The Obedient Believer

"And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him"  (Acts 5:32, ESV).
"[T]eaching them to observe all that I have commanded you..." (Matt. 28:20, ESV). 
"And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal [not temporary, probationary, nor provisional!] salvation to all who obey him" (Heb. 5:9, ESV).  
"For they have not all obeyed the gospel..." (Rom. 10:16, ESV).
"[I]n flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus"  (2 Thess. 1:8, ESV).

"... [A]nd a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith"  (Acts 6:7, ESV).  Unbelievers are called "sons of disobedience" in Eph. 2:2 and God delights in obedience:  "To obey is better than sacrifice..." (cf. 1 Sam. 15:22).  Jesus said that you cannot love Him and be disobedient, for if we love Him we will obey Him as the proof of the pudding.  Christ doesn't give suggestions, hints, or good advice, but commands!  He instituted two ordinances to be done in His name and memory (baptism and communion).  Jesus said, "Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me..."  (John 14:21, ESV).  What are these commands that are so pivotal to our salvation being fulfilled?

Jesus did say that His yoke is easy and His burden is light in Matt. 11:30, and John said in 1 John 5:3 that His "commands are not burdensome."  "And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us"  (1 John 3:23, ESV). Note that in the Upper Room Jesus instigated a new command:  to love one another as Christ has loved us.  He who loves another has fulfilled the Law!  Paul says in Gal. 5:6 (NIV) that the only thing that matters is "faith expressing itself through love."

At the Bema or tribunal of Christ, our works will be judged, not our shortcomings and mistakes or sins, because they were judged at the cross, and this includes sins of omission.  If Jesus commanded us to do something and we fail, it's a sin of omission.  He is not going to inquire as to what school of theology or denomination we subscribed to, but will be interested in granting us rewards for the deeds done in the Spirit--the ones done in the energy of the flesh will be burned as wood, hay, and stubble in a fire (cf. 1 Cor. 3:10-13).  Sin can be defined as knowing the right thing to do and falling short or not doing it.  There is a legitimate place for ignorance if it's not willful.

There is a danger in sectarian pride and bias, such as feeling you're right and everyone else is wrong or disobedient to the Word of Truth.  Churches aren't saved en masse, but members individually as if going through a turnstile one at a time.  A good believing and faithful Lutheran has the edge over a disobedient Baptist because churches don't save and aren't necessary for salvation, as Roman Catholics espouse, Christ alone is the Savior.  However, it is important to remain faithful to the faith you were taught and to abide in the truth without apostasy or heresy.  A church is a cult when they get exclusive and think they have a monopoly on the truth, or think they are superior to other churches or denominations.

The real reason we get baptized is that we are disciples who desire to follow our Lord and His example in baptism to inaugurate or make our testimony official and public.  We should never feel that it is just a hurdle to jump over or test to pass to get accepted and that we "have to do it for salvation."  Grace-oriented believers never feel they "have to" but that the "get to" or "want to" obey their Lord and do as He did, following in His steps.  Baptism is a chance in a lifetime to get on track and give your testimony in public in order to be welcomed with "the right hand of fellowship" per Gal. 2:9 (ESV).

There are many measures and standards of obedience, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer said that only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes: "And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him"  (Acts 5:32, ESV).   Whether we pray regularly and walk in the Spirit, abide in the Word, witness and fellowship and worship through association with the body of Christ are also crucial factors to weigh and consider.

You cannot say that Baptists are the obedient believers because they are correct in this ordinance (i.e., baptism), while Lutherans are disobedient.   There are way too many aspects of obedience to just label believers like that due to sectarian bias.  As Paul says in Rom. 1:5 that he wants to "bring about the obedience of the faith," he is primarily concerned with the entirety of the person's walk--the whole package, net effect, or sum total and result.

The church needs to fulfill the Great Commission to be obedient as a body, though individuals can do it, it's usually a joint and cooperative effort to evangelize, preach, teach, baptize, and disciple.   As Jesus said, "To whom much is given, much is required."    But teachers are especially responsible for disseminating sound doctrine and being good examples to the flock.  Soli Deo Gloria!

I Delight To Do Thy Will

"'Now when  David had served God's purpose in his own generation, ..." (Acts 13:36, NIV).

David prayed this in Psalm 40:8 and this made him "a man after God's own heart"---being passionate for God's will despite his failures, mistakes, shortcomings, blunders, and sins.  (Luke 7:47 says, "He that is forgiven much, loveth much.")  You can do all God's will, as David did, and yet fall short because of sin--they are mutually exclusive.  In other words, if it is Will A to do God's will and you do A plus B, you have still done A or God's will, though you added a work of the flesh or a sin to it.   You can do God's will or what is right but not with a pure heart or wholeheartedly, as Amaziah did (cf. 2 Chron. 25:2). It nowhere in Scripture says David never did anything that wasn't God's will--just that he did all God's will for him.  And when he had "served the purpose of God" (cf. Acts 13:36), David expired, breathed his last, and went to be with his fathers.

David had a real heart to build a temple for the Lord, yet God wouldn't let him due to blood on his hands, but the heart was there!   We find out that the heart of the matter is that it's a matter of the heart!  David found out that the "pleasure of sin" (cf. Heb. 11:25) was but "for a season," but there are lasting joy and fulfillment in serving God.  David was a man of prayer and a man of God, despite his male ego or drive, and the fact that he recovered--nothing kept him down--was proof of what his priorities were, and that he was able to put his instincts and hormones into perspective and see God's service in the greater light.

Even Jesus had to pray that God's will would be done, as he prayed His prayer of relinquishment in the Garden of Gethsemane:  "... [Nevertheless], not my will, but thine be done!" (Luke 22:42, KJV).   This was the motto of Jesus' life:  "Thy will be done!"  We can do no worse than to follow suit and to dedicate ourselves to God's will, otherwise God may say to our chagrin, "Okay, have it your way!"  A word to the wise:  saying "Thy will be done" at the end of a prayer is no cop-out, but a humble admission of submission that God's glory is your intention, not to satisfy your own lusts or will.

God's best for us is His will (cf. Jer. 29:11), and we must learn to put our faith in His plan for our lives--He has no Plan B, as it were.  And so we must get with the program.  There is no greater joy than being involved in the Lord's work, and we find our life fulfillment in doing His will.  King David knew the joy of the Lord in following His will and was accustomed to seeking God's presence everywhere he went and to wait on the Lord for His blessings.  David was indeed a man after God's own heart, which meant he was in love with the Lord, you could say, and the surprising thing is that he loved God despite all his sins and distractions from having seven wives and several concubines!  
Soli Deo Gloria!

To Obey Is Better

"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!

That Sounds So Spiritual!

