Psalm 15
The Psalm asks: "who may abide in your Tabernacle" then goes on to say, "he who walks uprightly, has integrity, practices righteousness, speaks truth in his heart, etc." But we know that Christ is our righteousness, and nothing that we do (but what Christ did) gets us past the gates of heaven. Since born again Christians already have secure entrance into heaven, what does “your Tabernacle” mean and how much does "walking uprightly" really matter, is it an advantage? Perhaps it indicates how we can abide with God while still on this earth. The motivation would be wanting to please God. We do right, we abide in the Tabernacle.
Surely it should not mean seeking status for yourself. Sadly, most of the time our motivation comes from the desire for status, pride, or maybe a fear of rejection. Wanting to "abide in the Tabernacle" for the reason of having a self-advantage does not work well. It is in direct competition with other things that want advantage for the self. When you are advantaging yourself for Tabernacle status another worldly advantage opportunity can shove it aside. The flesh easily sees (and wants) things that have more immediate reward.
If you do a good thing and are "walking uprightly" for God's advantage, then it has the potential of lasting, even though you may later slip into works of the flesh. I wonder if doing it for self-advantage ever pleases God. Proverbs 15:9: the Lord loves him who follows after righteousness.
