Lawful Work

2 Timothy 2:5 KJV

And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.

We must be careful to not read this passage too casually. The verse is a warning to Christians and preachers in particular, it is not that you strive and serve God or even that you do so with apparent success; the great question when we stand before the Lord will be, did we strive lawfully?

The Arminian influence has us many Christians to conclude that God is helpless without us. While it is true that He has purposely limited Himself in that He only works through human instrumentality (He doesn't post His messages in the clouds or write them in the patterns of animal hides) it is not true that the work God must be accomplished at any cost. God's work must be accomplished God's way or the reward is temporal at best. I remind you, preacher, that the reward of faith is not:

• The approval of peers
• The invitation to preach in large venues or even
• The call to pastor a chance church that can afford a full time salary

The reward is a crown awaiting in heaven. Labor for that crown is predicated on lawful work. It's not: 

• Numbers
• Name
• Recognition
• Success
• Comfort
• Influence 

or a myriad of other prizes so sought for today that wins one the crown. That can only be obtained through (Biblically) lawful labor.