Judas' faith was a sham and a travesty, a truly pseudo-faith that even fooled his comrades and peers. Things, he said, like donating money to charity, sounded so spiritual that it impressed the other disciples, but not Jesus, who always sees through the veneer.  We all have feet of clay or a vulnerability that Satan can attack as our weak point and sin that easily besets us; we even have a dark side that no one sees, like being a Dr. Jekll and Mr. Hyde.  Mark Twain said, "We all have a dark side that no one sees" just like the moon.

There are no magical formulas or shortcuts to spirituality--one must often be experienced from the school of hard knocks.  There are pitfalls along the way, of course, and we grow by adversity, discipline, suffering, and trials; but Christ was honest enough to warn of them and didn't even exclude Himself from them.  Two of the greatest hindrances to growth is indifference and apathy to doctrine--people don't think it's all that important what they believe, which is a sort of unbelief and not knowing what one believes.   All believers should "love the truth" according to 2 Thess. 2:10.  It is the truth that sanctifies us:  "Sanctify them by thy Word, thy Word is truth"  (John 17:17, KJV).

It is so easy to have spiritual pride and get on spiritual highs where Satan can attack us (known as the Anfectung, attack in German, by Martin Luther).  We are most vulnerable after victory because our pride is boosted. Elijah experienced such depression after his victory on Mount Carmel.  That is why it is so important and vital that we know ourselves and be an active part of Christ's body; we are not spiritual Lone Rangers but need each other!  The epitome of pride is when we start thinking we are "holier than thou" like Isaiah reprimands in Isa. 65:5.

True spirituality in this day of grace that will end in the day of the Lord is manifested only in obedience--not visions, dreams, voices, or any experiences.  To know and love the Lord is to obey Him as Jesus said in John 14:14-15, 21.  A. W. Tozer says (cf. Heb. 3:18-19, Matt. 28:20), "The Lord will not save those whom He cannot command.  He will not divide His offices ...."  There is no spiritual badge that we wear that proclaims our level of spirituality--there is neither a spiritual elite or honor society to belong to.  Obedience is mandatory, not optional--the Ten Commandments are not the Ten Suggestions!

There must be a moment of relinquishment to begin the walk with Christ or a willingness to do His will.  We must surrender per Romans 12:1 and 1 Cor. 6:19-20 and give God the ownership of our lives.  It's like starting a new life in Christ and putting Jesus in charge.  God will reward us for what we accomplished through Him in Him.  Who's the boss?  Jesus has been given all authority! The motto of Jesus' life was, "Thy will be done."  He didn't live to please Himself, but to please the Father.   We are responsible to God to obey because we are moral creatures who owe this to God and children of God who desire God's will.  "His commands are not burdensome" and His "yoke is easy" according to 1 John 5:3 and Matt. 11:30.  Remember:  "To hearken is better than sacrifice, and to obey than the fat of rams'  (cf. 1 Sam. 15:22).

It is a known fact that Christians can backslide from the faith, but they cannot fall utterly into apostasy but are kept by Jesus Christ and the Father.  This is resultant from disobedience which starts with rejecting authority and subsequent rebellion (sin is ultimately disobedience and proves slavery, and doesn't demonstrate freedom).  We don't turn our backs on Christ suddenly, because it takes time to drift away, sin after sin not confessed.  Christians should be warned of becoming lax in the faith and "doing the Lord's work with slackness" as Jer. 48:10 (ESV) says.  We are to "feed on His faithfulness" per Psalm 89:8 constantly and grow in grace and in our knowledge of Him (cf. 2 Pet. 3:18).  We can falter or fall into sin for a period but are securely in the Father's hands (cf. John 10:29).

We must become obedient to the faith as they did in Acts 6:7 and know that lordship denotes obedience and lordship salvation is the only biblical model, not easy-believism.  Our obedience and behavior depends upon our knowledge and knowing what we believe--belief affects action!  It is important that we become men or women after God's own heart and not display false or pseudo-piety that only memorizes the Dance of the Pious and goes through the motions, treating the faith as the Pharisees did (e.g., externalism, lip service, and ritual) without it affects the condition of the inner man. "Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart," according to Proverbs 21:2.  We must be changed from the inside out (true repentance).  Dietrich Bonhoeffer's dictum that  "only he who is obedient believes; only he who believes is obedient" sums it up.  It all starts with a moment of relinquishment that is renewed day by day--no one-time decision will create spirituality.

What is the summation of Christian ethics or orthopraxy (right behavior)?  It is to heed the command:  "Follow Me." Orthopraxy is the flip side of orthodoxy or right belief. The spiritual believer has freedom in Christ and is to be judged by no man ("The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one, " says 1 Cor. 2:15, ESV).   "... [H]e who hears My word and receives Him who sent Me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment but has passed from death unto life" (John 5:24, ESV).   Paul says in Romans 8:1 that "there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ."

Volumes have been written on this:  the most famous being L. S. Chafer's, founder of Dallas Seminary (the largest Protestant seminary in the world), He That Is Spiritual.  The term "spiritual Christian" doesn't mean that they are a category, like Chafer thought, in that we have a class of carnal believers, too.  Chafer made a false dichotomy from his misinterpretation of dispensationalism--he got carried away with his application.  It is only definitive in the sense that every Christian is in the Spirit though he may have periods of carnality or of being in the flesh, obeying the old man or sin nature.   

The spiritual believer hears God's voice through conscience, circumstance, nature, dreams, visions, preaching, prophesying, or the Bible itself, which is the main methodology.  Yes, God hasn't retired dreams and visions, and just because He speaks through the Word plainly if we are prepared spiritually, He has not precluded an audible voice from above--though this is not the usual or conventional way.  C. S. Lewis wisely puts it this way:  "He whispers in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, and shouts in our pains."  Being obedient he walks with God in daily fellowship and communion because he does His will, even performing the good deeds preordained for him to do to God's glory being manifest through him.  It boils down to having a relationship with God, not just a philosophy about God--he knows God!  Pseudo-piety, like saying, "I don't read books about the Bible, I just read the Bible itself" are not scriptural, as Paul wanted his parchments and books from Timothy. We need to learn to profit from what God has revealed to other students of the Word as our heritage.

Prayer is one acid test of knowing God (some have indeed been anointed for this, and some others don't even know how to put their petitions into words). God hears us and doesn't turn a deaf ear.  The problem is that some people are spiritually hard of hearing!  God will hear us on conditions:  We must hear Him.  Before Samuel spoke to God, God spoke to Samuel, "Speak, for thy servant hears!"  Job 33:14-15, 16a, ESV:  "For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it.  In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber on their beds, then he opens the ears of men ..."  The cliche that Christianity is a relationship, not a religion still is valid, because all religion does show man's achievement and not God's accomplishment.  Samuel later said to Saul:  "To hearken is better than sacrifice [outward show of religion]" (cf. 1 Samuel 15:22).  Francis Schaefer wrote, "He Is There and He Is Not Silent."  The Shema Hebrew for "to hear"), or credo of the Hebrew liturgy, (Deut, 6:4-9, 11:13-21; and Numbers 15: 32-41) stresses this point.  God wants us to listen up and pay attention when He speaks!  "Today, if you hear His voice ..." (Cf. Heb. 3:7; Ps. 95:7-8).

