The debtors gift
TheDebtorsgift by lcl
We all have requirements thrust upon us by the choices we make. Most of our choices come with obligations and requirements.
Why give at all?
Mat 22:21 They said to Him, Caesar’s. Then He said to them, Therefore render (give) to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things which are God’s.
God asks that we understand whom we owe and what is owed.
When we accept Christ’s gift of salvation we become indebted to Him. This is not payment for salvation, but what is needed to go forward in the will of God.
How much impresses God?
Luk 21:1 And looking up, He saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.
Luk 21:2 And He also saw a certain poor widow casting two lepta(mites) in there. Luk 21:3 And He said, Truly I say to you that this poor widow has cast in more than all of them.
Luk 21:4 For all these have cast in to the offerings of God from their abundance, but out of her poverty she has cast in all the living she had.
God was also willing to pay greatly for our benefit. Christ, as our teacher, gave His all and requires that we give Him our all in return.
What is owed?
Mat 22:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the Law?
Mat 22:37 Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.
The 10 commandments of the old testament law were given through Moses.The Law was replaced by the more stringent requirement to love. Love is the highest calling because one is voluntarily willing to give without limit, and the focus is on the one loved instead of self. Love goes beyond the 10 commandments in depth andcommitment.
How do we know that we love God?
Joh 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, If a man loves Me, he will keep My Word. And My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.
Keeping God’s word requires obedience as a sign that our love is real.
How important is obedience?
1Sa 15:22 And Samuel said, Does Jehovah delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of Jehovah? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice! To listen is better than the fat of rams!
God considers obedience a more worthy offering than even a blood sacrifice. Listening to what Christ & the Holy Spirit tells us is more sweet to God than the aroma of a sacrificial lamb being offered.
Act 5:32 And we are His witnesses of these things. And so also is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him. Sounds like obedience comes before the Holy Spiritissent.
2Th 1:8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God and who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, Obedience is required for salvation.
Heb 10:26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins,
Heb 10:27 but a certain fearful looking for judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
Continued purposeful disobedience in sin leads to a cancellation of salvation.