How God’s Sovereignty Motivates Godly Sincerity

The Struggle of Motivation in the Christian Life

One of the greatest struggles Christians face relates to motivation—motivation to serve, to worship, to live in accordance with God's purpose. In our day and age, this is a huge issue, especially amid other struggles to please God. What reason do we have to be or do what God wants?

When motivation falters alongside other challenges, we risk becoming immobilized, stagnant, or indifferent to the things of God. We might slip into autopilot mode in our Christianity, less excited about God than before—or perhaps never truly excited.

Fortunately, the book of Ephesians addresses this through two aspects: the first half is doctrinal, the second practical. It's doctrine and action—theology and how that theology plays out in our lives. Paul provides motivational reasons for what we should believe and do, centered on the absolute sovereignty of God in all things, especially salvation.

The Sermon’s Main Point

That's the point of our message: how God's sovereignty motivates godly sincerity—authenticity, realness, genuineness in worship, devotion, and service.

Ephesians is saturated with doctrine intended to motivate us, leading to action. Chapter 1 lays foundational motivation through God's eternal purpose in creation and salvation of His people.

God’s Sovereign Purpose from Ephesians 1

Chapter 1 uses such high and lofty terms that any Christian who sincerely reads, grasps, and believes it cannot fail to be motivated to serve and worship God.

Ephesians 1:5-6 — He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons according to the kind intention of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace.

God purposed to save us, predestining us to adoption as sons out of love, according to the kind intention—or good pleasure—of His will. God sovereignly chose to please Himself by being kind to us. He derives infinite pleasure from creation by saving His children and demonstrating kindness.

Ephesians 1:11-12 — In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.

This results in praise. Grasping God's sovereign choice in our salvation produces praise. Those who truly understand doctrine use it to worship sincerely, not as rote memorization or "pew potatoes" with head knowledge alone. If doctrine doesn't move us to worship, the problem is in our hearts.

We have an inheritance—our adoption so real that God seals it with the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of full salvation, including future glorification. Everything—not just salvation—is worked out according to the counsel of God's will, in harmony with His kindness toward us.

Ephesians 1:18 — Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.

Doctrine creates sincere hope and praise, enlightening the eyes of our hearts to trust in the riches of our inheritance.

From God’s Sovereignty to Our Spiritual Deadness in Ephesians 2

Chapter 2 shifts to anthropology—our nature before God’s intervention—while holding to doctrine as motivation for sincerity.

Ephesians 2:1-3 — And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Given Ephesians 1:11, where God works all things according to His will, our spiritual deadness was part of His plan. God purposed it—not as Plan B after a failed utopia, but intentionally.

Why? Everything in chapter 2 builds to verse 7:

Ephesians 2:7 — So that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

God purposed our deadness to maximize the display of His kindness. Saving us from spiritual deadness intensifies the impact far more than from a state of mere abundance. It's immeasurable riches of grace and kindness, shown in coming ages—eternity future. We will spend each age receiving God's kindness against the backdrop of our former deadness.

God saves for His glory, but Ephesians emphasizes He saves to be kind, deriving pleasure from demonstrating grace.

The Horror of Spiritual Deadness

Spiritual deadness is total—necros, a rotting corpse, not "mostly dead." It's total depravity, the ultimate rock bottom for human life. It's active: walking in sin, following the world's course under Satan’s rule, enslaved to fleshly passions, by nature children of wrath (destined for wrath).

This is the worst present experience—enslaved to sin and Satan—and the worst eternal destination: God's wrath. Understanding this heightens God's mercy as the fullest display possible.

Anything less than total inability lessens the riches of grace and kindness. God saved solely by Himself, eliminating boasting.

But God: The Motivation for Sincerity

Ephesians 2:4-7 — But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

The conjunction "but God" brings relief and motivation. Rich in mercy and great love, God made us alive with Christ—the same power that raised Jesus—seating us spiritually with Him now.

God's riches—mercy, grace, kindness—are lavished on us eternally. He saved out of kindness from our horrible state and destination, solely sovereignly.

If God purposed our deadness to maximize grace's impact—drawing worship—what of our current struggles? Everything is worked according to His kind will (Ephesians 1:11), fueling eternal enjoyment of God. Suffering now adds to the riches God bestows forever.

Ephesians 2:8-9 — For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Grace, faith, salvation—all God's gift. Dead people contribute nothing; God alone raises us, eliminating pride.

The Result: Good Works Prepared by God

Ephesians 2:10 — For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

God's sovereignty motivates not just sincerity but the right works—good works He prepared for us to walk in. Legalists see mere "deeds" as obligation, ignoring chapters 1-2. Without this motivation, even "good" deeds displease God.

These works mirror God's kindness: not material, but love, mercy, grace displayed to others. The gospel produces unmatched good in communities, imitating God's pleasure in kindness.

The goal of Ephesians: God's sovereignty motivating godly sincerity. Ephesus later lost their first love—not deeds, but motivation (Revelation 2). Let doctrine fuel sincere worship, service, and love.