We must not only obey but do it wholeheartedly and not half-heartedly as Saul did.  Joshua followed the Lord with his whole heart and David desired to do God's will (cf. Ps. 40:8).  Joshua 22:5 (ESV) says:  "Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul." Again in 2 Chronicles 31:21 (ESV) it is written:  "And every work he undertook ... seeking his God, he did with all his heart, and prospered."  Again it is written in 2 Chr. 16:9 that "the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him...."  Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and scribes:  "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me;  in vain do they worship me..." (Matt. 15:8-9, ESV).

To conclude, just because we are spiritual doesn't necessitate everything becoming spiritual.  We don't "spiritualize" everything and relegate mundane activities to the "unspiritual" while we do the Lord's work.  Today we have celebrity Christian artists who seem so "spiritual" but every believer is so "spiritual" when they are doing God's will and with their gift--that's what they do, so don't compare yourselves.   Martin Luther made it clear that our whole lives are offerings to God and Brother Lawrence wrote The Practice of the Presence of God to show a living and vital relationship with God, even while washing dishes.  We cannot expect to walk on cloud nine all our lives even if we've had mountain-top experiences and get into a spiritual high.  Paul sums it up thus:  "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things"  (Philippians 4:8, ESV).  God doesn't want us to depend on feelings but to grow in our faith, which is what pleases Him (cf. Heb. 11:6).    Soli Deo Gloria!

The Authentic "Imitation Of Christ"...

Thomas a Kempis, Thomas von Kempen in German, (1380-1471), wrote The Imitation of Christ in the 15th century as a German Roman Catholic whose devotional work was highly original, but extremely mystic and introspective; however, it is one of the most widely read Christian books of all time, but many believers have gotten the wrong impression of imitation (note that only the Bible has been translated into more languages than this book).

A theologian has said, "The Christian life is not hard--it's impossible!"  People mistakenly believe that the Sermon on the Mount is the essence of Christianity as ideals to live by and especially the Golden Rule as the summation of Christian ethics.   Some churched souls memorize the Dance of the Pious, learn Christian jargon, or try to behave like a Christian in the flesh, but they can never measure up--it's not about keeping up a reputation or appearances, but knowing Christ and making Him known by letting others see Him in you!  

We need to be real people, not ideal people for Christ to use us. We have to stop coming up with our "to-do lists" or taboos that make Christianity appear to be a catalog of rules or guidelines to be adhered to, and forget that the objective is to know Christ and enjoy a living, growing relationship or fellowship with Him--as He opens our eyes!  The Key: "For if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law" (Gal. 5:18, ESV). Jeremiah also said that, if we boast, let it be that we know the Lord (cf. Jer. 9:24).

Galatians 2:20 says that Paul was crucified with Christ, but "the life that he now lives in the flesh he lives by the faith of the Son of God."  This verse should be highlighted for three reasons:  We seek a relinquished life, a surrendered life, a substituted, an inhabited, and an exchanged life to grow as believers. ("Christ in you, the hope of glory," cf. Col. 1:27).   We want God to reveal His Son in us.  Surrender is the key, not to try to copy His nature in the flesh. We are to "present our bodies a living sacrifice" per Romans 12:1. Jesus wants us to die to self and live for Him, not give up things or obey someone's list for Him.  Note this it is not as much imitation of Christ, as inhabitation by Him.  

It is not as much as always asking the so-called question "What would Jesus do? [W.W.J.D? Sometimes we don't know!]" as much as being sensitive to the Spirit's guidance and LISTENING to His leading and still, small voice (we should be a natural at this and know this voice!) and just surrender to His will, which you can only do if you have the Spirit in the first place--relinquishment is just saying, "Thy will be done" to God as Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane.

As we mature in Christ and learn to walk in the power of the Spirit we learn to be guided and led by Him.  "As many as are led by the Spirit these are the sons of God."  The command to be constantly filled with the Spirit in order to bear fruit as evidence is elementary (cf. Ephesians 5:18).  When you have the Spirit, God fills you with His love as the litmus test of discipleship, and you naturally grow in resemblance to Christ, called sanctification.  

We must come to the fork in the road where we let Christ live through us and stop trying to copy Him in our own strength.  As Jesus said in Matt. 5:48 that we are to be perfect (mature) as our Heavenly Father is perfect, but we must realize that perfection is the standard, but the direction is the test.  The answer:  "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh" (Gal. 5:16, ESV).

The danger of legalism is that one sees "sins" and not "sin."  One gets preoccupied with some sin or pet sin that especially seems offensive to them and fails to see that the real issue is the old sin nature that is causing the problem.  Jesus forgave us for what we did (sins) by justifying us, and cleanses us from what we are (sin) by the process of sanctification. There is no such thing as a doctrine of "perfectionism" or "entire sanctification" as some denominations term it--we never approach a point of being sinless or of being incapable of willful sin. 

The qualification for church membership is recognition that we don't qualify;  "no perfect people need to apply!"  The story of David in the Old Testament comes to mind:  He fell into egregious sin and repented in Psalm 51, and also prayed in Psalm 19 that he would never commit "presumptuous sin"--we are capable of this too!  Recollect how David said, "How the mighty have fallen" about King Saul, and realize that we are not immune from Satanic attack or of falling away from the Lord in backsliding if we give the devil an opportunity.

It was said of Puritan revivalist and theologian Jonathan Edwards that "his doctrine was all application, and his application was all doctrine." In other words, don't go beyond that which is written (cf. 1 Cor. 4:6).  Caveat:  This is a paradox because we are not to get so theoretical and academic in our preaching that there is no application--we must learn to relate to Scripture.  Christ's "yoke is easy and His burden is light" according to Matt. 11:30.  

We need to learn to apply ourselves to the Word of God, and apply the Word of God to ourselves!   Our application must stay within the Bible's guidelines, and we should give people the opportunity to apply it to themselves and not micromanage their lives--we give them suggestions, stimulate, or motivate their spirits instead.  As Paul said in Galatians 5:1 (ESV):  "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery."  Soli Deo Gloria!

Going By The Rules

"And Samuel said, 'Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD?  Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams"  (1 Sam. 15:22, ESV).

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye" (Psalm 32:8, ESV).

"The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip"  (Psalm 37:31, ESV).

"... [T]o bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all nations"  (Rom. 1:5, ESV).

"... [A]nd a great number of priests were becoming obedient to the faith"  (Acts 6:7, NASB).

"And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him"  (Acts 5:32, ESV).

"But he said, 'Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!'" (Luke 11:28, ESV).

"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves" (James 1:22, ESV).

"You are my friends if you do what I command you" (John 15:14, ESV).

"Make me to know your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths" (Psalm 25:4, ESV).

