(Hebrews 9:13-14)…..13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
(Hebrews 12:25-29)…..25 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” 27 Now this, “Yet once more,”indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire.
The Christian has been saved to serve God. That is what we see when we diligently study the Scriptures. Really, it is only reasonable that we are expected to serve God (Romans 12:1). Even our Lord and Savior did not come to be served but to serve (Matthew 20:25-28) (John 13:12-17) (Philippians 2:5-7). Now this invokes the question, “What is a servant of God like?
A servant is bound to give his/her master unquestioning obedience and loyalty. When it comes to being a servant of God is one who’s only desire is to please God (Psalm 2:11) (Galatians 1:10) (Ephesians 6:7). A servant of God is also humble (Mark 10:43-44) (John 13:14), loving (Galatians 6:2) (Galatians 6:10), and rejoices in doing God’s will (Psalm 40:8) (Psalm 100:1-2). Does this describe your relationship to Christ as a servant? Consider (Luke 6:46).
It is amazing how many claim to be servants of the Lord Jesus Christ while complaining about having to to serve Him. God by His grace has offered salvation to each of us, how dare we ever grumble or complain that He calls us to life of service. We need to view being a servant of Jesus Christ as Paul did, who made himself a servant to all in order to win them to Christ. Like Paul, we too need to learn to associate with non-Christians, those who are still held in bondage to sin.
(1 Corinthians 9:20-22)…..20 and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; 21 to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; 22 to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
In (Acts 21:15-25) Paul was ministering to Jewish people who strictly adhered to the law, so if he was going to reach them them with the gospel he would have to do so through the law. The only reason he went through a purification ceremony was to open a door to sharing the Gospel with the Jews. We can apply this principle to ourselves if we are witnessing to a group of people who think totally different than we do. Should we try to make them conform to our ways before we share the gospel of Jesus Christ with them? Of course not!
When Paul was speaking of those without the law he was referring to the Gentiles, people who were not Jewish (Acts 17:24-29). In this passage we see that Paul reached the Greeks with the gospel using their religious activity and their poets. We can reach people with the gospel through what is relative to them, without actually becoming like them (ex. – hobbies, interests, sports, etc.) There is always something you can talk about or do with others that doesn’t compromise your faith. Paul said, “To the weak I became as weak that I might win the weak. Paul was referring to a specific people whom he considered weak (Romans 14:20-21).
Paul’s life’s goal as God’s servant was to win as many as possible to salvation through the gospel of Jesus Christ. As God’s servant, what is your life’s goal?