In the first part of this series, we looked at the damage caused by the desire for immediately mature ability.  In the second, we examined some of Scripture’s passages that show that God intends for us to have time to grow in our sanctification and vocations.  This week we will take up the question of what we are to occupy the time God has given us with, a question answered by the single word work.

We as musicians and artists (or mechanics, housewives, or bankers, for that matter) are to be responsible to use our God-given talents, to develop them, and to use them in the way that we are directed to by God (according to His pattern, of Matt 25:14-30), because we are required to do so by God Himself (Luke 12:48) if we are to fulfill our calling, edify the Church, change the world, and (most importantly) please the Lord Jesus (“If you love Me, you will obey what I command. . .If anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching. . .He who does not love Me will not obey My teaching.  These words you hear are not My own, they belong to the Father Who sent Me.” John 14:15, 23-24). 

Responsibility, not vain glory or pride, or the way you feel, or even what you want, but responsibility is to be our motivation for development in our vocations. 

Attend:

We know we are to work as unto the Lord in whatever we do (Col 3:23-24).

We are to work so that in all things we do, Christ may be praised (1 Pet 4:11). 

We are to study to show ourselves approved, workmen who do not need to be ashamed (2 Tim 2:15). 

We are God’s fellow-workers (1 Cor 3:9).

Are we beginning to see a common factor here?  Work—we are to work to develop our talents, as the Parable of the Talents in Matt 25:14-30 and Luke 12:48 so clearly teach (we’ll look at these passages next week).

Salvation is a free grace-gift we receive when we are justified and regenerated (or born again) by the Power of the Holy Spirit.  Scripture says this in Eph 2:8-10.  Yet it is also true that the salvation Christ has wrought for and in us must be walked in—we must externalize (or incarnate, in one sense) our salvation, as Phil 2:12-13 points out, where it says, “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God Who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose (NIV).”

It is even proper to say that we have been saved (as in Eph 2:8-10), that we are being saved (as in Phil 2:12-13), and that, when we are raised and physically translated into God’s fully-arrived Kingdom, we will be saved(see 2 Pet 1:10-11; 1 Cor 15; 1 Thess 4:13-18; Rev 22:14).  The point is that salvation is more than just an initial experience; it is also an ongoing process, requiring hard, gritty, obedient work to develop our talents to the point where God wishes them to be.  This process necessarily requires the passage of time.

Why does God structure reality so that we must work hard over a long period of time?  A good question, one that we will take up next week (if God wills).