I have noticed that the vast majority of people think Jesus will tell them "Well done, good and faithful servant" because they have been good boys and girls. But if that were so, we would have room for boasting. But God said in Romans that we have NO ROOM for boasting. It is absolutely excluded.
Please, brother or sister, don't think Jesus will condemn at His return when you see your shortcomings, lack of love, your sins, or your seemingly small faith. Jesus Himself has purified you and made you able to stand before Him with great joy, fully assured of the power of His death, burial and resurrection. He alone has saved you. He has justified you Himself. And if God has justified you, how will you be condemned?
Don't listen to people who say you must do this or you must do that to enter the kingdom. Jesus told us "Fear not, little flock. For it is your Fathers good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Don't be pressured to perform. Come boldly to the throne of God's unconditional love for you in Jesus Christ. Don't impose your thoughts or feelings about yourself on God. His thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are His ways your ways.
Jesus said there is one who condemns people and it is not Him. The Law alone that people put their hope in condemns them. And so it ends in being their pride that will condemn them.
Give yourself fully to God. He has taken away your short comings of all kinds. Boast in Him alone. Anyone who boasts in themselves or is filled with pride because they have been good boys and girls will be humbled at His coming. God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
Let the grace and love of God in Christ Jesus rule your heart. Let His work alone be your grounds for boasting in that Day.
9 comments:
My God, that was powerful!!!! Thank you for blessing my life today. Profound!
Thanks, Sheryl. :)
When I was commenting on Joel's post I started to think about this. It's easy to get our faith off of Jesus and onto ourselves, looking to ourselves to meet some sort of mysterious religious requirement.
You're very welcome, Matthew. :o)
It really is easy to do that and it can happen without us even being aware of it at times. I'll be coasting along and then it hits me that I'm trying to do it myself...
lol. You just described a lot of what goes on with me. I will go about cleaning the house or something, not realizing I'm trying to cover up guilt or something. Or I'll put on some religious kindness to somebody to help cover up my short comings and sins. It can be very pathetic. lol
well done good and faithful blogger.......!!!
LOL
LOL... great post and comments. :)
And amen. If it's up to our performance to get us into the kingdom of heaven, then our righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and pharisees. Isn't it wonderful that we can rest and relax and enjoy the fact that the kingdom of God is truly within us, based upon work that is already completed!
Matthew, I know this is an old post but I'm still catching up on some of your older ones. I really like this one and I just had to leave a comment.
In the past, I've told Jesus that I want to hear him say "Well done, good and faithful servant." It's just been recently that I've heard Steve McVey say that this is a works mentality.
What you posted has really brought that point out even more. I've never connected the Romans scripture saying that we have no room for boasting with the well done, good and faithful servant scripture.
Wow! That connection is eye opening. Thanks for sharing this.
I think this is the first time I've posted a comment on your blog. I found it by following a link on the Grace Roots blog and I'm really enjoying what you've had to share.
Hey Aida,
I've always had a problem with the "Well done, good and faithful servant" mentality. I never did like it to be honest when people would say that. It implied that I earned my salvation, which is scary.
I honestly think that the good and faithful servants are those who trust the Good News and do not distort it. We entrust ourselves to Jesus Christ and we give the Good News to people without any fine print. I think the cowards and unbelieving are those who would not accept the Good News of Jesus Christ because it seemed too...well...good!! ;)
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