According to Jehovah's Witnesses, sacred service to God is only being done by Jehovah's Witnesses. No other so called Christian religion on earth is doing this. Their articles state that only field service (the preaching of the kingdom government from door to door), meeting attendance, one hour a week family study, bible studies with unbaptized persons, the building of kingdom halls,bethel service and other direct assignments given from the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society are sacred service. All other types of love shown for God and fulfilling daily family responsibilities reflecting Christ and his love are merely service to God, but not sacred service. That means that going to a hospital to visit the sick, to look after your children or help orphans, to feed the hungry at a soup kitchen are all disqualified for "counting your time" as the Watchtower Society calls it. This drives the witness to refrain from these actives and concentrate on making new converts to the society as the number one goal and sacred service to God.

"The Watchtower of Oct 1, 1976, (written by Raymond Franz) came out with a different, much more balanced view of what sacred service is, changing from the legalistic view normally held by the Watchtower Society. This new viewpoint gave the definition of sacred service as follows: "Sacred service is not something that occupies only a portion of our lives. It is not limited to just one activity, or a certain number of activities but it takes in every aspect of our daily living . . . . . Mates render sacred service in maintaining the honor of marriage, in their relationships to one another, working to the success to their marriage. A housewife could do her work at home as "unto the lord" and contribute to the esteem of the good news among others by the quality of the home life, by her hospitality, her kindness and her neighborliness.(Titus 2:45, Proverbs 31:10-31, Acts 9:36-41). Men could promote and bring credit to the good news by the way the way they performed their daily work, putting their heart into what they did "as into work done for the Lord and not merely for men" (Col 3:17,23)." (1)

Apparently after this article, there were many complaints pouring into Bethel to the Governing Body from the circuit overseers. They complained that this article was undermining their work. Here they were pushing the "works of sacrifice" of field service hours and pioneering and then comes an article showing sacred service to include acts of love and "mercy" on an equal level. However, the article did not make the allowance for the counting of time on a slip of paper at the end of each month for these acts of mercy towards others, as was required for the preaching work.

"In 1980, shortly after my (Raymond Franz's) resignation from the Governing Body, another set of articles appeared in the August 15 issue of the Watchtower designed to return the application of "sacred service" only to such things as field service and meeting attendance. The whole thrust of the 1980 Watchtower material is to place service to God in a separate category of life's activities. It attempts to differentiate between "service" and "sacred service" to God , restricting the latter to acts of a very distinctive, unusual nature. It is true that the particular term under discussion (latreuo) is used in Scripture only with reference to "service to God (or to a god or gods). For pagans, such service involved things done in temples, in special buildings, special rites and special offerings to their gods. For the Jewish people, it was usually applied to acts performed in fulfillment of the Law covenant, including ceremonies, sacrifices. holy festivals, priestly service. All this is evident. The notable thing about Christianity, however, is precisely the fact that service to God is so vastly broader, so all-pervasive, not limited to activities performed in certain buildings or in prescribed forms, affecting only part of one's life." "The writer of the 1980 Watchtower articles is right in saying that "to the Jews, sacred service was always related to worship in obedience to the Law covenant." He is wrong in claiming that this rules out its application to "basic, essential acts of human living." . . . . For sacred service took in all of the duties in life that were performed pleasing to God."(2)

The religious system of the Watchtower's teaching of sacred service, with the counting of time,

What Is Sacred Service?

People with passion for God who grind out their dreams in the mills of everyday life. They are teachers and parents, coaches and preachers. They are men and women committed to a family, or to a class, or to a congregation. Their struggle may not make it in the nightly news, but their sweat and toil will one day come to fruition in the lives of a son or a daughter or a student or a church member. And when all is said and done, their passionate commitment may be the most highly recognized in the annals of eternity. - Strengthening the Pastor's Soul, Rick Ezell (3)

only being the preaching work to unbaptized individuals and other direct assignments they give to persons, result in a warped view of what sacred service to God really is. For instance, I can personally recall many meetings, at the kingdom hall, where a "pioneer" will immediately seek out an unbaptized person who was attending so they can begin counting their time. As a pioneer they need to fulfill 83 hours per month or 1000 hours per year or be removed as a pioneer, which results in having a special title and privilege in the congregation. Can you imagine Jesus walking with his apostles and asking them how they are doing on their time that month? In other cases some witnesses were unable show mercy to others as in visiting sick ones in the congregation, because they would not be able to count their time. The true meaning of Christianity is turned into a competitive, repetitious, burdensome, heavy yoke of time counting to fulfill a title and vow made to a manmade organization and self appointed slave class, as many do this to climb up the organizational ladder and gain more prominence.

"The form of worship that is clean and undefiled from the standpoint from our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their tribulation, and to keep oneself without spot from the world" (James 1:27)

This is truly preaching the "Good News," and should be done quietly with only God knowing our actions, without announcements from the platform made to how many hours we have performed or organizational titles that put us on a higher spiritual level be given to us. I know that most witnesses out in field service think little of looking after orphans and widows in the congregation because they can not count their time. And if an orphan or widow is not a witness and is not interested in having a "study" and attending the meetings, then they are dropped.