God is angry at the people of Judah because of their ignorance ("Therefore, my people go into exile for lack of knowledge" per Is. 5:13, ESV and "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge ...," Hos. 4:6a, ESV).  Jeremiah 8:7 (ESV) says in a similar vein:  "... [B]ut my people know not the rules of the LORD."  The people of God do not know the way:  "Then I said, 'These are only the poor; they have no sense; for they do not know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God'" (Jeremiah 5:4, ESV).  Micah echoes a similar controversy of the LORD:  "But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD; they do not understand his plan...."   Hosea says "a people without understanding shall come to ruin" in verse 4:14 (ESV).

The very essence of knowing Jesus is applying that knowledge in doing what Jesus would do; however, one must first know Him and learn of Him to do that (What would Jesus do?).  But we don't imitate Jesus, we let Him live through us.  "I have been crucified with Christ.  It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal. 2:20, ESV).  This defines a life of inhabitation, not imitation.  According to the aforementioned passage, the Christian life is about relinquished life, the exchanged life, substituted, inhabited, and the surrendered life.

Remember what is says about the Israelites in Judges 21:25, where each man did what was right in his own eyes, for they had no king. Obedience is the true test of faith according to Dietrich Bonhoeffer:  "Only he who believes is obedient, and only he is obedient who believes."  See how they are correlated and can be distinguished, but not separated, as seen in Heb. 3:18 (ESV):  "And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient?  So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief." "Obey your leaders and submit to them ..." (Heb. 13:17, ESV).  We have an easier yoke than the Jews in obeying the will of God and not the yoke of the Law.

There are some legalistic Christians who can't have enough rules and measure their spirituality or piety by how well they keep them--basically inclined to refrain from doing pleasurable things, and not following the Lord in the positive things.  The problem arises when they make up their own rules that "go beyond that which is written" (cf. 1 Cor. 4:6, ESV).  Baptists have always been known as being rule-obsessed and for what they don't do, rather than what they do do.  The Pharisees of Jesus' day were also ruleS-obsessed and had over 600 additional prohibitions and commands to the 613 laws of Moses. You practically had to be a scribe or lawyer to be able to know your way around the law and its loopholes.

On the other hand, Jesus' yoke is easy and His burden is light.  Their rules were simply traditions of men and nullified the grace of God and made their worship in vain    ("[I]n vain do they worship me teaching as doctrines the commandments of men," says Mark 7:7 in the ESV). For instance, they had made the Sabbath a burden when Jesus said in Mark 2:27 that man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath for man!  There were not supposed to be any hard and fast rules as to what was forbidden and God never defined what "work" was.  Salvation is not Jesus plus obeying church rules such as tithing, nor Jesus plus Sabbath keeping, nor Jesus plus asceticism, fasting, or self-denial, nor Jesus plus secret knowledge, nor even Jesus plus church, nor Jesus plus anything--we must realize that it is by Jesus alone since our faith must be in Christ alone.

In Martin Luther's time, the Antinomians arose who said, "Freed from the Law, O blessed condition, now I can sin all I want and still have remission."  The point of salvation is that we are freed from the power of the law and sin and are no longer under the law--the law cannot condemn us, claim us, nor control us (see Romans 8:1-4)!  As Christians, we are not under the law (see Romans 6:14), but we are not lawless.  We are not free to do as we want, but as we ought!  We have been given the power to obey God and to overcome sin, instead of being its slave.  The problem arises when we go beyond that which is written according to 1 Cor. 4:6 and make up our own laws as we go along, instead of obeying the Word.  The only test of faith is obedience and the Christian has a supernatural yearning to obey the Lord through the Word in love as a motive ("... The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love," says Gal. 5:6, ESV).

To cite an example, let's say that you don't believe in drinking.  It may be a no-no for you! Fine, but you cannot make an ironclad biblical case for being a teetotaler.  Paul clearly says in 1 Cor. 6:12 that all things are lawful, but we are not to be enslaved by anything.  The point is that we don't want to be brought under the power of any sin (Psalm 119:133 says not to let any sin have dominion over us). Some sects are known for being highly "religious" or legalistic and forget that Christianity is about knowing the Lord, not following rules that are unbiblical. True, Christianity is not about a list of do's and don'ts or some catalog of rules or being moral and ethical.  It can be said:  Evil is being good without God, and that is where some people err in believing the essence of Christianity is about obeying the Golden Rule.

There are many commands in the Bible and God's moral code has not been rescinded--we are not free to covet our neighbor's wife, just because we are not under the law.  But true believers don't do it because they have to, or even want to, but because they feel they get to--we get to go to church, we get to pray, we get to witness for Christ.  If you haven't reached that point in spirituality where you want to please your Maker and Lord you may just see the Christian life as a list of rules.  If Christianity were just about rules you could compare your "performance" with another's and measure thereby your spirituality, but Paul says:  "Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves.  But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding" (2 Cor. 10:12, ESV).

The Bible never gives us the right to do what is wrong, nor sanctions us the right to do what is right in our own eyes as spiritual lone rangers. The problem arises when we obey the letter of the law without respect to the spirit of the law.  Antinomians have a distaste for the law and are anti-law. They think that freedom meant license to sin or disobedience to the moral code.  "Do we then overflow [make void] the law by this faith?  By no means!  On the contrary, we uphold the law" (Rom. 3:31, ESV)  Romans 6:1 (ESV) says, "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?  By no means!  How can we who died to sin still live in it?"

Even though the essence of Christianity is a relationship with the living God, the New Testament does list rules to live by and guides to our spirituality (i.e., praying without ceasing, in everything giving thanks, abstaining from all appearance of evil, etc., per 1 Thess. 5:17ff).  We are not to become morally lax simply because we are free in Christ.  People who are rule-obsessed tend to major on the minors and miss the point of a relationship with Christ.  We have to beware of elevating tradition to the level of law and binding people where they ought to be free.  Christianity is not about making bad people good, but dead people alive (in a vital relationship with Christ).

Christians are regenerate but also have two natures: The old nature knows no law; the new nature needs no law.  The question is which one will they let rule their life?  To be carnally minded is death, and to be spiritually minded is life, says Paul.  The Christian lives by a higher law: The law of love and knows that love is the fulfillment of the law!  "Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law" (Romans 13:8, ESV).  Soli Deo Gloria!

The Obedient Christian

It has been wondered among believers what the obedient Christian looks like--can we spot them? Jesus said that if we love Him we will obey His commandments (cf. John 14:21).  Obedience is the only test of faith according to John MacArthur, and can be distinguished but not separated from it, as they are equated and correlated in Heb. 3:17-18; Rom. 1:5; 16:26; Acts 6:7, and John 3:36.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer said eloquently: "Only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes."  In Acts 5:32 it says that the Holy Spirit is given to those who obey Him.

