It is one of the greatest misconceptions abounding in the world today, both in the secular world, and also in Christendom, that merely doing the right thing will afford us an entrance into God’s kingdom, and for this reason many are dead set on doing what is right so that they may be saved. Now, it is true that God desires us to do right, and we are often encouraged in the scriptures to do good, but this, in and of itself, does not ever constitute the righteousness God desires to be cultivated in us.
As a matter of fact, if our highest motivation for doing right is merely to be saved, we will soon find out that we have run out of right things to do, and when we become thus maxed out, a certain amount of frustration and uneasiness begins to settle into
our Christian experience. In addition to this, there are a number of people who have done right, and have led pretty decent lives when compared with some of us, but who have never submitted to the righteousness of God, the righteousness which is by faith in Christ Jesus.
Now, it is true that in the absence of the knowledge of Christ’s righteousness, God will save many by the law of conscience, yet if the knowledge of Christ’s righteousness is within our reach, and has never been applied to our hearts, all the right, and good that may be done will avail us nothing in the end, an unfortunate situation that is clearly brought to light in the following passages of scripture spoken by Christ Himself. Let’s read:
Matthew 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you”….
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
If our motivation for doing right, and refusing to do evil, does not stem from a love for Christ and a deep appreciation for what He has done and continues to do in our behalf, then our religion is in vain, and we will find ourselves destitute of eternal life when He appears, if the necessary changes aren’t made. We should never avoid doing evil because of fear of the results, or because of being caught, or even because everybody else may frown upon our wrong course of action. All of these are very poor excuses for us to refrain from doing evil.
Neither should we do the right thing just because everyone else around us are doing it, or because we have read it in the Bible. In other words, if we were to begin keeping the Sabbath merely because we have read about it in the scriptures, and we were to remain at that elementary stage of obedience, we may soon find the day of rest pretty boring, if we do not enter into the spirit of rest, understanding and appreciating the core principles that God intended.
And then our Sabbath-keeping would become quite rigid, and methodical, with us quietly resenting its approach each week, viewing it as a sort of ironclad restriction to our temporal advancement, and then counting down the hours for it to end, so that we can breathe a sigh of relief, after having done the “Right thing”. Anyone who professes to keep the 7th day Sabbath holy, but who eagerly looks forward to its close, has not yet entered into the spirit of the law, and is then stuck in neutral gear of the letter. And the Bible clearly states that the letter killeth, but The Spirit giveth life.
If we were to go out on a date with our spouse to be, and she were to find out that we were eagerly looking forward to ending the time spent together, she will be not only be greatly disturbed, but will most likely reconsider the motive for taking her out, for it may be that we were doing the right thing for the wrong reason. The same concept holds true for many of those who claim to look forward eagerly to “Santa Claws” each year. The mindset of many is captured in the words:
You better watch out
You better not cry
You better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is comin' to town
He's making a list
He's checking it twice
He's gonna find out
Who's naughty or nice
He knows if you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake
So you better watch out…..
The same holds true for the returning of our tithes and offerings, merely because it is the right thing to do. Just like it is with the Sabbath, it is good for us to start obedience at some point, but if we were to remain at the elementary stage of just doing right because we have read it in the Bible, then we will inevitably miss the whole purpose of the God-given instruction, and the cheerful gratitude which should accompany all our gifts would be strangely absent.
Thus it is, that if we are not careful in following on to know The Lord, we will inadvertently fall into the snare of doing the right thing for the wrong reason, as many of the Jews did in ancient times. Let’s read:
Malachi 3:13 Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, what have we spoken so much against thee?
14 Ye have said, it is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts?
16 Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.
In these passages we find that some of the Hebrews were doing the right thing, but because it was being done for the wrong reason, the joy of serving and giving was absent from their relationship with God, and thus had become a sort of penance from which they had hoped to derive absolution and the favor of God, a problem which had also plagued the rich young ruler in Christ’s day, and one which has still persisted in many of the protestant and evangelical churches of our time. Let’s read:
Matthew 19:16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
17 “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
In this young man’s life, which was apparently filled with doing right, scriptural things, an unexplained or strange void had now surfaced, and try as he might to find the root cause of his emptiness, he was at a loss to know why, after faithfully doing that which is right, that he experienced such unfulfilled feelings of spiritual barrenness. Thus it was, in his perplexed state of mind that he posed the question to Christ, “What good, or right thing shall I do in order to inherit eternal life”.
If we find ourselves in a position like the rich young ruler, doing good things so as to inherit eternal life, then we will need to take stock of our lives urgently, for salvation has always been a free gift of God, and the Christian’s obedience to the right things written in the scriptures should ultimately spring from love to God, and love to our fellowmen. Anything short of this will make our religious experience a rigid and formatted exercise in doing many right things with the wrong frame of mind, whereas God can only accept the free service of love, which stems from an intelligent, understanding of His good purposes towards us in Christ Jesus. Hence the reason why Jesus answered the young ruler the way that He did. Let’s read:
Matthew 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
The problem here is that the young man did not have God at the top of his priorities, as far as love goes, for his desire for riches had supplanted the love for God in his soul. So what had taken place in consequence is that he had searched in vain to find a balance between the two, by having his foremost energies and interests centered in the here and now, whilst holding onto right deeds for dear life. A very interesting commentary has been written by the servant of The Lord, pertaining to the young ruler’s religious experience, and it will do us well to learn the lessons God will have us derive from it. Let’s read:
[The Desire Of Ages pp. 520] Christ made the only terms which could place the ruler where he would perfect a Christian character. His exalted position and his possessions were exerting a subtle influence for evil upon his character. If cherished, they would supplant God in his affections. To keep back little or much from God was to retain that which would lessen his moral strength and efficiency; for if the things of this world are cherished, however uncertain and unworthy they may be, they will become all-absorbing.