"For in loving kindness I have taken delight, and not in sacrifice: and in the knowledge of God rather than in whole burnt offerings" (Hosea 6:6)

Service is not a list of things that we do, though in it we discover things to do. It is not a code of ethics, but a way of living. To do specific acts of service is not the same thing as living in the Discipline of service. Just as there is more to the game of basketball than the rule book, there is more to service than specific acts of serving. it is one thing to act like a servant, it is quite another to be a servant. As in all the Disciplines, it is possible to master the mechanics of service without experiencing the Discipline. Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline (4)

Notice that loving kindness is more important than sacrifice, which certainly shows that love of neighbor and family, whether baptized or unbaptized, is much more important then the sacrifice of prescribed, outlined organizational activity of field service and meeting attendance. For mercy and love are considered by God to be a sacred service far above that of a doctrinal preaching work, even more so when the preaching is all put together and neatly packaged for men, by a human visible organization that take on the divine role as God's representative. According to this scripture, it is not the sacrifice of pioneering and bethel service that God takes delight in, rather it is the showing of kind loving acts to others.

The "knowledge of God" is not some doctrinal, theological scriptural explanation that points to a "slave class" organization, but this knowledge is faith in God's provisions for man. In the days of Hosea, that knowledge was love, mercy and the spirit of God that faith would require in order to receive. And in our day, after the Christ, this knowledge is about God's provision of our faith in Jesus who is "love" and the "obligation we have to be loving our brother" in imitation of him. (1 John 4)

"As for your father, did he not eat and drink and execute justice and righteousness ? In that case it went well with him. He pleaded the legal claim of the afflicted one and the poor one. In that case it went well. "Was that not a case of knowing me" is the utterance of Jehovah? (Jeremiah 22:15,16)

"The important thing is not to do a lot or to do everything. The important thing is to be ready for anything, at all times, to be convinced that when serving the poor, we really serve God." MOTHER TERESA

Notice, that helping an afflicted one is the same as knowing Jehovah. Helping a person, whether he or she is a baptized person in the same human religious organization or an unbaptized stranger from any religion, it is considered knowing Jehovah and sacred service. Knowing love is knowing God and one can not know love unless they live this way towards their fellow man. According to the Watchtower, performing sacred service is only by helping a person through a theological bible discussion. What the Watchtower fails to realize is that doctrinal knowledge is a means to find Christ and love and to walk in accord with it. It is not about having a hold on some doctrinal truth that puts a person in a God's favor. This is not what Jeremiah had done above, for theology and doctrinal knowledge was far from this picture, even more so from a human visible organization with a prepackaged verse by verse answer with spelled out doctrinal interpretations to preach. Rather this was about pleading the legal claim of an afflicted and poor one. Helping an afflicted person in need with mercy, that is knowing God. And in the case of Jesus, his illustration of the good Samaritan in Luke 10:29-37 had nothing to do with the sacrifice of theological bible discussions, question and answer studies or door to door activity, rather it was a random act of love and mercy, the very type of love that would be the identifying mark of Jesus true deciples. (John 13:34-35)

"Through him let us always offer to God a sacrifice of praise, that is the fruit of our lips which make public declaration to his name. Moreover, do not forget the doing of good, and the sharing of things with others, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased (Heb 13:15,16)

Yes, using our lips to tell others of Christ and his ransom sacrifice, allowing mankind to have a

Our daily encounters with bank tellers, post office clerks, and gas station attendants are, each one, elements of sin and grace. All of these people and each of these encounters is a significant detail in the life of faith. But we are not aware of it. Most of the time we are not living in a crisis in which we are conscious of our need of God, yet everything we do is critical, to our faith, and God is critically involved in it. All day long we are doing eternally important things without knowing it. All through the day we inadvertently speak words that enter peoples lives and change them in minor or major ways, and we never know it. - Eugene H. Peterson (3b)

personal relationship with God is sacred service. In this context of Hebrews the use of our lips was to be a form of worship and praise, being far removed from doctrinal detailed question and answer studies regarding a visible human organization directed to God. Our lips praise God and Christ, they worship Him. Out of our lips come our words describing our faith in Christ, in turn, the only way we can receive God's spirit, which in turn is the only way we can truly both know God and love our fellow man, walking in it. Faith in Christ goes hand in hand with the doing of good and the sharing of things with others is of EQUAL importance and is most certainly sacred service to God, even though the human visible organization, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society does not allow their members to count this type of time on a slip of paper, which has a direct affect of how others in the congregation look at them and judge them, including during the consideration of appointed a man to a position of oversight in the organization.

"Go, then, and learn what this means, 'I want mercy, and not sacrifice'. For I came to call, not righteous people, but sinners." (Matthew 9:13)

This really sums it up. The sacrifice of working a high amount field service preaching hours and

Our Service & The Practice of Piety

Bethel Service Ministerial Servant & Elder Service Preaching & Pioneer Activity Kingdom Hall Building Projects

"Piety is perverted when the motive for pursuing it is to please the public (and men's religious organizations) rather than God. We can become religious exhibitionists, addicted to the praise of people. Or we can adopt the attitude that God needs to be manipulated in order to get what we want. In either case we use God to accomplish our ends. And it works; for all piety, both true and false, Jesus told us, is rewarded. This is good news to the religious, but not as good as we might have hoped. The reward of piety may be nothing more than the empty praise of people, devoid of divine and eternal reward. (Parenthesis Added) The sad truth about religion is that false piety works! Piety can easily, subtly, and gradually become a means to human gain., socially, economically and personally. Piety makes us appear spiritual. If one gives generously, speaks openly about his or her prayer life, as some do , or sacrifices conspicuously, human confer honor and praise on the "faithful." Moreover, we are more likely to listen and defer to people who have an aura of spirituality. This many times opens up opportunities and affords privileges not given to "less spiritual" people. The appearance of piety can place one securely on a pedestal." - Tom Hovestol, Seeing Ourselves In The Extreme Righteousness Of The Pharisees. (4a)