There is no such thing as a disobedient Christian as a subclass or rank of Christian, though Christians can and do disobey God and sin both willingly and unintentionally. We never reach a point of entire sanctification or perfectionism as Wesleyans and Deeper Life or Keswick movement people like to call it, because if we deny we have sinned we make Him a liar and His word is not in us according to 1 John 1:10.   Also, Proverbs 20:9 (ESV) says, "Who can say, 'I have made my heart pure, I am clean from my sin?'"  The psalmist said he'd seen the limit of all perfection in Psalm 119:96.

We are not fruit inspectors of each other's fruit but should examine ourselves carefully to see whether we are walking in the faith--don't break faith!  In other words, we should be too busy in our walk with the Lord to wonder about our brother's walk and whether he is obedient.  We should search our own hearts and examine our own fruits.  The Spirit-filled life exhibits the fruit of the Spirit in increasing bounty as one matures because fruits are grown and if we abide in Christ they are a natural result.

The reason we obey God is that we are His creatures and it is fitting and proper as we owe Him this.  We don't feel we have to as believers but want to or get to.  God alone is worthy of our obeisance and homage.  God's commandments are not burdensome (cf. 1 John 5:3) and we do them "in love."  To love Him is to obey Him!  The Bible was given to shed light on God's will and as believers, we naturally seek God's will in our lives as a matter of His lordship.  All sin is disobedience according to Scripture, and we become more godly and less sin-prone as we mature in Christ.  God's Word gives us instruction in righteousness.  Bear in mind that it is God's Spirit living in us that gives us the power to overcome sin and obey Christ and become Christlike--we cannot do it on our own (the Christian life is not hard, it's impossible!).  God's commandments are for our own good and He knows what is best for us.  We must not rely on the energy of the flesh, but learn that He gives us the power in the Spirit--we don't have the freedom to live in the flesh, but the power to live in the Spirit.

The Navigators taught me a great truth:  The obedient Christian is regularly involved in prayer, getting into Bible study and reading, fellowship and worship, and witness and outreach.  We have both a ministry to our brothers and a mission to the unsaved in our obedience.  There are Lone Ranger Christians who navigate solo and think they don't need the body--if you love Jesus, you will love His body!  We must be "rooted and grounded" in the body of Christ and in the truth to have discernment and growth and move forward in our walk.  It is absolutely impossible to be living in obedience apart from the discipline, nurture, discipleship, and fellowship of the body of Christ! We all need each other and no one, no matter how gifted, has all the gifts and doesn't need the other members of the body.

Furthermore, obedience not only implicates obedience to the Word per se, but to all dully delegated authority or "the powers that be" in Paul's lingo.  A Christian must obey the law unless it is in clear contradiction to the Word.  He is a good and upright or model citizen who not only exercises his rights but does his responsibilities.  To obey authority also means parental and any authority in loco Dei or in the place of God, even an institution.  The government is a God-ordained institution, just like the church and the family--but family is the premier authority and most important one to be protected.  Another aspect of obedience is submission to one another in the name of Christ, and not lording in over others, for instance, but allowing Christ to rule in His body, the church.  The final aspect of obedience that must take place is accountability because if one is a rogue all on his own and doing his own thing he is out of fellowship with Christ and disobedient to direct commands.  Every believer needs accountability and is accountable, whether it is to his suiting or not.

In my personal walk, obedience is how I relate to the leading of the Holy Spirit as I walk in the Spirit and walk by faith and not by sight (cf. 2 Cor. 5:7).  Paul said, "As many as are led by the Spirit are sons of God."  The goal is to know Christ through the body and, our walk and make Him known by our testimony, witness, and mission.   When I read the Word I get "Aha!" moments where I feel God speaking to me or me of something convicting, which you might call an existential experience--you can experience God in the Word and He has promised to use it to speak to us.  I obey Christ by submitting to authority and not trying to make up my own rules, and do my own thing, like Israel was doing in Judges 21:25 ("each man did what was right in their own eyes...").

I believe prayer is the acid or litmus test of the believer and a true gauge of his pursuit of holiness and fellowship with God.  Fellowship is another test to consider:  '"If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another ..." (1 John 1:7, ESV).  God has put me in the ministry of doing a Bible study and I am being obedient by preparing and studying for that--when God considers us faithful, He puts us into the ministry. I also obey God by abiding (or staying in fellowship by having no unconfessed or unjudged sin) in Christ and being sensitive to the Spirit so as not to quench or grieve the Spirit  I am ready to witness of my faith in obedience and look for open doors from God at all times, and thank God for every opportunity that He gives me to share my faith in observance of the Great Commission. In short, I have heard it expressed very well:  A great Christian has a great commitment to the Great Commission and the Great Commandment! There are many commandments in the Bible as well as prohibitions, but basically, we become a natural as we go on to know the Lord and walk with Him in faith and fellowship.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Life's Priorities

Job One is to practice the lordship of Christ over our lives and to abide in Him.  What does this entail? We must walk even as He walked in constant fellowship and union with Him in obedience and confession with our motto being, "Thy will be done!  We must rearrange our priorities and change our lifestyle to please Him Jesus doesn't just have an important place in our lives, but the predominant and preeminent place. Everything else is secondary! This involves seeing things in a new light as God sees them, not as the world sees them, for we are no longer of the world. The centrality of Christianity is Christ! All else is peripheral or circumference. 

Furthermore, we must put our whole heart into following Christ with as much gusto as we can muster, as "Mr. Hustle" himself, Pete Rose did when he put his whole heart into his game. God wants the same kind of attitude of us:  "And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, in the law and in the commandment, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart. So he prospered"  (2 Chronicles 31:21, NKJV). God found men who "wholly followed the Lord."  

This means a commitment to Christ through thick and thin and living by His agenda.  It means a "great commitment to the Great Commission and the Great Commandment!"  We "crown Him Lord of all," as the hymn goes, but this must be from the heart, not just the lips.  Joshua and Caleb are two examples:  "... for they followed the LORD wholeheartedly"  (cf. Numbers 32:11).

What is lordship mean?  "...You are not your own; for you were bought with a price (cf. 1 Cor. 6:20, ESV). "As you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, so walk ye in him" (Col. 4:6)--we didn't receive Him as best bud, sidekick, or colleague, but as our Lord!  The only legitimate salvation is "lordship salvation" (once quite a controversy), which means we must accept Him with all the authority over us, dedicating our wills to Him all our lives, as living sacrifices. There is no such thing as a class of disobedient Christians who have accepted the lordship of Christ. 

Obedience is the test and the relationship is expressed by obedience. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, "Only those who believe are obedient; only those who are obedient believe."  We are either obedient or not, with no middle ground--this has no degree of fulfillment and obedience. We must bow to His lordship and I don't mean just lip service. A. W. Tozer said, "The Lord will not save those whom He cannot command." If we don't accept His lordship, we haven't accepted Him and this is nothing less than easy-believism or "cheap grace," as Dietrich Bonhoeffer termed it.

