Series How to please God 3 of 4

So of all the commandments of God, the most important one is associated with LOVE . . .

Step one toward pleasing God begins when we develop a proper fear of God.  It requires faith for us to to fear a God that we cannot prove exists.  But properly respecting God gives proof that such faith is genuine.

Step two is taken as a result of this first step.  Because we fear God, because we believe in punishment, we endeavor to "keep" His commandments. This is not entirely negative, because if "we believe" in punishment, then we also believe in rewards.  

I do want to point out that it is not proper to "obey God" just because we hope that God will reward us with wealth or other things that we desire to make our present life easier.  

The reward that I refer to - are all of the (intangible) benefits that are associated with an increased love of God in our heart.

And the final step in this equation is HOW we keep - protect - preserve and obey His commandments.  

That final step is taken because we have enough faith to fear God and to actually be concerned about what God thinks concerning our lives.  Our fear of God motivates us to "search for a way to please Him" and it also motivates us to learn about what we need to avoid in life that might make Him angry.

So step three is actually "putting into practice" the most important of God's commandments . . .

. . . of every commandment that we find in The Bible, have you ever wondered which one of them was the most important commandment of all?  Well it just so happens that this very question is answered for us in a direct and ‘straight forward way’ in The Bible.  

Let’s read in Matthew 22:35 about a man that literally asked Jesus this exact question.

Matthew 22: 35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,

36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment.

39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

The gist of these verses is simply this: It does not matter how religious we are, it does not matter how many good works that we accomplish, it does not matter how much money we give to the poor (you get the idea) . . . 

if we do not possess love in our heart, then as a Christian, we are a complete and total failure. We know this to be true because of what we read in verse 40) On these two commandments hang ALL the law (of Moses) and the prophets (remainder of the sacred writings).

Another verse that comes to mind is one that is often overlooked in regard to those who seek to please God by excessive involvement in religion instead of seeking to please Him as He desires to be pleased. 

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 

Now the first thing that comes to mind here is that The Bible does not tell us that without good works or without involvement in some type of religion that it is impossible to please Him, but we are told directly without any source of confusion that faith is the ONLY thing that can please God. 

Now I want to point out that simply saying the words “I believe in God” without any evidence in our lives to support those words does not count for faith. 

James 2: 14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?

15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,

16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

The point here is that we can say that we believe in God, but live as though we do not believe in God at all, as we rebel against His will without any regard (or without any godly fear) concerning the day of Judgment. 

Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the     judgment:

Having no fear of “judgment” is simply an example of a dead faith.  It is not real.  It is not genuine.  It serves only to deceive, because God is not pleased with it at all.   

Did you notice how James began this passage?  What does it profit any man if we say that we have faith, but our life gives no evidence of that faith?   

Can just saying that we believe in God save our soul, or must there be something else to accompany (or give power to) “faith” which is able to bring salvation?  The thing that is missing here making this a “dead faith” is the concept of repentance.

We will conclude this series with the next lesson in which we will discuss the concept of repentance and what form it should take in our lives when it is practiced instead of just talked about.

Until the next post - God bless . . .