Author : Ronny Milliner (via “Faith and Facts Quarterly,” January 2006, used by permission)
There are several ways we could ask this particular question. Why should I be concerned about spiritual matters? Why should I be a Christian? Or, why is it important that I give serious attention to God and to His word?
Man is a rational being. Hopefully, we do not just follow our natural instincts as do the animals. We seek reasons why we should do something. There are reasons why you should be a Christian.
In this study, we are presuming that you already believe that there is a God and that He has revealed Himself and His will in the Bible. We are not going to spend time in this presentation showing evidences for the existence of a divine Being, and for the proof that the Bible is the inspired word of God. If you do not believe these things, then we would encourage you to contact us so that we can provide you the materials that will address those topics.
Neither would we claim that the reasons given in this lesson are the only reasons why you need to be concerned about your spiritual life. We do hope that you will give careful consideration to the motives that we do give in this study.
To Escape the Troubles That Come from Sin
Why should you be interested in serving God? One reason is to escape the troubles that come from sin. Sin has its consequences. The world is full of unhappy, miserable people. Whereas one’s own personal sins are not the cause of all suffering, often they are, and sin, either remotely or immediately, is the cause of all suffering.
It is a matter of cause and effort. A person who spends his hard earned money all the time on alcoholic beverages will experience some resulting consequences. He and his family may suffer from lack of material needs because money is going to support an alcohol addiction rather than providing for food, clothing, shelter, and other family needs. He may suffer physically as the alcohol causes cirrhosis of the liver or some other alcohol-related disease. The Bible warns about the dangers of alcohol in Proverbs 23:31-35. In verse 31 the wise man urged, “Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it swirls around smoothly.”
In Job 31:1, Job said, “I have made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I look upon a young woman?” A man who does not control his lustful looks may wind up suffering in a number of different areas. That lust may cause him to commit adultery with a fellow worker or acquaintance in his neighborhood. That action in turn may lead to a divorce, causing suffering to his present family plus burdening him with the responsibility of supporting two households. That lust may lead to multiple acts of fornication which in turn might cause him to contact some sexually-transmitted disease.
The Bible is full of stories about people experiencing difficulties because of sin in their lives. In addition to these divinely revealed accounts, all we have to do is look about us to see how sin is causing trouble for many in our society. Indeed, what family does not have an example of the terrible pain sin can cause in one’s life?
To Avoid an Eternity in Hell
Man is not just a physical creature. We have existence beyond this life. Another reason we need to be serving God is to avoid an eternity in hell. 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 forewarns, “in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.”
The suffering in this life that may be a result of sin does not begin to compare to the suffering that sinners will experience after this life is over. In seeking to impress upon our minds the seriousness of sin, Jesus said the following in Mark 9:43, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched.”
Yes, we all sin. Romans 3:23 declares, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” But the Christian who is seeking forgiveness for his sins and is striving to live right before God certainly has an advantage over the one who has not been forgiven and is not seeking to obey God’s will. Do you think Noah had an advantage over those who were outside the ark and who perished in the flood? Do you think Lot had an advantage over the people in Sodom when it was destroyed with fire and brimstone? 2 Peter 2:4-9 shows that they did have an advantage.
To Express Our Thankfulness to God
We all have sinned and the wages of sin is death, according to Romans 6:23. But “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). So we ought to obey God, not to just avoid the consequences of sin, but also to express our tremendous thankfulness to God for what He has done for us.
Think what we have from God. He has blessed us with life, with provisions for our physical needs, with family and friends for our social needs, and with the great sacrifice of Christ to provide us with all the spiritual needs that we have. Paul expressed his thankfulness when he wrote, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). He also spoke of God’s provisions for us physically, when he preached in Athens in Acts 17:25-28.
Ingratitude is an atrocious act. How do you feel when you go out of your way to help someone in dire need and they show no sense of appreciation? Think how God must feel when we act as if there is no God after He has done so much for us. Leprosy, in the days of the New Testament, was a most brutal disease. Jesus healed ten lepers in Luke chapter 17. Yet only one came back to thank Jesus. He asked, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?” (Luke 17:17). Do not be like one of the nine lepers?
