preaching for prizes, peddling the Gospel pt. 3
more of what we should preach.
from a friend in the ministry:
2. All the obedience in the world cannot replace Jesus as our righteousness.
Remember the Obedient Servant.
v. 10: So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.'"
When we have done everything we are supposed to, we should still acknowledge that it won't suffice. We are still unworthy.
Remember the Obedient Pharisee.
v. 11: The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
The Pharisee acknowledges that his obedience is from God. But it still doesn't justify him. No amount of obedience in us, then—even God-worked obedience—is sufficient to save us.
We need Jesus above all for satisfaction and justification.
Our own money, even if it filled the earth, would not satisfy us. Our own obedience, even if it were perfect and God-given, would not justify us. Therefore we have every motivation to say with Paul, "We are not peddlers of God's Word."
Peddlers are driven by greed for money and fear of pain. But let us preach Christ as the all-satisfying treasure and God-satisfying obedience.
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