Wednesday, August 01, 2018

Thankfulness, Reverence and Godly Fear~Hebrews 12:28


“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭12:28-29‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

According to Erich Sauer in his book, “In the Arena of Faith”, grace in this verse means thankfulness. He says,
Since we have received a kingdom which cannot be shaken, we desire to prove ourselves thankful and to serve Him in sincerity and reverence who has given us His gifts and who is still blessing us so abundantly. Therefore, “Let us have thankfulness!” (R.V. Footnote), And:
Since we have  received such a kingdom, we long to live wholly for Him and to glorify His name, but we know that we can do this only in His own strength, in the power which His grace bestows upon us.  Therefore: “Let us have grace!” (A. and R.V.)
Thus joyful sanctification results....
So we are to serve God and worship Him with thankfulness, reverence and godly fear.  This is the essence of sanctification.  If I do not serve God in my daily activities with all three of these, then something is wrong.  Being thankful brings joy.  Being reverent shows a respect for God’s dealing in my life and godly fear is what should motivate me to live my life to His glory, being mindful of my actions and how they reflect on the cause of Christ to the world around me.  I will be the first to admit that my actions don’t always bring glory to God.  Perhaps my actions would bring glory to God if I were first thankful, for then I would realize the great cost that He paid to save me and my petty grievances would shrink in light of it.

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