To Enjoy This Present Life
Critics of Christianity often liken it to a philosophy that just offers “pie in the sky by and by.” That view is a misrepresentation of what God has provided for us. You ought to be a Christian to enjoy the here and now. God wants us to enjoy this life as well as the life that is to come. In 1 Peter 3:10-11, Peter quotes from the 34th Psalm, “For ‘He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.’”
Christians, today, can enjoy a peace of mind that passes all understanding, as Paul wrote in Philippians 4:7. Christians, today, can have an inexpressible joy according to Peter in 1 Peter 1:8. The Christian does not need to worry over physical needs as long as he seeks God and His kingdom first. Jesus said in Matthew 6:31-33, “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
The man and woman who are both living according to God’s principles will have a happy and blessed home. They will raise children who will rise up and call them blessed (Proverbs 31:28). They will have friendships with the best people on the earth in the church. In Mark 10:29-30, Jesus pointed out, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time — houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions — and in the age to come, eternal life.” In addition, Paul wrote, “For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come” (1 Timothy 4:8).
To Value Great Qualities of Character
The later verse brings up another reason why one should be religious. It is to value great qualities of character. Again, Paul said, “godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come” (1 Timothy 4:8). God’s word calls us to a higher plane to live those traits that are truly exalted, not only by Him, but also by society as well.
For example, look at the difference in the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit listed by Paul in Galatians 5:19-23. “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” With what type of person would you prefer to associate? Do you want to be around someone who is filled with hatred, jealousies, anger, and envy? Or, would you prefer to enjoy the company of one who is loving, joyful, patient, and kind? What a noble thing to be able to say as did Job, “Till I die I will not put away my integrity from me. My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go; my heart shall not reproach me as long as I live” (Job 27:5b-6).
To Encourage God’s Longsuffering
You need to be interested in living a righteous life in order to encourage God’s longsuffering. In other words, by living a life that is according to God’s standard of righteousness you are encouraging God to be more patience with our nation and not to bring judgment upon it. In this way, you can be the salt of the earth spoken of by Jesus in Matthew 5:13.
When God told Abraham of His decision to destroy Sodom and the other cities of the plain, Abraham said to God, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it?” (Genesis 18:23-24). God said He would not. Abraham continued to bargain with God, lowering the number of fifty to forty-five, to forty, to thirty, and to twenty. Finally, he said, “‘Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?’ And He said, ‘I will not destroy it for the sake of ten’” (Genesis 18:32). Ten righteous souls would have spared the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
A nation is the sum of it individual citizens. There is no question that our nation has been on a moral decline of late. For this country to continue, we need more righteous souls. Surely you have heard of the famous quote by Edmund Burke, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” To preserve this land of freedom for our children and grandchildren, we need to live as God wants us to live. “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34).
To Enjoy Eternity in Heaven
Finally, you need to be religious in order to enjoy eternity in Heaven. Far too many of us are busy working only for the things of this life. Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-21, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Jesus told a story of a rich man in Luke 12:16-21. “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” Are you a fool? Have you been making provisions only for this life? Do you not want something that will outlast the things of this world? At some point every person reaches a crossroads where he will either choose to obey God or reject Him. Will you choose wisely or foolishly?
Conclusion
One day you will face God. It is either acknowledge Him now and obey Him now and be reward then, or acknowledge Him then and receive eternal damnation for it will be too late to receive His mercy at that time. The Hebrew writer reminds us, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31). Hell will be full of people who did not intend to go there.
A long time ago a preacher ended his lesson by saying that a person who was almost persuaded to be a Christian is almost saved. Yet, to be almost saved really means that one will be totally lost in eternity. In the audience was a man by the name of Philip Bliss. The words of the preacher moved Mr. Bliss to pen the words to the song, “Almost Persuaded.” Verses two and three of that song says, “‘Almost persuaded,’ come, come today; ‘Almost persuaded,’ turn not away; Jesus invite you here, Angels are ling’ring near, Prayers rise from hearts so dear, O wand’rer, come. ‘Almost persuaded,’ harvest is past! ‘Almost persuaded,’ doom comes at last! ‘Almost’ cannot avail; ‘Almost’ is but to fail; Sad, sad, that bitter wail—‘Almost—but lost!’” Will you be totally persuaded and accept the invitation of Jesus? He said in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