We abide in Christ and walk in the Spirit in fellowship with God, as we are led by the Spirit and being filled with the Spirit for every good work that He has ordained for us.  Let it be said of us what God said of Joshua:  "He wholly followed the Lord!"  We live in a trusting and obedient life: "Trust and obey, for there is no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey!" 

Jesus said that if you love Him you will obey Him (cf. John 14:21). Believing and obedience are equated in Heb. 3:18-19 and in John 3:36 (ESV) as:  "He who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him."  Hebrews 5:9 (ESV) says, "And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him."     Soli Deo Gloria!

An Offering To God

God is looking for us being living sacrifices (God wants us to live for Him, besides being willing to die for Him) and all for His glory.  We are not saved by martyrdom.  We offer ourselves to Him to fulfill His will and to glorify Him (cf. Is. 43:7)  We don't have anything of our own merit to offer, such as righteousness, good deeds, morality, or philosophy, but nothing but brokenness and strife--in short, our sin!  We come to God only as the lowest bidder with nothing in our hands but Christ's righteousness.

We received Christ as an unworthy sinner who had nothing to offer God, being at His mercy:  The sinner's prayer in Luke 18:13 says, "God be merciful to me, the sinner."  He threw himself on the mercy of God,  declaring spiritual bankruptcy, and saw himself as unworthy!  John Bunyan wrote, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners--see how he appraised himself!  Paul never stopped thinking of himself as the chief of sinners (he said "am" not "was" foremost among them--cf. 1 Tim. 1:15).

The problem with people is their opinion of themselves--they won't let go and refuse to see their sin (Martin Luther said it is our job to make them see it). This is not the same as having low self-esteem, but of having no merit for salvation in God's eyes. This is God's estimation of man, not man's estimation of man. We are as bad off (not as bad) from being worthy as we can be, and as far away and removed from God as imaginable. In Luke 5:8 (NASB) Peter says, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" Genuine repentance and saving faith entail cognition that you are a guilty and vile sinner in God's estimation.

Our offering to God is us--He wants us, not our gifts or merits. He wants us with all the wrinkles, blemishes, pimples, warts, bald-spots, missing teeth, eating disorders, disabilities, tears, and all our sins.  We must come to Him as we are to get a changed life; we don't change our life and then come to Him for approval. Our righteousness is all as filthy rags (cf. Is. 64:6). We don't come for approval but for change!   God can clean up our act and we can't.  Who has anything that God should desire?  God loves us despite all this and sees potential in us for His ultimate glory.

We must realize that God rewards us for what He has done through us:  "... Since You have performed for us all our works" (Is. 26:12, NASB);  "For I will not presume [venture] to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me..." (Rom. 15:18, NASB);  "You who rejoice in Lodebar [naught], And say, "Have we not by our own strength [without God's] taken Karnaim for ourselves [they are boasting]?"  (Amos 6:13, NASB);  and "... From Me comes your fruit [fruitfulness]" (Hos. 14:8, NASB).

We were chosen according to His purpose and grace and according to the good pleasure of His will (cf. 2 Tim. 1:9; Eph. 1:5).  I must emphasize:  We don't impress God!  It is grace that He even uses us as vessels of honor rather than vessels of dishonor.  We fit into His plans; we don't fit Him into ours. The kind of sacrifice God wants is for us to live our lives for Jesus, but take up the cross and be willing to die too, if He wills.  

Before we give our "offerings" we must first give of ourselves or they are worthless, because it is a privilege and honor to be used by God in giving offerings as sacrifices of worship. We come to Christ on His terms of absolute surrender to His Lordship and ownership of our lives, giving up the throne of our heart to Him so that He can live through us!     Soli Deo Gloria!

Obligatory Obedience Of Discipleship

"[T]hrough whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations"  (Romans 1:5, ESV).
"And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient?  So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief [note correlation]"  (Hebrews 3:18-19, ESV). 

Here's an anecdote of a believer who had come full-circle (Is he Catholic or Protestant, or Protestant acting like a Catholic?):  "I don't believe in the infallibility of Scripture anymore, but I still believe in Jesus as my Lord!"/"O how does he exercise His Lordship?"/ "Through the teachings of the Church!" (Who and what is he obeying?)

In the incident with the rich young ruler who said he had obeyed the commandments; however, the ultimate test was whether he would obey the Lord Himself, according to John MacArthur.

The issue is how does Christ extend His authority over us.  We are not to be rule-obsessed like the Pharisees but have a personal link to the Lord, take His yoke of love, and follow His will as the fulfillment of the Law.  The Lord exercises His Lordship over us through the Word (as a check on all other authority), through the body of Christ, and through all legitimate authority (even government, unless civil disobedience is called for out of Scriptural reasons), i.e., we cannot say we obey the Lord if we are disobedient to our superiors who have the rule over us (we submit one to another in the love of Christ) and we are rogues, doing their own thing and going their own way, as it were.

Protestants go a step beyond obedience to the authority of the church over them by obeying the Lord as revealed in Scripture via a personal relationship, i.e., knowing the Lord--unlike the rich young ruler who obeyed rules, but not the Lord Himself.  Protestant means:  I dissent, I disagree, I protest. Protestants are not at the mercy of Church dogma as infallible.

Thinking you can believe without obedience is called easy-believism and its gospel as the no-lordship gospel.  "Christ will not save anyone He cannot command," says A.W. Tozer.  And will not barter away his claim to lordship and ownership of us.  He couldn't be our Savior if He were not Lord of all (cf. Acts 10:36).  John MacArthur says "follow Me" refers to unconditional surrender to His lordship. True salvation is free, but it is not cheap, because the Bible doesn't teach "cheap grace" or "cheap peace," the terminology of this heresy if you will, because it cost God everything to redeem us, and He wants all of us in return. "I call it heresy," says A. W. Tozer about this gospel in vogue that dumbs down and domesticates the biblical evangel.

Obedience ultimately also means submission to authority, but some believers are reluctant to follow suit or go there--we are all under authority in the body of Christ and no one is the man in charge, except Christ Himself.  We have leaders who are also under authority!  "[We] have turned everyone to his own way" (Isaiah 53:6b, ESV).

Since we are creatures and God is our Creator, we owe Him all our obedience by virtue of this alone, whether there is a heaven or not. Even Satan has to obey when commanded and seeks permission for his mischief.  Religious people who simply go through the motions and memorize the Dance of the Pious don't please God by their religiosity.  God seeks obedience from a "noble and good heart."  1 Samuel 15:22 says:  "...Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Lutheran pastor who was executed in a concentration camp by the Nazis for his Christian stand, said eloquently and succinctly:  "Only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes."  They are linked and correlated and go hand in hand in a complementary manner, they can be distinguished but not separated;  there is no such class of believer who is perpetually or habitually disobedient--obedience is not an option and the Great Commission is not the Great Suggestion!   And we can obey only by the power of Christ working in us (cf. Col. 1:29). God's power is always there to enable us to do His bidding and the power of the Holy Spirit is always on hand to kick in when needed--but we must remember it is His energy not the energy of the flesh. Paul says in Romans 15:18 that he "will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through [him] to bring the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed [actions can speak louder than words and prove our testimony]."

