November 6

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SALVATION OF ALL MEN #3

"Why live a good life if all will be saved? (Why are we serving God?)

Why live a good life if God plans to save everyone in the end -- no matter what they have done? It’s amazing how often folks ask that question without giving more thought to it before they voice it. My first response to people who pose that question is another question: "Are you saying the only reason you don’t cheat on your spouse, abuse your children, or steal from your neighbors is because you’re afraid of going to hell?" Hmmm… Awkward question, that one... It usually brings a blush to folks who insist that people need to be threatened with never-ending punishment to give them "incentive" to seek the Lord, to live morally and ethically, and to love their neighbors as they love themselves. Why do those who advocate the dogma of endless hell find my question embarrassing? It is because they have a conscience, that’s why. The human conscience knows that right is right, because it is right. So we find it shameful to suggest that the only reason we would do right by others is to avoid being trashed and burned forever." ( Question and answer by Charles Slagle )

-If a person is seriously asking this question it shows that the only reason they are serving God is because they are afraid of eternal torture. We must all be truthful with ourselves to see whether or not that we are in the faith. We must ask ourselves … WHY ARE WE SERVING GOD? WHAT IS IT THAT MOTIVATES US TO SERVE HIM? Is it fear or love? If it is fear, then we have become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 1^st Corinthians 13:3 states, … And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, IT PROFITS ME NOTHING …

-So … Why should we serve God? WE SHOULD SERVE HIM BECAUSE HE FIRST SERVED US! WE SHOULD LOVE HIM BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED US! O THAT MEN WOULD BE ABLE TO GRASP THAT GOD IS LOVE!!! Micah 7:18,19 states, … Who is a God like unto You, that pardons iniquity, and passes by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retains not His anger for ever, because He delights in mercy. He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; and You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea … To understand a scripture like this is to understand the character and nature of God. As you see your Father in this light, …

-YOU WILL WANT TO SERVE HIM!-