That’s Pretty Arrogant
I gave up making New Year’s resolutions a log time ago, except for one, to succeed at gaining praise from God. Yeah, yeah, I know you can’t earn or work your way into heaven, it’s a free gift. You can’t even do anything to justify that gift. Amazingly, God offers the gift of forgiveness regardless of what we've done in the past. That’s explicitly stated in Romans 10:8-10,
"But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved."
Believe in our heart and confess with our mouth and the gift of forgiveness and salvation are ours, plain and simple.
While that message is pretty clear, some still feel doing something, anything is a required part of the formula. Thinking something needs to be added to earn or work our way into heaven is actually an insult. That thought implies, “God, what your son did on the cross was nice but he came up a bit short, it wasn’t quite enough, so I’m just going to add in a few good deeds to get me over the finish line.” That’s pretty arrogant in my opinion. On the other side of the coin many think that once they've received forgiveness that’s the end of the story or obligation. That’s like telling God, “Thanks for the fire insurance, I’ll reach out to you again when I need you next, but for now, I’m good.”
Back to gaining God’s praises. While doing good things has nothing to do with forgiveness, it has everything to do with what you do with the gift once received. Once we believe in our heart and confess with our mouth the journey actually begins at that point. The logical first question would be, what do I do next? You clean out your heart. Matthew 15:18,
"But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person."
What needs to be cleaned out is different for everyone. For some it’s jealousy, others regret, or bitterness. For some it’s prioritizing everything before God and family. Or maybe it's complacency, lukewarm, if you will, kinda okay with God but placing him on the shelf until needed. All that needs to be cleaned up.
In general, the ‘things we do’ after receiving the gift of forgiveness should be in response to the gift, a thank you, not a payment for the gift or a guilt trip response such as ‘I have to do this because of the gift.’ What we do is nothing more than a way to show honor toward the gift giver. So, after cleaning out our heart, what’s the next best way to show honor to the gift giver? Look to Matthew 22:37-39 for the answer…
"And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
Still pretty simple stuff, love God, love others. Get that right and most everything else falls into place. And for the record, loving others does not mean condoning everything they do, it means to value them, and to help them be the best they can be even if that means challenging some of their actions.
So, how will I succeed at gaining God’s praise? That’s pretty simple as well. Honor the gift giver by keeping my heart clean, staying focused on God, and investing in and helping others as often as possible.
1 Corinthians 4:5,
"Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation [Praise] from God."
Happy New Year!
