"And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul" (Deut. 10:12, ESV).
"...[He] became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him" (Heb. 5:9, ESV).
The best measure of a spiritual life is not its ecstasies, but its obedience." (Oswald Chambers)
Samuel reprimanded King Saul for disobeying the Law and offering a sacrifice and reminded him that "to obey is better than sacrifice...." His commands are not burdensome according to 1 John 5:3 because He gives us the power to carry them out. The Israelites promised to obey the letter of the Law in Ex. 24:7 when they should've been suing God for mercy at all costs, knowing full well they can't fulfill the Law. The only true measure and standard of faith is obedience: "Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes." See: they are forever equated (cf. Heb. 3:18-19) and let not man put asunder what God has joined together (cf. Mark 10:9). Our faith is one of obedience and the Scripture speaks of being obedient to the faith in Acts 6:7; Rom. 1:5; 16:26 et al. This entails repenting and following on to know the Lord in obedience and faith or trust. When we go one-on-one with the Lord at the bema, He will inquire: "Did you learn to love and trust Me?"
Our thought life is paramount to an obedient life too; we must get our thoughts in line with the Lord's viewpoint and have a Christian worldview. We must take our thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ as per 2 Cor. 10:5. We must obey the voice of the Lord, obey the Word, and obey His chief directive, which is to love one another. This is what Christ meant when he said that if you love Him, you will obey Him.
Christ was obedient to the point of death (cf. Phil. 2:8) and learned obedience by what He suffered (cf. Heb. 5:8). We cannot avoid or complain of our crosses, that pale in comparison to His, and we must realize that He doesn't ask us to do anything He didn't do Himself. He earned the right to be obeyed. Now, creatures owe inherent duty and obedience to their Creator, but Christ's demands are that of love, not the Law, and these can never be satisfied. We must accept Christ for who He is, viz., the Lord of all, and this entails Lordship salvation, which is not easy-believism or the faith that you can live any way you choose after salvation--as long as you believe.
Pharaoh asked Moses, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey Him?" God isn't just another god in a pantheon, but the Almighty Creator of the universe and is worthy of all worship and obedience. There may come a time when you may have to choose to obey or disobey the government, due to conflict with Scripture, as the disciples did in Acts 5:29, "... We must obey God rather than man." Civil disobedience is the result when our convictions tell us the government is wrong and should be disobeyed.
Paul said that if anyone doesn't obey his letter (cf. 2 Thess. 3:14), we should shun or avoid him; this refers to church discipline (it is one thing to be a sinner, and quite another to claim to be a Christian and be living in sin, because the believer cannot go on sinning ("No one who abides in him keeps on sinning..." says 1 John 3:6, ESV). And in conclusion, Paul tells Titus (3:1, ESV): "Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work." Peter writes: "according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood..." (1 Pet. 1:2, ESV). Why must we accept Christ's obedience on our behalf? By one man's disobedience, all were made sinful, so by one man's obedience, all are made righteous. (Cf. Rom. 5:19). Why is obedience the issue? We are slaves to the one we choose to obey! (Cf. Rom. 6:16).
In sum, we can praise God that He accepts vicarious obedience, and that, upon believing in Jesus, we are reckoned as righteous as Him, i.e., we are declared righteous, not made righteous upon salvation. Indeed even Christ learned obedience from what He suffered (cf. Heb. 5:8), and when He was twelve years old "he went down to Nazareth with them [his parents] and was obedient to them" (Luke 2:51, NIV). He is our Exemplar and we must emulate His manner of life, of which it is an honor to share in his sufferings and witness, as we progressively learn obedience as proof of our faith. Soli Deo Gloria!
"...[He] became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him" (Heb. 5:9, ESV).
The best measure of a spiritual life is not its ecstasies, but its obedience." (Oswald Chambers)
Samuel reprimanded King Saul for disobeying the Law and offering a sacrifice and reminded him that "to obey is better than sacrifice...." His commands are not burdensome according to 1 John 5:3 because He gives us the power to carry them out. The Israelites promised to obey the letter of the Law in Ex. 24:7 when they should've been suing God for mercy at all costs, knowing full well they can't fulfill the Law. The only true measure and standard of faith is obedience: "Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes." See: they are forever equated (cf. Heb. 3:18-19) and let not man put asunder what God has joined together (cf. Mark 10:9). Our faith is one of obedience and the Scripture speaks of being obedient to the faith in Acts 6:7; Rom. 1:5; 16:26 et al. This entails repenting and following on to know the Lord in obedience and faith or trust. When we go one-on-one with the Lord at the bema, He will inquire: "Did you learn to love and trust Me?"
Our thought life is paramount to an obedient life too; we must get our thoughts in line with the Lord's viewpoint and have a Christian worldview. We must take our thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ as per 2 Cor. 10:5. We must obey the voice of the Lord, obey the Word, and obey His chief directive, which is to love one another. This is what Christ meant when he said that if you love Him, you will obey Him.
Christ was obedient to the point of death (cf. Phil. 2:8) and learned obedience by what He suffered (cf. Heb. 5:8). We cannot avoid or complain of our crosses, that pale in comparison to His, and we must realize that He doesn't ask us to do anything He didn't do Himself. He earned the right to be obeyed. Now, creatures owe inherent duty and obedience to their Creator, but Christ's demands are that of love, not the Law, and these can never be satisfied. We must accept Christ for who He is, viz., the Lord of all, and this entails Lordship salvation, which is not easy-believism or the faith that you can live any way you choose after salvation--as long as you believe.
Pharaoh asked Moses, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey Him?" God isn't just another god in a pantheon, but the Almighty Creator of the universe and is worthy of all worship and obedience. There may come a time when you may have to choose to obey or disobey the government, due to conflict with Scripture, as the disciples did in Acts 5:29, "... We must obey God rather than man." Civil disobedience is the result when our convictions tell us the government is wrong and should be disobeyed.
Paul said that if anyone doesn't obey his letter (cf. 2 Thess. 3:14), we should shun or avoid him; this refers to church discipline (it is one thing to be a sinner, and quite another to claim to be a Christian and be living in sin, because the believer cannot go on sinning ("No one who abides in him keeps on sinning..." says 1 John 3:6, ESV). And in conclusion, Paul tells Titus (3:1, ESV): "Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work." Peter writes: "according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood..." (1 Pet. 1:2, ESV). Why must we accept Christ's obedience on our behalf? By one man's disobedience, all were made sinful, so by one man's obedience, all are made righteous. (Cf. Rom. 5:19). Why is obedience the issue? We are slaves to the one we choose to obey! (Cf. Rom. 6:16).
In sum, we can praise God that He accepts vicarious obedience, and that, upon believing in Jesus, we are reckoned as righteous as Him, i.e., we are declared righteous, not made righteous upon salvation. Indeed even Christ learned obedience from what He suffered (cf. Heb. 5:8), and when He was twelve years old "he went down to Nazareth with them [his parents] and was obedient to them" (Luke 2:51, NIV). He is our Exemplar and we must emulate His manner of life, of which it is an honor to share in his sufferings and witness, as we progressively learn obedience as proof of our faith. Soli Deo Gloria!
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