²⁸ Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe …

What then motivates a person to live a righteous life? For many it is ultimately the fear of judgment and hell—even among some who believe in the once-for-all-time sacrifice of Christ as the perfect, satisfying-to-the-Father, completed offering for sins. So, the temptation is to interpret the so-called “warning passages” of Hebrews as threats of salvation loss to those who fall away from the faith. Is this not ultimately fear-mongering? But, one might say, that is what God wrote in the book of Hebrews! We have shown through these meditations that there are alternative interpretations in each case that show God is not dangling loss of salvation over the heads of genuine Christians. We turn rather to the subject of motivation. If there is no ultimate judgment for Christians, if we have a lock on going to heaven, then why not indulge the flesh? Eat, drink and be merry, since there is no longer any motivation to live righteously, right?

Wrong! Our passage presents the only motivational sequence that stimulates or “provokes” believers forward: 1) we have received the unshaken kingdom, 2) we are therefore grateful 3) we show our gratitude by our service to God, and 4) this service is inspired by and bathed in reverence and awe. Notice the specific sequence. We are motivated by gratitude! And that is a much more powerful motivator than fear, is it not? Oh Christian, do not fall prey to the temptation of the old-line of thinking that fear is God’s motivator. The apostle John puts it this way, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love” (1 John 4:18). Christ’s sacrifice has “perfected” us “in love.” There is no longer any fear for the believer.

It follows that fear is not the basic nor the ultimate motivator in the Christian life. To be sure there are times, due to carnality, that fear may be instilled in us through events or convictions, but this is never a fear of loss of relationship with God. Imagine a loving parent saying to his or her child, “Obey me, because if you don’t I will disown you.” Does not even this letter to the Hebrews reassure us that, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you…” (Heb 13:5)? All who have embraced Christ as the perfect sacrifice have nothing to fear. Rather, we have a greater motivation – that of gratitude.

Lord, I am eternally grateful to You for providing the perfect sacrifice for my sins. I am no longer motivated by fear, but by Your proven love for me!