Motivation

The Grace of God

Posted on by Bob Mathews

The mediate source of grace flowing from the Father’s throne is the Son of God, Christ Jesus (Rom. 1:5). Our assurance that divine grace will be extended to all men (Titus 2:11-12) is evidenced both prophetically and by promise (1 Peter 1:10; Zech. 12:10). The grace of God serves distinct and wonderful purposes, including our personal salvation (Eph. 2:8), our justification (Rom. 3:24), our receipt of the imputation of righteousness (Rom. 5:15-17), our sufficiency in all things (2 Cor. 9:8), our abounding to every good work (2 Cor. 9:8), and our receipt of the gift of eternal life (Rom. 5:20-21).

Knowing that such wonderful blessings flow from the grace of God, we must endeavor to access the Father’s grace by personal faith (Rom. 5:1-2) working in harmony with the Abrahamic promise (Rom. 4:16), the expressed Word of God (Rom. 10:17) and the calling of God (2 Tim. 1:9; 2 Thess. 2:14) in association with the Word. Because of the importance of these issues, we must remember that grace is always in harmony with truth (Col. 1:3-6) and it requires obedience of faith (Rom. 5:21; 6:16-18). Meritorious works have no role to play in the Father’s system of redemption (Rom. 11:6). Our efforts to safeguard our standing in the grace of God is essential because we can so conduct ourselves so as to no longer be in the grace of God (Gal. 5:4).

Biblical motivation to continue in the grace of God by God-approved means includes our desire to escape the dominion of sin (Rom. 6:14), our desire to be a member of the elect of God (Rom. 11:5), our desire to be blessed with spiritual gifts (Eph. 3:8), our desire to maintain our hope (2 Thess. 2:16-17), and our desire to be the recipient of all the expressed purposes of the grace of God. The Father’s grace is surely worth our full personal dedication to all that the grace of God demands.

Staying Motivated to Win Souls

Posted on by Bob Mathews

Being motivated to win souls in personal evangelism does not happen accidentally.  It occurs as a consequence of several factors which the Bible demands of children of God and is also the result of the heartfelt realization that there is an ongoing need for evangelistic activity.  I suggest we do the following ten things as we seek to develop and maintain motivation to win souls through evangelism.

  1. Love the Lord with all our heart and share our love. – Matt. 22:36-38
  2. Love our neighbor as our self and share our love. – Matt. 22:39-40
  3. Focus on the great spiritual danger confronting mankind. – Eph. 6:10-13
  4. Focus on the great number of lost souls. – Matt. 7:13-14; 20:16.
  5. Focus on mankind’s inability to save self. – Eph. 2:8-10; Rom. 5:12-17.
  6. Focus on the few number of workers bringing in the harvest. – Matt. 9:37-38
  7. Focus on the limited opportunities we have to win souls. – Matt. 25:14-30
  8. Focus on the grace of God operating in our lives. – 1 Tim. 1:13; Eph. 3:2, 8.
  9. Focus on the Word’s power to change lives. – Rom. 1:16; 2 Tim. 3:16-17.
  10. Focus on a positive, confident attitude. – Phil. 4:13; 2 Cor. 5:6, 8; Heb. 11:1.

Personal evangelism is necessary in every community if the church is going to continue to exist and have the opportunity of thriving numerically and spiritually.  We, as other congregations, face the inevitable aging process, the decease of older members, and other causes which may reduce membership from time to time.  Let us have renewed interest in personally being involved in evangelism.  As members of the church we have to do our part in this work, in fact, the Lord demands that we use our abilities and talents as opportunity permits.

Just because it seems like the world around us is walking farther away from God, we are not excused from doing our part to win over those souls. Saving souls really comes down to us having the desire to help those that are lost without God to find Him through His Son. If we truly care about more than our own salvation, we have to look at all people with the same loving value and desire for their salvation that God looks at all. He desires all to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth! Do we caring that desire? God wants all. How many are we willing to reach out to on His behalf? We may be the answer from God for someone who is seeking the truth. Don’t let opportunities to assist in the saving of souls slip by.