After my message to Liberty University’s student body last week, an attentive student asked me this enlightening question: “So, you don’t think altruistic acts are possible or desirable. “
I asked him to define altruism so he could respond to what he was really asking for. He said, “Do a good job with others without seeing a reward. “I said, “It is alone, whether possible or not, I do not think it is desirable, because that is not what the Bible teaches us to do; and that’s not what people feel like true love. Why isn’t it true love?
- I said in the message of convocation: “Doing good for justice is atheism.
- Believers must do the right thing for God.
- Because the Bible teaches us to do everything for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).
- But God is not glorified if we leave him out of discussion and say that doing the right thing is his own justification.
- There is no justification if God is left out.
Believers must do what God says is right because in doing so we appreciate it more. Jesus motivated us to be generous to others when He said, “Is it more blessed to give than to receive?(Acts 20. 35). Just saying this? Bliss?The promised motivator is not primarily more money, but more of God. God likes to reveal Himself more to the generous than to the little ones (John 14:23).
This reason glorifies God, God is glorified when desired as a treasure; if we want deeper communion with him because it makes us happier than anyone else, we glorify him; Thus, motivated to do good by the desire of more than God, he glorifies God.
Jesus said that when we are vilified for being Christians, we must rejoice (Matthew 5:12) and love our enemies (Matthew 5:44). Why is your reward so great in heaven?(Matthew 5. 12), and become your Heavenly Father’s children?(Matthew 5. 45). The motivation to which he appeals is that the path of sacrificed love leads to an increase in joy in our relationship with God as Father.
Does Jesus motivate us to invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind?For our banquet? Because they have nothing to reward us. He adds: “Your reward, however, will you receive it in the resurrection of the righteous?( Luke 14:13-14), in other words: be generous, make sacrifices in this world, for your reward is great in heaven.
The reward, of course, includes everything in God’s legacy. Will you be an heir to the world? (Romans 4. 13). Why is it all yours?(1 Corinthians 3:21). Will the sweet earth inherit? (Matthew 5. 5). Yes, the reward includes earthly things. But that day, there will be no danger of idolatry. The earth, the heavens, and all things will proclaim the glory of God, and the essence of our joy in them will be joy in Him. What makes our reward truly excellent is the wonderful fulness of our communion with God. “You will make me see the way of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy, in your right hand, delights forever?”(Psalm 16. 11).
Fullness? So what?Perpetually? They are at the origin of the motivation of the first believers of the church when they have done well and suffered, visited other believers in prison because they saw the reward, why did you not only feel sorry for the prisoners, but did you also gladly accept the stripping of your property, knowing that you yourself have a higher and lasting inheritance?(Hebrews 10:34). They rejoiced in prison because their reward was great in heaven. This is what attracted them the courage to risk their lives:?Do you have a good reward? (Hebrews 10:35).
Then I reply again :?Do a good job with others without seeing a reward?He’s not biblical and atheist. Do you offer more joy in your brotherhood to those who do good, because of God?”For justice. ” If we do not accept the offer of your reward, we despise you; But if we accept the offering, will we show that it is our desired supreme treasure, especially the rewards for doing what is wrong?
Finally, I said in response to the student’s big question: “Not only is he trying to do good because of God’s shameful righteousness, but he also shows no love for others. Don’t people experience this as love?feel our goodness as love if we seek our greatest joy in God?Aren’t they just being used?
No, because part of the greatest joy we seek in God, in doing them good, is their inclusion in our joy. Our joy in God would be expanded with his joy in God. We don’t use people for our greatest joy, bring them great joy and hope that they will participate.
But doing good for justice has no such effect. Suppose I visit Ethel at the hospital, an old lady who had a heart attack. I extend my hand on her fragile arm, she opens her eyes and says, “O shepherd, you didn’t have to come. “Suppose I say, “I know, but it was my duty to come. It was the right thing for you. So, I’m here? That answer wouldn’t make Ethel feel loved.
But suppose I say, “I know, but it always makes me happier in God, Ethel, to give you a little encouragement and remind you of the Lord’s promises. “Ethel would never say, “You’re so selfish. She wouldn’t feel it, even if I said, “It always makes me happier. “And the reason she wouldn’t feel it is because my quest for more joy in God by doing her good and wishing her to be a part of him is genuine love. .
May God protect us from the atheistic notion of doing good for justice. And can it turn us into the strange and wonderful kind of worshipers who deny themselves the fleeting pleasures of sin? And “they prefer to be mistreated with God’s people” because we “contemplate reward” (Hebrews 11: 25-26).