AVOID BEING LUKEWARM

When I was a boy my dad would often tell me, “A job worth doing is a job worth doing right”. He was teaching me to always give my best effort and never do a poor job if I could help it. I am so thankful for that lesson. It has served me well in this life. But the spiritual application of that lesson is even better. Always give the Lord your best. Give the Lord the first fruits of your time, attention, and resources. Worship the Lord with all of your heart not as an afterthought when you don’t have anything better to do. Serve the Lord fervently and earnestly because He deserves it. We can never worship, praise, or serve the Lord as well as He deserves, but the Lord certainly is worthy of our best effort. The Lord gave His best (His own Son) to save me. Then I should desire to give my best to worship, praise, and serve Him.

Our Sufficiency is of God

“And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God.” (2 Corinthians 3:4)

Our sufficiency is never dependent on us. Our sufficiency is of God. It is by the grace of God given to us through Christ that we are made to see that we have no righteousness of our own. It is the Spirit of God that turns us from having high thoughts of ourselves. God gives us a contrite spirit. God causes us to tremble at his Word (Isaiah 66:2) so that we must ask ourselves, “And who is sufficient for these things?”

The design of our God in this is beautiful. It drives us to our Lord and Savior. — “To whom shall we go?” Christ alone has the words of eternal life. Though we know ourselves to be totally insufficient, the child of God believes and is sure of this one thing: that Jesus is the Christ, “the Son of the living God” (John 6:68-69). We are made to see that Christ alone has honored, glorified and pleased God the Father on our behalf. Even, our trust toward God is by Christ and him alone. He has cleansed us by his obedient work and his shed blood.

Trust in Christ and have no confidence in self. Isaiah’s words are fitting: “Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God” (Isaiah 50:10).

Eric Lutter, Sovereign Grace Baptist Church, Ewing, New Jersey

The true measure of whether a person really believes the Gospel of God’s sovereign, free grace in Christ, is not merely when he sees its doctrines in the Scriptures, especially those of Divine Sovereignty in election, the particular and effectual redemption of Christ, and the invincible call of the Holy Spirit. Nor is it when he gives mental assent that they are true (though both are vital). The true measure is when he sees them as necessary for his own salvation! “Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.”