Faith is simply about trust and obedience and learning to walk in them.  I love the hymn "Trust and Obey" which stresses this definition of faith.   Isaiah 1:19 says in one version, "If you consent and obey you shall eat of the best of the land..," and in the NLT, "If you will only obey me and let me help you, then you will have plenty to eat..,"  or "If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat of the good of the land... (ESV)." Jesus admonished his disciples in John 14:21:  "He who has my commandments and keeps them [obeys], it is he who loves me."  Part B of the Great Commission is to "obey" or "observe" His teachings or commandments! We are not done when we make a convert, but must train them as disciples or followers of Christ--they must be learners and students in the school of Christ, in which they have matriculated upon salvation.   Jesus' commands are not burdensome according to 1 John 5:3 (compared to the yoke of the Law of Moses), and his burden is light (cf. Matt. 11:29).  Only when we submit to His yoke will we find our Sabbath rest.

Jeremiah 4:8 says that Israel didn't "know the rules of the LORD!"  What does God require?  Deut. 10:12-13 (ESV) says it in a nutshell:  "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 and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statues of the LORD which I am commanding you this day for your good."  One of my favorite verses is Micah 6:8 says:  "Her has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?"  This refers to ethics, brotherly relationships, and fellowship with God.  Jesus summed up the deeper requirements of the Law in Matt. 23:23 (ESV) as follows:  "...[And] have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice, and mercy, and faithfulness."

The point is that we cannot do the Law nor fulfill its demands, even though Israel promised to do them rather than plead for mercy in Exodus 24:3 (ESV) as follows:  "... All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do [obey again]."  The point of the Law is to point out our sin according to Paul in Romans 3:20 in the Phillips translation:  "Indeed the straightedge of the law shows us how crooked we really are." Other versions render it: "... [F]or by the law is the knowledge of sin;" "... [Since] through the law comes knowledge of sin." C. S. Lewis aptly said that we don't know how bad we are till we've tried to be good, and we can't be good till we know how bad we are!  This is a paradox and worth thinking about, because the closer we get to God, the more we realize our unworthiness and His grace and mercy.  Luther said the Law is a hammer that smashes our righteousness and a mirror that shows our faults.  Why didn't Israel realize that they couldn't keep the Law?  Only Jesus was able to and He did it on our behalf so we don't have to but can have His righteousness imputed to our account and be considered justified (or just as if I'd done it!).

What kind of attitude should we have in obedience?  Deut. 26:16 says, "...You shall be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul."  David says in Psalm 40:8 that he "delights to do [His] will."  We do not obey begrudgingly or because we think we have to, but because we want to; we now have a heart of flesh willing to obey God, instead of a heart of stone (Ezekiel 36:26). "... For the love of Christ constrains us" (2 Cor. 5:14). We are not inclined or biased to good anymore and need to be set free, because we are not born free (we are slaves to sin and the sin nature).  Our attitude determines our altitude spiritually and we need constant "attitude checks" or "spiritual check-ups."  We have the choice to choose our attitude and it should be one of joy in suffering because we are counted worthy. We are not free to disobey at will or our discretion, but free to obey the will of God.

According to John MacArthur, faith is manifest in obedience only.  James said, "I will show you my faith by my deeds," while Paul is saying, "I will show you my deeds by faith." We are saved by faith alone, according to the reformers, but not a faith that is alone (that would be antinomianism).   Without deeds our faith is suspect!  The obedience of faith saves, but works are no substitute for faith, because, even though we are not saved by works, we are not saved without them either. Matthew 7:17 says we shall know them by their fruits. We must bear fruit in keeping with our repentance and so prove our faith (cf. Acts 26:20: "... [Performing] deeds in keeping with their repentance"). Luke 3:8 says, "Bring forth fruits in keeping with your repentance."  Obedience is evidence of faith, not its substitute, and God is not against works, just those done in the flesh (cf. Isaiah 64:6).  The faith you have is the faith you show is James' key point.  Remember, we are judged by our obedience (i.e., our deeds or works per Romans 2:6), not our faith.  God is not interested in our achievements or accomplishments, but in our obedience only!

When God tests us, it is for our own good and it is an honor because He trusts us to pass the test and obey Him.   You might wonder if you are obedient.  Acts 5:32 (ESV) says, "And we are witness to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him."  Jesus said, "If any man wills to do His will, he shall know of the doctrine..."  (John 7:17).  Jesus said in John 17:3 that eternal life is knowing Him; likewise to know Him is to love Him and to love Him is to obey Him--because we now want to do God's will from the heart! Again I reiterate 2 Cor. 5 v. 14: "For the love of Christ constrains [or compels in ESV] us...."  Though the believer is capable of disobedience out of failure or because he is human, he possesses a supernatural yearning to obey and please God. As David said in Psalm 40:8 (ESV), "I desire to do your will, my God; your law is with my heart."The ultimate result of knowing Him is to desire to be like Him in sanctification and a growing and living faith.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Belief's Correlation with Obedience

There is a direct relationship between faith and obedience; faith is manifested only in obedience--there is no such thing as disobedient faith.  Our faith is not perfect or faultless, but genuine faith is sincere and unfeigned ("The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith," says 1 Tim. 1:5).   No one has perfect faith or perfect obedience and perfectionism is a false doctrine.  We never reach a point of sinless perfection  (of sins intentional, or no)t.   "...He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him"  (Heb. 5:9). 

The Holy Spirit has been given to all who obey Him (cf. Acts 5:32).  Dietrich Bonhoeffer had a famous saying that is now an axiom:  "Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes."  We are saved through the obedience of our faith that is a gift of God. ("...He greatly helped those who by grace had believed," says Acts 18:27).

There is no such thing as a brand of Christian called "disobedient Christian," though Christians can disobey, sin, and fall short; but they have a desire and longing within to obey in their spirit.  "For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. ...For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.  Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I  who do it, but sin that dwells within me. ...For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being"  (Rom. 7:15-22).  In other words, we all fall short of our ideals and can't live up to our own standards--thank God for grace.

There is also no such thing as a carnal Christian having an excuse ("It's okay, pastor, I'm a carnal Christian") when caught in a sin.  He must repent and if he belongs to the Lord he will be disciplined ("For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives," says Heb. 12:6).  Christians don't get away with sin and are not happy out of fellowship with the Lord.  The exhortation to all believers is to "trust and obey"  and the song goes:  "For there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey."

The acid test or the litmus test of the believer is his obedience and they are correlated in Heb. 3:18-19 as follows:  "And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient?  So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief." True faith is manifested or demonstrated by obedience only.  "To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams"  (1 Sam. 15:22).  Soli Deo Gloria!

Are There Disobedient Christians?

