this, we can readily respond in gratitude due to what God has already done, with the right heart and motives, please God and glorify Him. This is as you said in your blog, quoting form Jerry Bridges, preaching the Gospel to yourself daily.

Ollie >> Just my thoughts and reflections on what you said. Please feel free to engage me on this. :)

P.S. I hope if you want to talk to your friend, it will be with wisdom and discernment. Find ways to engage and communicate rightly. Remember love in truth and truth in love. :)

--
Grace and Peace


Ollie
Nov 2008

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

ESV Study Bible!

I've just bought my hard-cover ESV Study Bible! I had been waiting for weeks to get it; I had previewed it online; it was also endorsed and highly recommended by many of my contemporary "heroes" in the faith. And I had been waiting in anticipation for its sales in Singapore since its released in October 2008.

I was with Debo Yap when I bought it at Bethesda Book Centre (Toa Payoh); she was browsing through it in the car while I gave her a lift to ACJC and even she was impressed by the illustrations and copious Bible Study Notes. I've just spent my lunch in the office turning over the pages and I dare say I'm quite taken with the ESV Study Bible; I believe it will set the gold standard for Study Bible for some time to come.

I'm looking forward to reading it some more this evening, and to use it in my preparation for the message for the coming Grace Baptist Church Youth Camp. :)


Ollie
Nov 2008

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Powlison on Self-Pity

“Feeling sorry for yourself is one of the strongest, most addictive narcotics known to man. It feels so good to feel so bad. Self-pity arises so easily, seems so plausible, and proves so hard to shake off.”

- David Powlison, Journal of Biblical Counseling (Summer 2007, Vol. 25, No. 3) p. 7.

HT: Tony Reinke @ Miscellanies


It is so easy to fall into self-pity; I can attest to that. Once you fall into a rut, you continue in a vicious cycle of blame and criticism - pointing an accusing finger at others, at circumstances and sometimes even at God. All the while pitying oneself, believing that you are a victim. However, if you probe deep enough you find that self-pity is the flip side of the coin of pride - both focus on the self. And the remedy to this self-centredness? The Gospel. The confession that I'm a sinner and yet the good news is that I've been forgiven because of what Christ accomplished on the cross, and the gratitude that follows lived-out will take our eyes off self to focus on Jesus.


Nov 2008
Ollie

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

What does it mean to think “theologically?

It is important to think theologically as all Truth is God's Truth. All of life needs to be framed theologically for the Glory of God and to fully delight in Him. By thinking theologically, we can fulfill the greatest commandment - to love God with my all my heart and with all my soul and with all my mind.

Listen to Harry Reeder as he explains what it means to think "theologically".




Ollie
Nov 2008

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

What does the sovereignty of God mean?

"God is Sovereign; We are responsible - we are not robots." - Ligon Duncan

Among Christians, there is always a tension between God's Sovereignty and our responsibility. Listen to Ligon Duncan as he helps us make sense of this "apparent contradiction".


What does the Sovereignty of God means? - Ligon Duncan



God Sovereignty and our responsibility are coordinate truths - they are not opposing but they go together. This understanding when grasped, prevents us from falling into the ditch of passive inaction on one side where we throw our hands in the air and presume on God to act while neglecting our own responsibilities; and the drain of self-focused activism where we presume we act for God, and baptize our sometimes ego-driven actions as "doing for God". We need to adopt, as Jerry Bridges helpfully said, a response of dependent responsibility - to do what we can while dependent on God and acknowledging His Sovereignty over all things. I think this would free us to act boldly with joy and yet with a profound sense of humility and sense of our place in God's grand scheme of things.

Ollie
Nov 2008