"The same Pharisaic spirit still haunts every child of Adam today, It is easy to be critical of Christ's contemporaries and miss the repetition of their vainglory in ourselves. Yet deeply ingrained in our fallen nature is this thirst for the praise of men. It seems to be a devilish perversion of our basic psychological need to be wanted and to be loved. We hunger for applause, fish for complements, thrive on flatter. It is the plaudits of men we want; we are not content with God's approval now or with His "Well done, good and faithful servant" on the last day." (4b)

As John Calvin put it: "What is more foolish, nay, what is more brutish, than to prefer the paltry approval of men to the judgment of God?" (4c)

the requirement of meeting attendance in a human organization, the consecutive weekends spend in kingdom hall projects, vacations spent in bethel service are merely external works and have no real value in God's eyes. It is our love and mercy to both friends and strangers that we show that acts as though we are doing it directly to Christ and God. This is because our love and mercy to the man on the street is more important than all religious sacrifices and is of much higher, truly being sacred service to God. Jesus came to call sinners and we are under obligation to treat all men, regardless of who they are and what life style they maintain and to show mercy. We are not doormats to evil, but we do not adversely judge those who fail to live up to our standards. (1 Cor 13:1-3)

About the door to door preaching work that I have been doing the past 7 years, 4 of them as a pioneer (90 hours per month), I think can be pretty much summed up perfectly by Raymond Franz:

"According to God's Son we serve as a light for people by our deeds, deeds that induce praise of our Father. Those deeds must be not the product of external pressures or the result of programming, but deeds that are the product of our own minds and hearts and that show that we have been enlightened by the good news, that if fills our lives, gives evidence of having changed our lives. Mere talking during certain periods in a programmed "preaching work", using prescribed subjects and expressions set out for us in religious publications, cannot begin to fulfill this commission. As Jesus deciple John expressed it, "love must not be a matter of words or talk: it must be genuine, and show itself in action" (NIV Version) "Little children, let us love neither in word nor with the tongue, but in deeds and truth" (NWT Version) (1 John 3:18). Only through reflecting the enlightening effect of the good news by what we are and do throughout our lives, every day and all day long, can we be as a light to the world." (5)

Really, what good is it to God, if persons preach all day long "in word and with the tongue" because of instructions from a religious organization and yet are not genuine in showing kind loving deeds? The real point of Christianity is lost and the evidence is showing that a religious organization is removing persons from having a true intimate relationship with God and Christ.

Many of the Watchtower articles emphasize the importance of showing love of neighbor and mercy to others, but this is voided and undermined under a legal system based on "works of sacrifice" with the counting of time spent preaching to others on a slip of paper at the end of each month, along with the titles of "auxiliary pioneer" and "pioneer" that are no where found in the teachings of Christ. (Matthew 9:13)

Our Motives Behind Our Service

Our service, our actions, have intentions behind them that can either be right or simple. A right intention of service is considered what is proper, organizationally, socially, culturally, or religiously acceptable, passing from one particular end to another, from work to work, from day to day, from possibility to possibility. Working done for the glory of God, but always to finish just one more job before one could relax and look for a little contemplation. A right intention aims only at a right action. 

Unlike the right intention of properly performed services,  

"A simple intention (of service) is a perpetual death in Christ. It keeps our life hidden with Christ in God. It seeks its treasure nowhere except in heaven. It prefers what cannot be touched, counted, weighed, tasted, or seen. It makes our inner being open out, at every moment, into the abyss of divine peace in which our life and actions have their roots. . . The secret of simple intention (of service to God) is that it is content to seek God and does not insist on find Him right away, knowing that in seeking Him it has already found Him. Right intention (that motivates our service to God,) knows this too, but not by experience, and therefore it obscurely feels that seeking God is still not enough.  Simple intention (behind our service to God), is a divine medicine, a balm that soothes the powers of our soul wounded by inordinate self-expression. It heals our actions in their secret infirmity. It draws our strength to the hidden summit of our being, and bathes our spirit in the infinite mercy of God. It wounds our souls in order to heal them in Christ, for a simple intention manifests the presence and action of Christ in our hearts. It makes us His perfect instruments, and tranforms us into His likeness, filling our whole lives with His gentleness and His strength and His purity and His prayer and His silence.  Whatever is offered to God with a right intention is acceptable to Him. Whatever is offered to God with a simple intention is not only accepted by Him by reason of our good will, but is pleasing to Him in itself. It is a good and perfect work, performed entirely by His love. It draws its perfection not from our poor efforts alone but from His mercy which has made them rich. In giving the Lord the works of a right intention I can be sure that I am giving Him what is not bad. But in offering Him works of a simple intention I am giving Him what is best. And beyond all that I can give Him or do for Him, I rest and take my joy in His glory." (5a)

The Pharisees Vs. The Tax Collectors

It is interesting, that "while Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and `sinners'?" (Matthew 9:10-12)

The Pharisees had a point. They scrupulously followed and obeyed all of God's laws and both knew and studied the scriptures intensively. On the other hand, the tax collectors, not only did not know the law with God's commands but extorted money out of people. And here was Jesus sitting down with them and eating with them. Unlike the Pharisees, Jesus did not judge or condemn them, instead he showed mercy and compassion.

