The Motives of the Minister in Chapter Five

There are three motives of the minister: the coming glory, the judgment seat, and the love of Christ.
(1.) As to the bright future, the Apostle was full of holy confidence. We know that if the earthly tabernacle (the body) is destroyed, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. If life has to be laid down, we are confident that we shall be clothed at the appointed moment, and shall be like the Son. We do not look for dissolution, but for Christ's coming, that the power of life in Christ may swallow up mortality. We anticipate a glorious change at the fulfillment of the blessed hope. Let it be distinctly understood that the Apostle himself looked for this. By no means did he relegate the Lord's coming to a distant day. It is a mark of the evil servant to do so and such was not Paul. It is true that when he wrote the Second Epistle to Timothy, he spoke differently, but the Lord had then made known to him that he must go into death for His sake, and be among the sleepers at His coming. Peter was similarly informed by the Lord.
God has made us for the glory. His purpose when He first began to work in our souls was to have us ultimately like His Son. He has predestinated us to be "conformed to the image of His Son, that He may be the firstborn among many brethren." Rom. 8:29.