April 13, 2025 - Joshua 24:14 - "The Gospel: Choice or Command?"

Joshua 24:14

"Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD."

People, by nature, tend to prefer choices. They want the freedom to make their own decisions. Imagine walking into a restaurant, sitting down, and looking at the menu—only for the cook to come out and say, “This is what you’re going to eat if you’re sitting here.” Most people would resist that; they want the ability to choose.

But here’s the key: that desire changes when, through the course of life, by God's providence and direction, a person becomes destitute. How often have we heard or said, “Beggars can’t be choosers”? This is one of the great struggles of life. Pride, arrogance, and presumption raise their ugly head in matters concerning the LORD. We begin to imagine, somehow, that His blessings are due to something in us or worse, that we are entitled to them. Even the doctrine of grace can be twisted by the flesh into a sense of entitlement concerning what the LORD should or should not do. Were it not for the LORD keeping us, our flesh would go that very direction.

It is very clear—this is not a choice, but a command. Yet there are some preachers, along with their followers, who would have you believe that the matter of salvation is left to your own decision, not only in obtaining it, but in maintaining it. That kind of thinking may be acceptable when choosing from a menu, purchasing a car, picking its color, or deciding what kind of house to buy. But even in such things, we know that "a man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps" (Proverbs 16:9). How much more, then, must we understand that when it comes to salvation, it is not up to man. The Gospel, when faithfully and rightly preached, is not a suggestion or an offer—it is declared as a command.

In the passage before us, we see not one, but four commands—clear, authoritative Gospel commands

1. “Now therefore fear the LORD.” 

This phrase carries different meanings depending on the context, but it certainly includes the following: To fear or be afraid can mean “to be terrified—to tremble at the thought of approaching or serving God in any way other than He has commanded.” As it is written, “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:18). It can also mean to "stand in awe." For any in whom the Spirit has not revealed the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, the fear of God ought rightly to be the fear of judgment and eternal condemnation—for that is what awaits all whom the LORD has not redeemed. There remains that dreadful expectation of God’s eternal judgment, of which the Scriptures speak: “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).

And yet, natural-minded sinners have no such fear: “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:18). Sinners, left to their understanding, cannot see. God has judicially blinded them: “The God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Many falsely assume that it is Satan who is the "god" of this world, but God has no rivals. God has judicially blinded multitudes that men may know that salvation is of the LORD!

But when the LORD speaks to one of His enlightened, illuminated, regenerated children and commands, “Now therefore fear the Lord,” it is not a call to cower in terror, but to stand in reverent awe—with Christ, in holy reverence. As Hebrews 12:26 declares, “Whose voice then shook the earth.” This refers to that display of holiness on Mount Sinai, when the law was given. Yet the passage continues: “But now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.” This speaks to the incarnation of the LORD Jesus when heaven and earth were shaken in His coming, doing, dying and rising again to ascend on High. Truly earth shaking! Heaven came down, and God was manifest in the flesh.

2. The second command we see here is, “Serve Him in sincerity and in truth.”

It’s always instructive to study words in their context, and the word “serve” here carries the meaning of to work or labor. At first glance, this may seem like a contradiction, since salvation is entirely by grace. And yet, here we are commanded to serve Him—in the sense of laboring or working.

However, we know from Scripture that there is such a thing as a labor of love, and that certainly applies here. In its historical context, this language reflects the service of the Levitical priests, who ministered before the LORD day and night in the tabernacle. Their service was not mere activity, but worship—carefully prescribed, God-ordained worship. That connection to worship gives the phrase, “serve Him in sincerity and in truth,” its full meaning. It could rightly be understood as “worship Him in sincerity and in truth.” It means to come to God in the way He has appointed—just as Abel did when he brought the blood sacrifice, in contrast to Cain, who sought to come another way and was therefore rejected.

Therefore, the command is not merely, “Do something for the LORD,” as people often say: “That such and such a person labored for the LORD.” The question is: How did they labor? Was it through the appointed sacrifice of the LORD Jesus Christ alone? Was that the foundation and content of their service? If not, then even their religious labor will be condemned. As the LORD Himself declares, “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:23).

3. The third command is: “And put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt.”

Simply put, the phrase “put away” means "to turn aside; to depart from; to remove; to completely leave alone; to reject."  This is strong language—and rightly so. There is no room for neutrality, no allowance for compromise. One cannot cling to Christ and idols at the same time.

If a person is not grounded and settled in the truth of Christ and Him crucified, then they are not of Him. You cannot be truly turned to God, looking to Christ alone, while also casting glances elsewhere. Scripture warns, “Remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:32). She outwardly ran with Lot, escaping Sodom, but her heart was still there. When she turned back, disobeying the word of the LORD, she was destroyed—a pillar of salt, a lasting testimony that profession is not salvation.

True conversion is a turning to God from idols. As Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, “For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:9–10). How has the LORD delivered His people? It is uniquely by the shedding of His blood unto death at the cross. It was there that salvation, redemption, justification, and sanctification were fully accomplished: “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the LORD” (1 Corinthians 1:30–31). This command, then, is to renounce every false way. There is no middle ground. No compromise. It is Christ—and Christ alone.

4. The fourth command is, “Serve ye the Lord.”

This means serve Him, and Him alone. It is not presented as an option. Throughout the Scriptures, we are repeatedly commanded to have no other gods before Him: “Thou shalt have none other gods before me” (Deuteronomy 5:7). Left to ourselves, we would fall flat on our faces in idolatry.

When Joshua exhorted the people, “Serve ye the LORD,” he spoke with clarity and boldness. He essentially said, “If you're going to serve other gods, then do so with all your might—but know this: as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” That unwavering devotion, that singularity of heart and mind, reflects the very fruit of God’s sovereign grace at work in the soul.

“For thou shalt worship no other god” (Exodus 34:14). There is no other God. All others are mere inventions of man’s fallen imagination. That is the essence of idolatry—man forming a god in his own image, then bowing down to it. But God commanded in the verse just before: “Ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves” (Exodus 34:13). In other words, have nothing to do with anything that is not Christ and Christ alone.

Why such strong language? Because “the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” (Exodus 34:14). He is jealous for His glory—and that glory He has placed nowhere else but in His Son. Therefore, we too are to be jealous for His honor, for the glory of the One who alone is worthy—our LORD Jesus Christ

There is one salvation—and God, in His eternal purpose and sovereign decree, has resolved that this salvation be for His chosen people: those whom He has purposed to save from before the foundation of the world. He appointed His Son, the LORD Jesus Christ, to be that salvation for them. And I trust we can say, by His grace, that He is that salvation for us, if He has indeed been gracious to our own hearts. But make no mistake—by no other, in no other way, by no other means can anyone be saved. As Peter declared, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Whether men agree with God or not, it doesn't change the reality of how God has purposed to save His people and has saved them. It's not man’s opinion or preference that determines truth. It is what God has said in His Word. These are Gospel commands—not suggestions. It is as the Lord has purposed it and as He has given it. His Word is final, and His salvation is sure.