The Requirements of God

“12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” Hebrews 4:12-13 (NIV)

by Alexandra Copeland

God’s warning to the church in Revelation 3:2(NLT) is “Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God.” This warning was given to the Apostle John to relay to a church that had defected from the ways of God and from moving forth in the ministry for which it was called. The interesting thing about this church is that it had a good reputation. From the outside looking in, no one would suspect anything amiss. They seemed to do things with decency and order. Folks were not unruly, there was the appearance of sound doctrine, and even the worship service seemed to be in order. So if they had all these things, what could be missing? How did they miss the mark?

The one thing that we have to admit is that many people, including Christians, do a pretty good job of putting on a show, but once you strip away the layers, you will find that everything isn’t as it seems. God sees all and He knows all. So there’s no chance of counterfeiting anything with Heavenly Father. He saw this church for exactly what it was, and His strong warning to them was to wake up! 

Hebrews 4:12-13 (NIV) tells us, “12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” God’s Word is the standard upon which we will all be judged, and when Jesus Christ judged the actions of this church in Sardis, he found them to be severely lacking. We should pray continually that he will not find us in this condition, and that he will help us to stand strong upon God’s Word. 

We can see very clearly how far this church had strayed away from the Lord because He warned them that even what was left of them was almost dead. This is a very sad predicament indeed. There was no real joy among them. Everything looked the part, but the worship, praise, and prayer was on its last leg. In other words, the people had become accustomed to the routines, rituals, and traditions; but they didn’t really believe and trust in the power of God. 

In Psalm 51:11(NLT), David, the Psalmist, wrote, “Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.” He understood that all of his strength and ability came from God, and although it wasn’t yet available to have the Holy Spirit dwelling on the inside of a person’s body-temple, David knew the extreme preciousness of having the anointing of the Holy Spirit on him. This was the favor of the Lord, and it was so extraordinary and special that David didn’t ever want to be without it; but more than this, David delighted himself in God. He was at a place in his relationship with Heavenly Father that he just wanted more and more and more. 

In Romans 7, the Apostle Paul laid himself bare before those he taught through this epistle. He talked openly about the war of the flesh against the mind of the Spirit of Christ, and what a struggle it was. The one thing that Paul understood emphatically was that God’s Word is righteous, and that in it contained all the good that humanity would ever need. So although the struggle was real, Paul loved God’s Word. He said in Romans 7:22(NIV), “For in my inner being I delight in God’s law.” He knew his victory was in Jesus Christ, and continued to pursue God’s heart with diligence. 

Through the many examples of faith-filled men and women of the bible, God shows us the kind of heart for Him that we must have. He also shows us that we will miss the mark entirely if our hearts are not focused on the treasure of our relationship with Him. This is His requirement. In other words, God is after our hearts. 1 Samuel 16:7 (NKJV) says, “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” Romans 10:10 (NKJV) declares, “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Jesus Christ schooled us in Matthew 6:21 (KJV), “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Your heart is going to follow what you value most, and what you value most is going to follow you. So if we are not valuing our relationship with God preeminently, the end result will be the loss of His covering. This is exactly what the devil wants. The enemy’s main objective is to steal the focus of your heart so that your trust in God diminishes and you no longer delight in Him. This is what the devil did to the church in Revelations 3, because they would not turn their hearts to God.

Before they fell miserably into destruction, Jesus Christ first warned the church of Sardis to strengthen themselves in the power of the Holy Spirit. This is another requirement of God, because it is the only way that any of us can obtain the strength to love greater and purer; and to stand against the wiles of the devil. We can truly see God’s grace in this warning. He gave them chance after chance to get it right, and to meet His requirements of true worship in Spirit and in truth, but they would not hear Him.

There are many today within the Christian faith that are walking around asleep. And many of us have taken God’s grace for granted. We think we have more time and haven’t practiced the diligence to change our hearts and to seek God with everything in our beings. With this kind of mindset, time works against us, because with each missed opportunity we become weaker. We lose stamina and momentum, and continue to spiral downward. 

This is why we must keep a constant, meticulous watch over our hearts and do all that we can to grow in the Spirit and anchor our hearts in God’s Word. We have to make sure that our relationship with God through Jesus Christ is always the thing that we delight in most, because every single blessing we receive and spiritual level we achieve is attributable to meeting God’s requirements and prioritizing our relationship with Him in the number one spot.■

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Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.