As the Pharisees asked, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and `sinners'?," Jesus, on hearing this, said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: `I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Here he was saying that

		The Righteous Pharisee		The Sinful Tax Collector
			"I tell you that this man, the tax collector, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke 18:-10-14)
		The "Pioneer," "Elder," & Ministerial Servant.	Who Did God Choose? The Tax Collector	The "Worldly" Man, Who Smokes, Drinks & etc.

all the sacrifices that the Pharisees worked so hard at were not the reason Jesus came to teach, nor were they the message of what he taught, but mercy, kindness, understanding and forgiveness were the core of his teaching, something that the Pharisees lacked.

Most people who are scrupulous in obedience to the scriptures, laws, rules and legal requirements of their religious leaders or slave classes tend to become confident of their own righteousness and eventually start to judge others and look down on them. This is what happens in an external worship, with legal requirements to obey and sacrifices to perform.

This way of thinking was no different in Jesus time as he told this parable to some "who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else,:

"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: `God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get, "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, `God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke 18:-10-14)

Can not this same parable be told today? One just has to replace the Pharisee with a "pioneer", "minister" or "pastor" and the tax collector with a mere "publisher," or "worldly person" or "sinner," who smokes cigarettes, drinks, listens to rock music, never reads the bible, never goes to church or kingdom hall, never preaches and even screws up with how he treats others at times. In turn the so called righteous law abiding witness prays to God and thanks him that he or she is not like other men - robbers, evildoers, adulterers-or even a mere "worldly" person, for this person, pioneers, preaches, reads the bible daily, teaches his family the theology of his religion, donates his money and his time. But the sinner, the "worldly" person who smokes, drinks, commits adultery and carries on, truly humbles himself and expresses repentance, asking God for the mercy to forgive him. "I tell you that this man, rather than the good church goer and pioneer, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Works of "Mercy" Vs Works of "Sacrifice"

Works of Sacrifice

Apostle Paul states in Galatians 2:16,

"Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."

Have You Not Read "I Want Mercy And Not Sacrifice"  - Math 9:13

Here Apostle Paul tells us that we are declared righteous by faith only, for although the righteous Torah or law with the "old covenant" taught this teaching as well, it also consisted of "decrees", "works of sacrifices" and "curses" that were to be "blotted out" in the future by the messiah, the Christ. These "works of sacrifice", with their commandments and regulations were a "curse", not the law or Torah itself. The further perverting of the law with legalism and oral traditions of both the Pharisees and the newly converted Christians, were making "the word of God invalid", causing Apostle Paul to repeatedly emphasize that it is only with "faith" that one can find Christ, not by legalism or works of sacrifice. Obedience to rules, regulations and church or slave class interpretations were not to be the "saving" factor. Only our faith in Christ is required. This is the context of Paul's statements in his letters to the Romans, Ephesians and Galatians.

Works of Mercy

However, Apostle James states in chapter two, that:

"By works a man is justified and not by faith only . . . faith without works is dead." (James 2:26)

Here, there were those who saw others without adequate food and clothing and simply said, "Go your way and be warm and well fed" but did not perform works of mercy, by feeding and clothing them. These acts of mercy , not sacrifices, would be the determining factor of our faith and judgment by God, as "judgment will be without mercy toward one who does not show mercy; but mercy exalts triumphantly (wins) over judgment."

This is precisely why Jesus quoted Hosea to the Pharisees saying,

"I want mercy and not sacrifice." (Matthew (9:13)

It is only by our works of mercy, compassion, empathy and consideration (not sacrifices) of others that are required with our faith. This is the context of Apostle James words. (James 2:13, 14, 26; Galatians 2:15,16; Matthew 9:13; Hosea 6:6)

"If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?" 1 John 3:17 "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder." James 2:14-19

"Even the demons believe but they shudder." Their belief is in vain, for they do not have true faith, Neither can we, if our faith is not joined with works of love, not sacrifice. For if we fail to have love and live love to our fellow man, then our faith is dead and becomes merely belief. Belief alone is not faith. Faith is a dependence, a reliance and a trust that opens God up to send us, anoint us and enter us with his Spirit, relieving us of our anxieties and trust in ourselves, which we then discipline ourselves to walk with the Spirit in showing God and our fellow man, our "brothers," mercy and agape love.

"You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead." James 2:20-26

But if you had known what this means, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltless. Mat 12:7

What is the difference between works of sacrifice and works of mercy and love ? Works of sacrifice or legalism are the following of interpretations, rules and regulations of men that are not specifically stated or "go beyond the things written" in the bible. They also include the observance of the various "sacrifices", offerings and days and seasons pronounced in the "old covenant" with Moses. The Pharisees took this much further with oral traditions and legalism, making "the word of God invalid." Today, they can include church rituals, specific meeting attendance requirements, the counting of time spent preaching, "pioneering",  restrictions on holiday observances and the enforcement of men's interpretation of scripture to be accepted from church leaders, slave classes or governing bodies. (Matt 15)

True Sacred Service to God reveals itself in quiet acts of mercy and goodness that no one sees or applauds--but God.

