Circumstantial Motivation

 
Religious people are motivated by what they believe is "their christian duty". They believe it is expected of them by God".

 If you are a Sunday-meeting-goer, you no doubt heard some denominated pulpit-teer saying..."There is no question, Jesus died for you...the question is, what will you do for Jesus"? How many times have we heard or even said ourselves, "I would do anything for Jesus, I would die for Him", the thing is if we operate because it is our "christian duty", if my motivation is driven because of debt-owing, then we are missing the whole reason for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus didn't die to form an elite army of soldiers to be "devil-fighters" or feared by unbelievers because of the fear-mongering hell-fire-brimstone man-made doctrine, no, Jesus came because of his love for people that would woo them to salvation, he did not come to scare the hell out of people religion call sinners.

 A religious person may be motivated by their love for God however, they should to be motivated by God's love for them, the same love He has for ALL people. As Paul tells us in 2 Cor. 4:14, "Christ's love compels us." God is not looking for us to impress Him so we look good in His eyes or even the religious hierarchies eyes. Receiving a pat on the back by religious people to confirm that we are good keepers of what is deemed to be good rules, is not what impresses God. God desires to impress and overwhelm us with His love as we love others!

 Whether it is called duty or responsibility, a religious person basically believes that he is obligated or indebted to God. Their doing is so that they will no longer owe God and move further up on His spiritual measuring stick. They want God to owe them so they can command God to do their bidding. They want to be in a position where God will have to bless them because of what they do. This debt-consciousness is Anti-Grace for grace is free without strings attached. There is no "owe me's" in a relationship with God. Everything comes by the “exceeding riches of His grace” (Eph 2:7) and is received because of His grace. 

 People don’t cheapen the gospel by thinking you have a duty or responsibility to pay Him back. Your responsibility is to believe that His finished work is good and true! It is not our obligation to serve the Lord, it is our royal privilege. It is not our duty, but our great delight. We are to work with Him not for Him.

Religion is motivated by "christian-duty...Grace is motivated by godly LOVE.

Being motivated by LOVE is the sure-clincher that one is a true child of God...being motivated by "christian duty" is the sure-clincher that one is religious!

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