Jesus Christ said in his intercessory prayer, "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3). The gift of eternal life is only available through the Atonement of Christ, but we must choose to accept Christ, have faith in Him, and keep his commandments to receive it. But how do we really come to know God?
To Know God is to Love God
John teaches in his first epistle:
Jesus Christ taught that to serve Him is to serve others:
Serving others means serving God's children, who are our brothers and sisters. We can serve others in a multitude of ways, including praying to God for them and praying for the knowledge to know how to serve them.
It takes charity, humility, patience, and diligence to continually serve God by serving others, but the Lord has promised us His marvelous gift of eternal life if we do:
To Know God is to Love God
John teaches in his first epistle:
"Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love" (1 John 4:7-8).To Love God is to Serve God
"And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul" (Deut 10:12).To Serve God is to Serve Others
Jesus Christ taught that to serve Him is to serve others:
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (Matt 25:45).Thus to Know God is to Serve Others
Serving others means serving God's children, who are our brothers and sisters. We can serve others in a multitude of ways, including praying to God for them and praying for the knowledge to know how to serve them.
It takes charity, humility, patience, and diligence to continually serve God by serving others, but the Lord has promised us His marvelous gift of eternal life if we do:
"And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it" (Luke 9:23-24).I think this promised gift is worth the effort and work required to receive it, don't you? Serving others doesn't have to be a huge event, either. What simple ways can we serve others? Please share your ideas or learn 15 ways to serve God by serving others!
Serving others daily is something as wives and mothers we do daily, laundry, cleaning, caring, cooking,support it is natural and expected. But if we take the time to see with spiritual eyes and attitudes it becomes service if we allow ourselves to feel that way.
Thanks Bri for your comment. In my recent article on 15 Ways to Serve God by Serving Others I put serving family at the top.
“I think this promised gift is worth the effort and work required to receive it, don’t you?”
I humbly suggest you need to be theologically more careful. The above statement implies that we must earn our way into heaven. This only serves to devalue Christ’s life of 100% obedience imputed to us – why is Christs obedience even necessary if we can “receive this promised gift” through our own “effort and work”?
Remember: “Justification is through faith alone apart from works of the law.”
Think along these lines instead: I can (proverbially) give that beggar £10 now because I have a “winning lottery ticket in my pocket”. The Kingdom awaits – promised to me – I am therefore liberated to give away my time and money without the need for pay-back now.
It is our faith in future grace (i.e. promises) that LIBERATE us to live without any dependence on the world around us.
See http://www.desiringgod.org
Tom
Maybe Tom is either not a Mormon or he is a convert still more evangelically oriented than he will be someday.
The sacrifice and grace of Jesus made salvation possible for mankind but He will judge you by your works. And he makes it very clear that the most important works are “doing it unto the least of these”.
Besides, the immediate blessing is just seeing that you have made a difference to the benefit of someone other than yourself.
so many fall into the trap of doing enough good to outweigh the bad and therein hope to be accepted by God….. I understand Daryl Tanner’s response but don’t ascribe to to evangelical of other wise. I ascribe this to the ‘cloudy’ understanding of the gospel many westerners have in regard to Christianity.
The gospel is not a command to do or don’t anything. It is an announcement that Christ has already done it, that the victory is won. So if as a Christian, you are now living under a banner which reads, “It is finished. It’s done.”
But what opportunities (even challenges) it opens for those who ‘diligently seek Him’ and His will for their lives!
The opportunities and challenges come when we begin to serve others because we have come to know the reality of God’s love for us and this love compells us to serve others, beginning with ‘those of the household of faith’
As a Christian, you can’t help but want to serve others. When you realize how much God has blessed you and given to you, you can’t help but want to give to others and be a blessing to those in need. I have a website called http://www.whatsmypart.com and it’s all about giving and growing in your faith. I really enjoyed your thoughts, thank you!
The book of 1 John is such a wonderful book, as is the Gospel of John. Life eternal, the fruit of the tree of life, is to know God. And “to know God” – is to “love one another”. That, according to John, is the barometer. John also says that by this we know if we are “born of God”. So if you are truly born again of the Spirit – clearly you will love and serve your neighbor, as if he were God. (“In as much as ye have DONE it to the least of these thy brethren ye have DONE it unto me.” Mat 25) Life eternal, obviously then, begins now. If God were my neighbor I would want to invite him to dinner, look after his kids, help him move, bring him vegetables out of my garden. If God were my neighbor I would think of every excuse, go out of my way, to be kind and caring to such an important person. This is the heart of the gospel – that God so loved the world (his neighbor), that he sent his Son. It is the divine pattern for our lives as well. We don’t send our sons necessarily, but we can send (share) the best we have with those around us, which is our loving service.
Read Mat 25. The sheep are those that DO. The goats are those that DO not. Interestingly neither group KNOWS that they served (sheep) or did not serve (goats) the Lord. The Lord must explain to both groups that the brother they neglected or assisted was Him. The goats (born again or otherwise) receive damnation, but the sheep (those that performed loving service) were given “eternal life” (verse 32 of Mat 25). Which brings us full circle again to the proposition that “life eternal is to know God”, and that to “know God” is to “love one another”. This doctrine admittedly is difficult for those that interpret the Bible to say “once saved, always saved.” Indeed, by grace we are saved , but clearly there better be a little bit of 1 Jn 4:7-11 going on as well.
Marc: Thank you for sharing these scriptures and your thoughts, they go perfectly with this blog post.