by: Pastor David Owens
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 says, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.”
Years ago I heard Bro. Jack Hyles preach his sermon entitled, “Duty.” As this truth from God’s Word slowly sank into my heart, I came to realize that whatever motivates a Christian to serve God falls under “duty.” This truth of understanding duty can grow you into the faithful Christian you and I are supposed to be.
Recently someone gave me some excerpts claiming that serving God should come out of pure or sacred motives. The premise was that serving God on the sole basis of duty is cold and heartless. The idea was given that “duty” is somehow not as spiritual as some other sacred motive. The truth is, we don’t always love God as we ought, we are not always as excited as we once were and sometimes we don’t even know why we do what we do.
Duty is a pure motive. Duty is what makes God keep His Word. Duty is what made Christ go to the cross. Duty is what keeps a marriage together. Duty is what keeps Christians faithful. Duty is what makes children obey. Duty is what makes a faithful soul winner. Duty is what makes pastors keep on when discouraged. Obedience and faithfulness is nothing less than keeping your duty. Duty is godly! Christian, I pray you will allow the truth in this short article to help you to be faithful when you don’t feel like it.
What is wrong with a motive that says “to do my duty” or “to obey God”? One who fulfills his duty to God is at least willing to keep their duty to submit to Him. “For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.” (2 Corinthians 8:12) This, having a willing mind, sounds like a very sacred motive to me and not cold or heartless at all.
Why does God tell us to love Him? Because we do not have it in us to love apart from obeying His command to love Him. Loving God is done out of duty. Having a right heart only makes it easier to keep my duty, but I love because it is first my duty to love. Keeping my duty does glorify God, for it is my duty to glorify God. Bearing fruit is a duty, for I am commanded to bear fruit even if my heart is not broken over lost souls. It is my duty to do good works, praise God and give generously, for God commands all of these. Are you willing to keep your duty? Duty is the only motivation we need, for if we keep our duty we will love Him.
You see Christian, duty does come from the heart, for no one will keep their duty unless they determine to do so. Duty includes the outward and the inward, the outward works and the inward spirit. God commanded in 1 Corinthians 6:20, “…glorify God in your body, and in your spirit…”, and in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “…do all to the glory of God.” All of these are my duty. Good motives are not the foundation, duty is the foundation.
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) Man cannot of himself have pure sacred motives for man is a sinner and always falls short of the glory of God. Even a Christian cannot have pure motives, for we still have a carnal nature. It is a foolish parent who only requires obedience if the child wants to obey.
We read in Scripture that Israel and the Pharisees had outward works without the right heart. This only strengthens the premise that duty is more important than motives. If they had kept their duty to God by completely obeying Him, they would have allowed God to change their hearts also. They would have loved the LORD their God with all their heart.
Israel’s motives were not amiss, they failed to keep their whole duty. The Pharisees motives were not the problem, the problem was that they failed to keep their duty concerning their heart, they left part of their duty undone. Wanting to worship sounds like a sacred motive, but Saul was rejected because he failed to keep his whole duty.
The Christian who puts the emphasis on motives opens the door to thinking that one only needs to do their duty if they have the right motives. This leads to the idea that one must first understand before they must obey and that man is capable of right without God’s help. Everyone believes their own motives are sacred. Judges 17:6 says, “…every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” As humans we have the ability to go to the Bible and find a verse to justify our actions. Stressing motives leads to compromise in such areas as music, standards, separation, contemporary church services and even God’s Word itself. It doesn’t matter why Eve disobeyed God, the point is she disobeyed God. Actually, sinners get saved for a very selfish reason, they do not want to go to Hell. The next steps after salvation are to learn to keep my duty, baptism, church, love Him, soul winning, praise Him, glorify Him, listen to Him, pray, have virtuous thoughts, endure hardness, etc. Every command is a duty. Where do motives fit in? What is the scriptural word for motives? My heart? Well again, having a right heart is a duty. As a soldier, an ambassador or a child of God, duty is primary. Good motives only make my duties enjoyable.
Child of God, it is a weak anemic Christian who is looking for some warm touchy-feely reason to obey God and fulfill your duty. The only right motive is a motive to obey God, to fulfill my duties to my heavenly Father. Duty includes obeying God outwardly and inwardly. There is only one right motive, “thus saith the LORD.”
This is the conclusion of the whole matter concerning motives…
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.”
Pastor David Owens
Westside Baptist Church
Pacifica, CA