On the other hand, works of love are just that, kind loving acts of helping others. The illustration that Jesus gave of the good Samaritan showed he was the true neighbor, as he showed mercy to the injured man. And this required no sacrifice of preaching, rule following, or organizational requirements of any kind, rather just a loving act of kindness, imitating God and Christ. Works of sacrifices, such as preaching, should only come after faith and works of love and should be motivated from the heart, not due to any external pressure from any religious organization or supposed "slave class." (Rom 10:10; 1 Cor 4:3; Luke 10:29-37)

Paul brings out in Romans chapter 8, that there are only two ways a man can walk, according to the flesh and according to the spirit. He goes on to state:

"You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature of the flesh but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ" Romans 8:9

People can show mercy and love using the works of the flesh, and Paul's words in Romans chapter 2 shows a strong possibility that they may be "excused" and given a another chance to obtain faith in the Christ. However, the above shows, that in order to walk in accord with spirit (of true agape love), people must both have the spirit and belong to Christ." This requires faith in Christ. (1 John 3:23)

Many Christian denominations preach "love your neighbor", yet they are convinced that this is limited to helping primarily those in their religious organization. Apostle Paul speaks otherwise saying, "Let us work good towards all, especially towards those in the (Christian) faith." "Working good towards all is not limited to a preaching work, but is as the good Samaritan performed, an act of loving kindness, and in the case of Christians, a loving kindness that comes from God's spirit that "dwells inside you." When Jesus asked "Who of these three seems to you to have made himself neighbor to the man that fell among the robbers?" Then a certain man answered Jesus saying "The one that acted mercifully toward him, (the Samaritan). Jesus then said to him, Go your way and be doing the same yourself."

The fact that this Samaritan did not have accurate knowledge, being from the Samaritans, a false

The Two Mandatory Requirements For A Christian Faith In Christ & Agape Love

"Add To Your Faith . . . Love" - 2 Peter 1:5-8

religious sect split off of Judaism, and yet it was only this man that proved to be the righteous person and true neighbor, shows that accurate knowledge was not the issue here, nor a requirement to do God's will, but "loving one's neighbor" with acts of kindness and mercy were the only determining factor. It was not required for this person to be from the so called true religious human visible organization, but instead the invisible "royal priesthood" of those with faith in the Christ. It shows that any person on earth that is loving their fellow man is the true neighbor and is doing God's will. As far as living the law of love, it is not limited to those in the same religious denomination or faith but rather acts of mercy "toward all" persons, regardless of their cultural, sexual, political, and religious views will determine each individual's outcome. The difference though with those who follow the Christ are, their acts of love are to be from the spirit, which the only way to obtain is by having faith in the Christ. Those who do so by the "works of the flesh," outside the spirit, are still doing it, just as "those who do not have the law, but do the things of the law, prove to have the law written on hearts." Faith and love is the spiritual view, the "pure language", "the perfect bond of union", and those who live it both "know God" and are "born from God",  "For everyone that loves is born from God and knows God" and "without faith it is impossible to please God." (1 John 4:7-8; Romans 2:14-16; Romans 8:1-10; Hebrews 11:1-6)

Mary was learning about Agape love (God is Love) and mercy, internalizing her faith and love for Jesus and neighbor.	Martha was trying to do the external works, and sacrifices of God.

In the account of Jesus followers, Mary and Martha, whose home Jesus often entered, he always found it perfectly suited to his needs. He began to teach, and Mary, who instinctively knew the most crucial, pressing need of the day, sat at his feet, absorbing his presence and everything he had to say about faith, mercy and love, the keys to life.

Martha, who had much to do for Jesus, busied herself with sacrifices of work to please Jesus, becoming "distracted by all the preparations that had to be made, hustling about the place to make more presentable, doing things for Jesus that he didn't want done at all. Her sacrifices blinded her to the more important things, knowing what faith, agape love and mercy is from the master himself.

Jesus said in his kindly way that what Martha was doing was much ado about nothing.

"Martha, Martha," he said, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only on thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." Luke 10:41-42

Mary was internalizing her faith and love for Jesus. Martha was trying to do the external works, the sacrifices of God. (2) It isn't any different today, as many are so busy performing the sacrifices of preaching theology, meeting attendance and scrupulously obeying hundreds of legal requirements that a religious authority or slave class requires, that they blindly loose perspective on the real meaning of the Christ, faith, agape love, mercy and forgiveness of our fellow man. Like Martha, they become worried and upset for their failure to live up to the external works that are demanded from them, failing to internalize both their faith and love. (Luke 10:37-42)

Two Principles Involved

First, Christ must come into our heart and life. That is essential. We come to God as a beggar a sinner and give absolutely nothing and we leave with everything. That is humbling and hurts our pride because we want to bring something, but no good work makes any contribution to man's salvation.

"He saved us, not because of works of righteous we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit." Titus 3:5

Jesus Christ pays the penalty for sin, not our works. He does the pleading in behalf of us and carries our sins, takes them away, reconciles us with God and brings us the salvation.

Secondly, is that when Christ does come into our heart, as we give absolutely nothing and gain everything, a full forgiveness, a transformation takes place in us, we become a new creation and are moved to do works from our faith, works of love and kindness to others.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17

As this new creation we show our faith by our works of love as Zacchaeus the Chief Tax collector came to Christ with nothing to give, being the foremost of sinners and walking away declaring:

"But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount." Luke 19:8

Zacchaeus the foremost of sinners, came to Christ with nothing of offer, no works of sacrifice, no works or godliness and achievements, but with absolutely nothing but sin. He then walked away transformed as a "new creation," and his new faith was only known by his works, his works of love. He did not become a bible thumper, nor a preacher man, nor a theologian, but his being a new creature of Faith in Christ was totally obvious, by his good works, his works of love.

