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 in order to fulfill His good purpose. Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky. Philippians 2:12-15
“An illustrious and divine thing, dearest brethren, is the saving labor of charity; a great comfort of believers, a wholesome guard of our security, a protection of hope, a safeguard of faith, a remedy for sin, a thing placed in the power of the doer, a thing both great and easy, a crown of peace without the risk of persecution; the true and greatest gift of God, needful for the weak, glorious for the strong, assisted by which the Christian accomplishes spiritual grace, deserves well of Christ the Judge, accounts God his debtor. For this palm of works of salvation let us gladly and readily strive; let us all, in the struggle of righteousness, run with God and Christ looking on; and let us who have already begun to be greater than this life and the world, slacken our course by no desire of this life and of this world.”
Cyprian of Carthage (190-258) in his Treatise 8, On Works and Alms, 26.
This is the pep talk of pep talks. This is the locker room speech of locker room speeches. Here Cyprian equates the “saving labor of charity” with a list of things. It’s so profound, I will bullet them for emphasis:
- a great comfort of believers,
- a wholesome guard of our security,
- a protection of hope,
- a safeguard of faith,
- a remedy for sin,
- a thing placed in the power of the doer,
- a thing both great and easy,
- a crown of peace without the risk of persecution;
- the true and greatest gift of God,
- needful for the weak,
- glorious for the strong,
- assisted by which the Christian accomplishes spiritual grace,
- deserves well of Christ the Judge, and
- accounts God his debtor.
Which phrase stuck out to you?
For me, the fact that “the saving labor of charity” serves both as “a comfort to believers” as it blesses people and “a thing both great and easy” showing anyone can do it.
If we were sitting in a pep rally or locker room with the Apostle Paul, he would say, you can do this! You can, and you will save yourselves from your own sinfulness and shine like stars in the process.
And Cyprian, if he was there too, would add remind us of the comfort our sharing brings and that the work is both great and easy. So what are you waiting for?
Ask God how He wants your charity, your grace-motivated generous giving, to grow this Lent. Follow the leading of the Spirit and take action today.
I will have arrived in Sydney and connected to Brisbane, Australia. I shot the new header photo near Mt. Tamborine Conference Center where I am staying. Thanks again for your prayers for safe travel and fruitful ministry here.
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