We are delivered from the yoke of the law only when we are made one with Christ. For we then do not live by our own life but we are animated by the secret power of Christ so that Christ may be said to live and grow in us. It is very important to get the sequence right because I don't want you to leave here thinking the gospel does not call us to do good things for others and for the world beyond us. When we have come to faith in Christ, then we do good works. Here is the issue for you and me.
Stewardship is always a test of the sincerity of our faith.
I suppose we could say that stewardship is our showdown at high noon. Secondly, let us always be sure we have the right motive with our stewardship. We can never buy our way into the kingdom of God. We are not going to be saved by how much we give or how good we are. But when we are saved, we are going to have a totally different attitude toward life, viewing all we have as a gift from God, to be used for the purposes of God's kingdom.