Title: Do You Really Believe?
Are you really genuinely believing?
His master said, "Well done, good and faithful servant, since you have been faithful over a few things, I will entrust you with many things; enter into the joy of your master."
The Bible does not teach that if you believe well, you can receive blessings from God in proportion to your faith. Also, such ups and downs of faith are denied in almost all churches. However, although it is not explicitly taught, there are many cases like that in content. If you do not have spiritual discernment, you will be deceived. No, since believers themselves have such expectations, they may pretend to be ignorant and say Amen together even if they notice.
On the other hand, we teach that we should not be zealous with a motive to receive blessings in advance, but that if we sincerely believe and serve faithfully, God will be pleased with us and will bring many blessings. And these teachings are accepted without any disagreement or opposition. Would that be true? First of all, even believers have a deep-rooted desire for personal safety and prosperity. Is it possible to believe and serve with complete purity even after receiving such a teaching? Perhaps in the corner of my heart, wouldn't there be a glimmer of expectation that God would be pleased and rewarded? Isn't it common sense to feel sad if there is no reward for serving, no matter how much you serve without a sense of purpose?
Furthermore, if such expectations arise, I will unconditionally erase such thoughts and try to become pure. Trying to become pure through effort is not already pure. I don't want any reward, but even the thought of making God happy seems like a lot of work. The formula “God’s joy = reward that comes back” cannot be completely erased from our heads. That is to say, most believers are still so imperfect and foolish because they have not yet attained complete release from their sinful nature.
The text says that the blessing that God really wants to give to believers is on a much different level. The servants who received the five talents and the two talents did not really expect any reward, but kept their duties as servants and left as much as they each received. But what is the reward from God? Is there any mention of “rewarding separately” because God is pleased with pure faith? isn't there?
In fact, the praise he received was, “I will entrust you with many things; enter into the joy of your master.” He said it was a lot, so he must have received more than five and two talents. But the master did not say, “I will give you,” but said, “I will give you.” Giving is a transfer of ownership, but entrusting is a temporary lending, and ownership remains with the owner. No, isn't the status of a servant a person who does not own any of his possessions, but only takes over his master's property and takes over the work entrusted to him by his master? In any case, all profits generated from work also go back to the owner's property. Doesn't the text explain that the master's actual reward for this good and faithful servant is simply "participating in his master's joy"?
“All things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, because God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, and imputing their sins to them. But he has entrusted us with the word of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:18,19) “Man ought to consider us servants of Christ and entrusters of the mystery of God. And of those who are entrusted with it, it is fidelity” (1 Corinthians 4:1,2).
Every believer has become a servant of Christ and has the task of reconciling the world to God. And God has entrusted each believer with unique talents and gifts to fulfill that position well. The only thing a believer can do is loyalty. It means that the talents and gifts are not theirs, and the results achieved with them are not even theirs, nor do they give additional rewards for achieving the results well. No matter how innocent you are, no matter how innocent you are.
So, what is the price for the believers to work so hard and sacrifice? Is it just the salvation that goes to heaven? Also, does the reward that each believer receives in heaven vary according to their hard work? Does anyone who pays five talents there get five more as a bonus, giving ten talents? no.
As Jesus said, believers can also participate in the joy He enjoys while doing God's work on this earth. God is most pleased to bring back one lost sheep. It is His greatest joy that the world be at peace with you. But it must be accomplished through the believer. It is for believers to feel and enjoy His joy.
Furthermore, the real reward for believers is to take on more work from this earth. A servant is a servant to the end, and a master is his master forever. Not in the worldly relationships, but between God and the believer. The position of reconciliation of believers does not apply to any change, reduction, or cancellation from the time they are saved until they go to heaven. It is a unique calling for every believer of every generation. As a believer, the attitude of life that one should live after becoming a believer is only loyalty.
It does not mean that you risk your life without rest and only go on missions or evangelism. The goal of life and the way of life must be completely changed. Not to the point where you should never go back to your old goals and ways, but you should never be tempted to go back at all. At times, even though it is exhausting, exhausting, and difficult, even if the thought of quitting for a moment passes, there is no absolute change in the direction of looking and relying on the Lord, even if there is no shaking.
Conversely, those who have truly enjoyed the joy of God by participating in it at least once will want to enjoy it more and more. So you don't expect any reward, and you don't even worry about how to please God more. It is because we are so experientially convinced that if we are faithful in the work entrusted to us as a servant, the joy that God gives, which is completely different from the joy of the world, will naturally follow. And that is the essence and state of pure belief.
It is of course wrong to believe that you can receive as much blessing as you believe. Furthermore, to believe that rewards will follow if you work hard even though you don't expect rewards. Strictly speaking, there is such a thing as a result, but it is wrong. For believers, believing hard and serving faithfully is a reward in itself. Because the moment you really do it, you naturally share in the joy of God.
And to such a person, God entrusts more of His work and gives more gifts and talents to carry out the work. God never forces us, either out of our believer's faith or out of the mission entrusted to us. You entrust your work only to those who please your work, and you share your power and grace. Even after believing, human beings are already imperfect, ignorant, and sinful. What will happen if you entrust your work to someone who is reluctant to force you?
Do you genuinely believe in God? It does not mean simply asking whether you are trusting and serving without expecting any reward. It's not like we're talking about the so-called fervent faith in the church, like praying with tears, serving diligently, and memorizing the Word. Not even whether the content of the faith was based on the gospel of the cross. Even such beliefs may involve an effort to believe them, or they may involve erroneous motives or exaggerated hypocrisy without being conscious.
The question is, are you really sure that all things, not only your talents and gifts, but also all of your possessions have come from the Lord and should be used only for the work the Lord has entrusted to you? In short, the Lord is my eternal Master and I am His eternal servant, so whether I do what He tells me to do or not.
1/5/2009