"You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without works is useless"? James 2:20

Judging Others By Our Interpretation of Works

"Perhaps in our day, Jesus might have framed the story of the Good Samaritan, as the parable of the good homosexual New Ager. There are people in our world, like homosexual individuals or those who embrace New Age theology, who may well be more compassionate than the majority of people found in a Christian church on any given Sunday. Some homosexuals, for instance, give all they have to help friends who are dying of AIDS. It would be hard to find many evangelicals who match their compassion! ....... we must recognize some Pagans will surpass our good deeds ..................... people who we despise for their so called lack of rightness can actually be more righteous than us." - Extreme Righteousness , page 56 - Tom Hovestol (Italics added) (6)

So when a religious group uses the bible to label all those that are not part of their group as lacking "accurate knowledge" and are therefore "worldly", "workers of lawlessness", members of "Babylon the Great" and the "unclean thing", they are NOT showing love of neighbor. Can you imagine if the good Samaritan only preached doctrinal knowledge, but did not act merciful towards the Jew, both physically and materially? He did not preach, have a bible study or label this Jew as a false follower, but performed an act of loving kindness. Preaching God's word is certainly showing love to others, but is simply "sacrifice" and not a requirement for salvation and doing so alone is not being a "doer of the word." Faith, mercy, love and kindness towards all, far out weighs a mere academic study of scripture" and are the only true requirements and obligation of man. Through Christ let us always offer to God a sacrifice of praise, that is the fruit of lips which make a public declaration to his name. Moreover, do not forget the doing of good and the sharing of things with others for with such sacrifices God is well pleased." These "acts of mercy" or sacrifices of human kindness and forgiveness are precisely what the Roman army officer Cornelius performed, bringing him favor with God and Christ, despite being a Pagan with inaccurate knowledge. His mercy to others opened the way for him to obtain the only knowledge needed: the knowledge of the faith in Christ (Hebrews 13:15-16; Galatians 6:10; Luke 10:36-37; Matthew 7:21-23; Rev 17:1-2; 18:4-10; Romans 10:2; James 1:20; Acts 10:1-2)

What is God's will for mankind? "It is that all men be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth" What is that "knowledge of truth?"

"That "there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all men." 1 Timothy 2:5

A man also being a part of God who acts as a doorway to get to God and both taught and demonstrated how persons should treat their fellow man. Knowledge of him with faith, would allow him to supply God's Spirit, that is to dwell inside of us, "empowering us" to walk in such a way that exhibits agape love to our fellow man. This knowledge is not any elaborate detailed scriptural information, but simply the faith and love of God's free gift, Christ Jesus and the imitation of "grace" to all we meet. Jesus Christ is "the way, the life and the 'truth." As noted above, persons having this "knowledge of the truth" are not those who simply confess their sins and put faith in the Christ without works of love, or those who follow all the rules and and laws, for this is inferior to the "doing of good and sharing of things with others",  forgiving others and "acting mercifully", emotionally, physically and materially to all others, regardless of their religious following. (1 Timothy 2:3-5; John 14:6; Heb 13:15-16)

While Jehovah's Witnesses will put emphasis on intellectualism, "taking in knowledge" and "sacrifice" for salvation, many churches, but not all, will put emphasis on simply verbal affirmations of "having faith" or "believing" in Christ without works of mercy, led by the spirit. Both of these roads of thinking overlook the very core of Christ's teachings, love and mercy, for it is acts of mercy to others that determines the true meaning and following of the Christ.  For a Christian's worship is narrow, without the freedom to put selfishness and greed above kindness to others, for we must "exert ourselves vigorously to get in through the narrow gate." This is not through a rigid belief system and restrictive way containing vigorous "sacrifices." Nor is it simply "having faith" or "believing" in Christ without exhibiting the works led by the spirit that are to dwell inside you, the works of showing impartial loving acts of kindness to others. Salvation is obtained through faith and impartial vigorous love, showing acts of kindness, both to those in the faith and outside of the faith, with no particular limitations or rules, outside of faith and love. It is as the good Samaritan performed in Jesus illustration, an act of loving kindness. Anyone can say they "have faith" and "believe" in Christ, but unless they "love their neighbor as themselves" they do not truly have faith, knowledge or believe in Christ and make the "word of God invalid", being hearers only and not doers of the word by showing mercy. (John 17:3; Galatians 3:8; 5:14; 6:10; Luke 13:24; Matt 22:37-39; James 1:20; Matt 15:6-9)

Faith Vs Works

God's Spirit Vs Human Flesh

According to Zechariah, God accomplishes his purposes with mankind only with his spirit.

"Not by a military force, nor by power, but by my spirit." Zechariah 4:6

His spirit can use the most unlikely and weakest of people to do his work.

"But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong." 1 Corinthians 1:26-28

Yet despite this, we think we are under some kind of obligation to do the works of God. We think that when Jesus commanded his deciples to make more, that it meant we had a sacrificial work to do with much hard work to achieve this.