The ruler was quick to discern all that Christ's words involved, and he became sad. He was a member of the honored council of the Jews, and Satan was tempting him with flattering prospects of the future. He wanted the heavenly treasure, but he wanted also the temporal advantages his riches would bring him. He was sorry that such conditions existed; he desired eternal life, but he was not willing to make the sacrifice. The cost of eternal life seemed too great, and he went away sorrowful; “for he had great possessions.”
His claim that he had kept the law of God was a deception. He showed that riches were his idol. He could not keep the commandments of God while the world was first in his affections. He loved the gifts of God more than he loved the Giver. Christ had offered the young man fellowship with Himself. “Follow Me,” He said. But the Savior was not so much to him as his own name among men or his possessions. To give up his earthly treasure, that was seen, for the heavenly treasure, that was unseen, was too great a risk. He refused the offer of eternal life, and went away, and ever after the world was to receive his worship.
It is a quite alarming commentary of our time, that the experience of the rich young ruler is too often duplicated in the lives of many Christians, who are endeavoring to do right things, in order to quiet the conscience on the issue of having God first in our affections. If we were to do some soul-searching, we will soon find out where our highest joy comes from, and if it is not in communion with Christ, and serving Him, then the right things that we may do which are written in the scriptures become a dead format without the spirit, and our interest in Christ and spiritual things will gradually wane.
This condition is not hopeless however, for Christ was sent into the world to save us from all our sins and from any condition that puts God in the second place in our order of priorities. And so the question we must answer is, how can we grow to love God in sincerity, to the point where we can look forward in eager anticipation to spending our entire days and nights communing with, and thinking of Him. And how can obedience which springs from love and gratitude to Christ be our highest motivating factor to doing the right thing?
The answers to these important questions must be given careful consideration, if there is to be a revival of true godliness which springs from true love in our souls. The first thing we must realize is that we do not naturally have it within ourselves to love God, and therefore the obedience which works by love must of necessity begin with God. This vital truth, that love to God cannot ever be generated originally by the human agent, is written in the Bible, with the hope that we will not trust to our own good deeds or righteousness as a passport to heaven. Let’s read:
1st John 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
19 We love him, because he first loved us.
This scripture brings us to our next point, because an intelligent appreciation of God’s character can only be had through a study of His word. Thus, to know him means to study His character as it was manifested in the life of Christ, with the motive of submitting to His all-wise rule. There are those who have become obsessed with nature, and who love to view the handiwork of God in the great outdoors. And the Bible also tells us that the heavens declare the glory of God, which means that nature speaks to us clearly about the goodness of God. Let’s read:
Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
4 Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
This is all well and good, and we are encouraged to go out in nature whenever and wherever possible. But nature does not tell us of The God who bled and died on the cross to save us from eternal ruin, who forgives us of our sins, and delivers us when we are in trouble, who spoiled the domain of death so that we might have eternal life. Only the Bible does that, hence the reason why it is impossible to come to a good understanding and appreciation of the loving character of God without the study of His word.
Thus it is, that if we desire our obedience and our service to God to rest squarely upon the merits of His great love towards us in Christ Jesus, we will need to study His character, as manifested in His word, especially the closing scenes of His life on Calvary, by which He set us free. By dwelling on the great sacrifice which Jesus made in our behalf, we will lose all desire to wound Him afresh through any deliberate sin, we will have the highest motivation for doing the right thing, and thus the love of Christ will constrain us, instead of the adverse results of sin being our primary repellent against doing evil.
We close with an inspired quote from the pen of inspiration, with the hope that we all may graduate from an elementary obedience, to a spirit-filled understanding of the God whom we serve, so that love and gratitude may become the spring board for all of our thoughts and actions. Let’s read:
[The Desire Of Ages pp. 83] In our association with one another, we should take heed lest we forget Jesus, and pass along unmindful that He is not with us. When we become absorbed in worldly things so that we have no thought for Him in whom our hope of eternal life is centered, we separate ourselves from Jesus and from the heavenly angels. These holy beings cannot remain where the Savior's presence is not desired, and His absence is not marked. This is why discouragement so often exists among the professed followers of Christ.
Many attend religious services, and are refreshed and comforted by the word of God; but through neglect of meditation, watchfulness, and prayer, they lose the blessing, and find themselves more destitute than before they received it. It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ. We should take it point by point, and let the imagination grasp each scene, especially the closing ones.
As we thus dwell upon His great sacrifice for us, our confidence in Him will be more constant, our love will be quickened, and we shall be more deeply imbued with His spirit. If we would be saved at last, we must learn the lesson of penitence and humiliation at the foot of the cross.
As we associate together, we may be a blessing to one another. If we are Christ's, our sweetest thoughts will be of Him. We shall love to talk of Him; and as we speak to one another of His love, our hearts will be softened by divine influences. Beholding the beauty of His character, we shall be “changed into the same image from glory to glory.”
We therefore end with a passage of scripture which encourages us to feed on Christ the Living word and the written word, for if we do, we will continue to grow in grace, and in a knowledge of Him who died to redeem us from sin and its consequences. Let’s read:
John 6:57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them”….
63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
May God add His blessing to the study and practice of His every word.
God bless!