We do not seek obedience to God in order to earn salvation, or to earn entry into heaven. Every believer in Jesus as Saviour is assured of salvation from hell and is eternally secure, since that salvation is based solely upon the once and for all, finished work of Jesus Christ.
We read in John 10: 28,29: "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one."
The Bible does not teach that we must seek, gain or keep eternal salvation by godly living. The Scriptures, however, do present several motivations for obedience in our walk with God and with his Son.
1. Gratitude:A powerful motivation for living the obedient Christian life, is gratitude to God for saving us by his grace. We read in 2 Cor. 5:14,15: Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
2. God blesses obedience.
True Christians should also be motivated by the knowledge that their heavenly Father both blesses obedience and disciplines disobedience in his children
We read in Heb. 12 :3 - 6 and 11: Consider him (Jesus) who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
3. God holds us accountable for our choices – particularly when we are saved.
Every Christian must on the Day of the Lord stand before the judgment seat of Christ, not to determine his destiny in heaven or hell, but to assess the quality of his Christian life on earth and his grateful obedience to God.
We read in 2 Cor. 5:10: For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due to him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
Anticipating either reward or loss of reward at the judgment seat should also motivate believers to perseverance and to faithfulness to God's revealed will:
I Cor. 3:12-15 If any man builds on this foundation (Jesus and salvation in him), using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day (of Christ) will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
May our perseverance in faithfully seeking God’s will in everything we do, because we show grateful love as people saved only by grace through faith, produce righteous, fruitful lives that are filled with the peace of God.
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