Doctor Martyn Lloyd-Jones once said;

"We Christians often quote "not by might nor by power, but by my spirit says YHWH" and yet in practice we seem to rely upon the mighty dollar and the power of the press and advertising. We seem to think that our influence will depend on our technique and the program we can put forward and that it would be the numbers, the largeness, the bigness that would prove effective. We seem to have forgotten that God has done most of his deeds in the church throughout its history through remnants. We seem to have forgotten the great story of Gideon, for instance, and how God insisted on reducing the 32,000 men down to 300 before he would make use of them. We have become fascinated by the idea of bigness, and we are quite convinced that if we can only stage, yes, that's the word, stage something really big before the world, we will shake it and produce a mighty religious awakening. That seems to be the modern conception of authority?" (7)

Despite recognizing that God accomplishes his purpose by his spirit, we tend to use our flesh. Yet Jesus even said:

"What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight." Luke 16:1

We put highly, large organizations that spread around the world, counting the amount of bible studies, the amount of printed literature, the growth of congregations and so forth. What we fail to realize is that the work of God is none of this. The work of God is a work that a person does as an individual.

"The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." John 6:28, 29

What does it mean to believe? Some translate this to "exercise faith" and then apply it to works of sacrifice, putting the work in our hands, our flesh, incorrectly omitting God's spirit. What we fail to do is have faith. Faith in God. Faith that God is capable of doing the work without us. He tells us:

"The one who calls you is faithful and HE will do it." 1 Thessalonians 5:24

Not us, but "He will do it." If God wanted to,

"He could make the stones cry out" Luke 19:39-41

and stated that:

"Out of stones God can raise up children for Abraham." Luke 3:7-9

What many don't realize is that God has already done the work. So many think that we must do more and more works of preaching to spread the message and work to do the works of God. But God tells us otherwise.

Back in the days of the Israelites, God instituted the Sabbath, a day of rest.

"Remember the Sabbath day, by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to YHWH, your God. On it you shall not do any work." Exodus 20:8-11

When God finished his works of creation in the Genesis account, he rested on the seventh day and observed his works and "saw it was very good." The Israelites who rested on the seventh day of the week, did so because God, not themselves, had done all the work for them. There wasn't anything left to do. This required faith. And this faith was tested even further:

"You shall work six days, but on the seventh you shall rest, even during plowing time and harvest you shall rest." Exodus 34:21

To rest at the harvest time was a test, a test that was to show that God had already supplied the food for them and none of their hard works to obtain more food would achieve this for them.

This same test was put through the conquest and settlement of the land of Canaan. Through out all of this, the Israelites were still required to maintain the Sabbath all though these trying times. Here's the point: In essence, the Israelites were fighting battles that were already won. By resting on the Sabbath and stopping all activity in the most trying of times and simply relying on God, proved that He was the one doing the real work and that He had already worked out the future outcome. No additional works of the Israelites in their tactical maneuvers, strategical plans or increase of power, would gain them more control over the Canaanites or any other land or army that God had promised them they would win over. This is the meaning of Faith. It was only when the Israelites lacked in their faith and failed to obey the Sabbath rest with their reliance on God, is when they lost their battles with enemies and food from their harvests.

Christians today have a figurative harvest of helping their fellow men. It is a figurative battle of faith in God's free gift of the Christ and our agape love towards one another. It is not our works that will do this, for we are now in God's rest. The works the we are to do along with our faith are those we apply to the one or two people around us in our lives. It is not a work of major undertaking, maneuvering and working a large scaled worldwide work to preach the Gospel, God has that taken care of already, it's in his hands. Do we have faith to believe that? Or must we participate in this work? Those that think so, fail to realize that "God does not depose small beginnings." We must have faith in God, relying on Him to do the worldwide evangelizing work, while we work at mercy to the individuals we meet in daily life. If we fail to do this, then we cannot enter into God's rest. The Israelites had to have faith by resting on the seventh day and allow God to do the work of the harvest and winning the battles, just as today under the Christian arrangement, we are required to have faith and rest from the large scaled works, having faith in God's ability to do them, thus being able to enter into God's rest. No matter how noble our cause, it is not our works that prove our faith, but our being able to rely on God's ability to do them, with our individual mercy we show to others that prove our faith and allow us to enter into God's rest.

"Now we who have believed (have faith) enter that rest, just as God has said, "So I declared on oath in my anger, They shall never enter my rest. And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world." Hebrews 4:1-3

In order to enter into God's rest, we must have faith to believe that God does the work, not us. For the Israelites who failed to do this caused God to get angry and declare to them that they shall never enter his rest.

"For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: "And on the seventh day God rested from all his work. And again in the passage above he says, "They shall never enter my rest. It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience (lack of faith)." Hebrews 4:3-6

The disobedience of relying not on God's works, but on our own works, our works of preaching, going door to door, printing out bible literature, passing out tracts, performing home bible studies, attending various meetings; these are all external and put

