The Two-Fold Duty Of A Christian
As Christians, we have many things to consider when it comes to our duty. To sit down and make a list would almost be impossible as there are so many things we could consider as the duty of a Christian.
We need to narrow this down to the simplest of terms. I believe the duty of a Christian is to obey God and then to promote God. Obviously, obedience is necessary for salvation. Matthew 7:21 tells us that only those who do the will of the Father will enter the kingdom of heaven. Hebrews 5:9 tells us that Christ is the author of salvation to those who obey Him. There are many commands and many prohibitions that we are taught in order to reach heaven. Too often, we concentrate on those negative commands and check off the list and see that we are not so bad. Surely, God is pleased with us when we avoid sin and turn away from it. But that does not fulfill our duty and obligation to God. James 4:17 reminds us that whatever we know is good and we do not do it, it becomes sin for us. We all need to get down on our knees and beg forgiveness from God for failing to keep out duty to Him.
The second part of our duty to God is the promotion of God. Just how do we promote Him? Easy, we tell others about Him. There are so many psalms that speak of declaring the wondrous works of God. We are to declare what God has done for us. In other words, we need to share what we know about God with others. See, we are talking about personal evangelism. Evangelism is not limited to the preacher or the work of the church. Evangelism is the duty of every Christian. And it needs to be personal.
We are commanded to serve the Lord with our whole heart. We are commanded to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. We learn from the word that serving the Holy Spirit is what we do when we put our trust in the Sacred Scriptures and treat them like the word of God. We also have a duty to serve one another with love and care and compassion. Our duty is to help insure that each of our brethren are faithful and will reach heaven. This comes by encouragement and sometimes chastisement. Then another group that we are to serve (that is so often neglected) is the lost. They need the salvation of Christ. They need what God gave His Son to the world out of love. They need the blood of Jesus to be contacted by baptism. They need you to guide them and teach them. We guide by setting the right example, or letting our light shine (Matthew 5:16). We guide by living Christian lives and being different from the world.
There are many good people who promote themselves as being faithful to God simply because they do not indulge in the works of the flesh. Sadly, they might not see heaven if they do not share the gospel message with others. There are many churches that have ceased being evangelistic in nature. Many churches just seem to keep house and leave the preaching to the preacher. This becomes nothing more than just a social club for those who keep their noses clean, but do not get down and get their hands dirty with the work of evangelism. We all had better start promoting God if we want to go to heaven.
By Carey Scott

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