I am afraid that my last article may have been misunderstood a bit. I apologize for not being clear in my communication, which is something I am working on improving. In writing about doing good for your own profit, I think I assumed that you knew what I meant by "profit". Since you may not know what I meant, then you may have perceived my article as supporting a very selfish motive for doing good to others. As I have looked over Galatians 6 and its context, God seems to point out to me that we should not weary of doing good to others because "in due season we will reap(profit), if we do not give up."(v. 9) Now the big question is: What kind of profit is God promising? Verse 8 says that "the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap(profit) eternal life." So the profit is eternal life. I don't believe that Paul was saying that if we do good to others, we will gain eternal life, because he was talking about Spirit-led lives which only would apply to believers. I believe the profit of eternal life means that our eternal life/relationship with God and Jesus would become better and more intimate.
If I do good to others seeking to profit eternal life, this is not a selfish motive but a God-glorifying motive. If I do good to others believing it will bring me closer in my relationship with God, this glorifies God and brings me the highest good possible. If I don't do good to others, I will reap(profit) corruption and death in my spiritual life--my life with God. In obeying the guidance of the Spirit, I must believe that it is for my highest profit, or else I will not obey. If I do not obey, I won't profit and God will not be glorified in my life.
As a side note, David and anyone else who reads these blogs, please feel free to completely disagree in love with whatever I write. I cannot grow (as much as I want to) in my communication skills and my daily walk without your exhortations in my life daily. Spiritual edification is one of the reasons for this site, right?
JT
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2 comments:
I believe I understand now - James. Thank you for the clarification. My intention was to better understand your blog. I had no intention to attack you harshly. Forgive me. I always look foward to reading your new posts and I strongly believe that God is giving you deep insight in His Word - insight that I long for.
I was really challenged by what you shared. It makes such great sense that as we sow to/in the Spirit we will reap in our relationship with the Lord. The way you explained things challenged me to be more purposeful in what I am sowing.
In Col. 3 it says, "and above all put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony." I believe as we sow Christ's love to others, we will be growing closer to the Lord, and reaping a harmonious relationship with others as well.
Love you - Christen
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