The Paradox of Serving God

Not By Our Efforts   Our Efforts Are To Enslave Ourselves To God's Spirit   By Faith Only We Are Saved, Not By Our Human Power. & We Must Make Our Human Powers Subject To God's Spirit. 1 Our faith in Christ's blood brings our past, present and future sins as already been forgiven. With Christ's Death, we as sinners have already been forgiven. We do not need to ask for fogiveness, it;'s been paid for already. 1 We need to humble ourselves, surrender ourselves to God. We need to know that we have died with Christ to our sinful life and have been ressurected with Him to His Glory as "He abides in us," "dwells in us," and "has raised us up to the heavenly places." 2 Our faith is in God's strenght, not our own abilities and strengths, as we surrender ourselves to God. Our faith allows Him to work on us, speaking with His Spirit, Both His word and His Spirit. He speaks in many ways with our circumstances. His spirit outside of His written word as we live by the Spirit of the law and not the letter. 2 We need to put our trust, our faith our very reliance and effort inGod alone. Using our efforts to please God take us away from Him. We do His will by abandoning ourselves to Him. Our only effort is to let go of ourselves. Living in the Spirit means that I trust the Holy Spirit to do in me what I cannot do myself. Nowhere in ourselves is there real victory, it is not fleshly effort that carries us through, but the Lord. The divine victory does not therefore permit of our doing anything at all. 3 Our faith is a daily reliance and dependence on God, always looking to Him in All matters. 3 Our flesh counts for nothing at all and is against the Spirit." Our fight with the flesh is not ours but the Holy Spirit's, the very person of God that lives inside us. 4 We must have faith to cease to perform the heavy yoke of sacrificial works and lifetime achievements, in order to enter God's rest. We put our faith in Him to do these works and surrender to Him. 4 We are required to make our own decisions guided by God's Spirit. We are neither his robots, nor are we completely independent of him. We have both freedom and guidance. He gives us alternatives, a free will to choose. When we freely relingquish our own efforts and choose to rely on Him, we walk with His Spirit.. 5 We must put away the external emphasis and look to the invisible walk by faith and not by sight. We do not rely on images, men and visible organizations, but rely on Christ alone, the one who is invisible. 5 We need to listen for God's voice in his written word, people, circumstances, inner Spirit direction & personal, individual (not from a church), experimentation. Ultimately, with free will, we are the ones who decide. He gives us the freedom with the responsibility and pain of decision, as we rely totally on Him.   Our Own Achievements, Including Those Religious In Nature, Will Not Bring Us Spiritual Growth. No Position High Up An Organizational Ladder, No Lifetime of Pioneering/Ministerial Service, Nor Eloquent Life Story of Faithful Service Will determine Our Outcome With God. Our daily Trust & Love of God and Others Will Be The Determining Factors.   Grace Is Not Opposed To Effort, It Is Opposed To Earning. Our Faith In God Must Be Joined With Our Own Efforts Guided As Servants Of God's Spirit. This Is The Only Way We Can Grow, Mature & Train Ourselves to Walk In Reliance & Trust With An Interdependence on God and Gain The Fullness of Christ. Our Reliance On God Is Relative, As We Must Use Our Own Perceptive Powers, God Will Not Spell Out Every Letter, Nor Make Us His Robots.

the emphasis on our own works and fail to show our faith and reliance on God alone. For this, we cannot enter God's rest,

"For without faith, it is impossible to please God." Hebrews 11:6

The external that we do is the "small work" and we try to do this work well, but even this, only with balance. This being secondary to our reliance and realization that God has already worked out the future outcome for all of us and is the sole one doing the work. When we recognize this, putting this first, by ceasing to rely on our own works, we put our faith in God with our fruitage of agape love to others as our way to enter God's rest. And by putting our faith first that God is doing the work, by limiting our works to mercy (not sacrifice) shown to the individuals we meet, we are truly "seeking the kingdom first." (Matthew 6:33)

"Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his." Hebrews 4:7-10

Notice, "for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his." We are required to rest from our own works to achieve God's purposes. We are required to have faith that God is doing the work and exhibit our faith though love, which are limited acts of mercy and not sacrifice to the individuals we meet. However, even our acts of mercy can never be put ahead of our reliance, our faith, on God. We must have faith that God has already done the work, he has already worked out our future outcome. We need to let go and rely on only him. We need to rely on God every day before anything else is done. This is the meaning of faith.

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1

Self Righteous Vs True Service

What Is Sacred Service?

Self Righteous service verses true service to God. Surely true sacred service to God is simply one of internal love manifested externally with quiet patience and help to others, never seeking self glorification, knowing God is approving and working with us. Performing small acts of service, never seeking justification through speech and actions, waiting humbly on God alone to clear matters up, to let others feel the service we do. This chart was made from comments made by Richard J. Foster, in Celebration of Discipline, with some additional comments made herein.

What is Sacred Service? Field Service house to house ministry? Preaching at bustops and Laundromats, street witnessing? Organizational works of sacrifice performance? External service of Bethel service?

Footnotes: 1 In Search of Christian Freedom, Commentary Press - Raymond Franz, pp. 656-665 2 Ibid - pp. 656-665 3 Strengthening the Pastor's Soul, Kregel Publishing - Rick Ezell 3b Reversed Thunder, HarperSanFrancisco - Eugene H. Peterson - p. 145 4 Celebration of Discipline, HarperSanFrancisco - Richard J. Foster 4a Extreme Righteousness, Moody Press - Tom Hovestol - p. 84 4b Christ the Controversialist - John R. W. Stott - p. 97 4c John Calvin 5 In Search of Christian Freedom, Commentary Press - Raymond Franz - p. 640 5a No Man Is An Island, Harvest Book - Thomas Merton - p. 73-74 6 Extreme Righteousness, Moody Press - Tom Hovestol 7 Doctor Martyn Lloyd-Jones 8 Celebration of Discipline, HarperSanFrancisco - Richard J. Foster, pp. 128-129

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