To answer the question ahead of myself for your benefit, it depends on what you mean by disobedient. The Navigators call the obedient Christian one who prays, witnesses, reads the Word, and fellowships or worships regularly, regardless of where else he may fall short: smoking, drinking, Sabbath-breaking, or what have you. Read on to draw your own conclusions.

The big question: "For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?" (1 Pet. 4:17).

"But as for Israel, He says, "ALL DAY LONG I HAVE STRETCHED OUT MY HANDS TO A DISOBEDIENT AND OBSTINATE PEOPLE" (Rom. 10:21). "The wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience" (Eph. 5:6). '...the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience" (Eph. 2:2). For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all" (Rom. 11:32).
Unbelievers are called disobedient but disobeying God after salvation doesn't make you a son of disobedience, but persistence in disobedience proves one isn't a child of God. "For I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision" (Acts 26:19). "Just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience" (Rom. 11:30). We are talking about being obedient to the faith and to the gospel.

A caveat in Scripture: "They stumble because they were disobedient to the Word, as they were destined to do" [This is called reprobation: cf. Jude 4 and 1 Thess. 5:9] (1 Pet. 2:7).
A pertinent promise: "If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land" (Isa. 1:19).
A word to the wise: "For your obedience has become known to all..." (Rom. 16:19).
A challenge to those who stumble: "Who hindered you from obeying the truth?" (Gal. 5:7). The right attitude: "The LORD our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey" (Josh. 24:24). Priorities: "Obey those who rule over you..." (Heb. 13:17). "...For we must obey God rather than man" (Acts 5:29).

Intrinsic motivation: "But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed" (Rom. 6:17).
Warning: "If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed' (2 Thess. 3:14).

Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, "Only he who is obedient believes, and only he who believes is obedient." These two are linked together as in Hebrews 3:17-18: "And to whom did he swear that would not enter into his rest, but to those who were disobedient? And so we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief." John 3:36 says, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." These two are distinguished but not separated--they go hand in hand and are complementary or two sides of the same coin. Did not Abraham believe God and obey to leave Ur, and Noah obey to build the ark? "Faith without works is dead," and one must obey the gospel to be saved; to obey the gospel ("in flaming fire inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus," according to 2 Thess. 1:8). is to repent and accept Christ as your personal Lord and Savior or trust in him for salvation (believing in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ) and submit to His Lordship or ownership of your life.

You can disobey God and not lose your salvation. Salvation is not contingent or probational, but permanent and once for all ("He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him", says Heb. 5:9 "He who comes to Me I will in no wise cast out," says John 6:37). Contrary to what Romanists teach, there is a continuity in the state of grace after salvation and the permanency of our relationship and position in Christ doesn't change, though our experiential life in Christ does fluctuate. We cannot be unborn as a child of God. Jonah disobeyed God by going in the opposite direction. Moses disobeyed God and struck the rock twice instead of speaking to it (and consequently was not allowed to enter the Promised Land). The Bible doesn't gloss over King David's faults and mistakes and gross sins but shows us that even the best of us can fail on occasion--look at Solomon! As they say, "To err is human," and "Nobody is perfect." There is no such thing as sinless perfection or "entire sanctification." We are all works in progress and even Paul said he did not claim to have been there yet (at perfection referred to in Phil. 3:13, "...I do not claim to have laid claim of it yet...").


The Christian doesn't obey God out of some fear that he will lose his salvation but from gratitude. He does it because he wants to not because he has to. When you feel you have to, it is legalism. God says he will give us the heart to obey him. "And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules" (Ezek. 36:27).

Many priests became obedient to the faith and got saved in Acts 6:7, and Paul talks about the obedience of faith. We obey God in the Spirit and not according to the Law. The Law kills but the Spirit gives life (2 Cor. 3:6). We become obedient from the heart because the true circumcision is in the heart (Rom. 2:29). "...so that we serve not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit" (Rom. 7:6). As Christians we learn to walk in the Spirit: "But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law" (Gal. 5:18). "And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom he has given to those who obey him," says Acts 5:32).

There is a great reward and there are many perks to being obedient: answered prayer, prosperity, success, family blessings, abundant life and the bearing of fruit. In Job they questioned whether it was profitable to obey God, but found out it was--God restored him twice his former worth. Psalm 19:11 says that "in keeping them [the law] there is great reward." 1 Sam. 15:22 sums it up as an exhortation: "To obey is better than sacrifice...." Jesus also said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35). In God's economy, there are paradoxes: poverty comes before riches and trial before success. Even Jesus learned obedience through what he suffered (Heb. 5:8). "Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits" (Psa. 103:2). God was angry at the people in Malachi who said that it was "vain to serve God" (Mal. 3:14). Isaiah 48:10 announces, "I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go." Other passages that are food for thought are Psalm 1:3 and Joshua 1:8.

Israel had good intentions, but poor follow-through as they promised to obey the Law in Exodus 24:7 instead of asking for mercy, and ended up in disobedience. Jesus saw the disciples sleeping in the garden and said "the spirit is indeed willing but the flesh is weak"--recognizing human weakness, and not necessarily sin itself--in all its ugly colors. We all fall short of our ideals and standards, but that doesn't make us hypocrites (they pretend or make a show to impress their faith). Jesus talked in a parable of two brothers and asked which one obeyed. The one that finally decided to obey not the one who had good intentions. As they say, "The road to hell is carved with good intentions." sincerity counts but it is not everything: there are many sincere people who are lost. God is looking for "sincere," and "unfeigned faith" and not necessarily perfect faith (1 Tim. 1:5). "Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.," (cf. Mark 9:24).    Soli Deo Gloria!

Seeking the Will of God

All genuine believers want to be in the will of God--this is Job One!   Sometimes the only time they think of it is when they have to make an important decision like marriage or a job; this is unfortunate. God can put a hedge around us if we are in the will of God and the devil cannot touch us; we can live in victory over our enemy. The safest place to be is in the will of God. Does God still speak to us about His intentions today? God is not bound by any certain MO or 1-2-3 formula like circumstances (which Gideon used with a fleece; (c.f. Judges 6); but most commonly speaks through His Word, as He was wont to do in biblical times. Greg Laurie calls the Bible God's "User's Manual." We can get an existential experience ("Aha!") or epiphany in the Word if we take every situation to the Bible with an expectation of God's illumination.

 If we do find God's will we will have peace of understanding as it says in Col. 3:15 (there is always peace of mind in God's will). [To define terms, God's will is the good and pleasing and perfect will of God, as Romans 12:1-2 describe. I am not referring to God's secret or decreed will that is none of our business, such things as necromancy, tarot cards, or crystal balls (Deut. 29:29).] Before you seek God's will, decide if you really want to know it; you may be fooling yourself into thinking you're willing to do it.

The Christian journey is by faith ("For we walk by faith and not by sight"), so we just need to "just walk" as Laurie says. Knowing God's will is a state of mind and not a rolled-out "itinerary" There is no easy MO, but it is revealed one step at a time, one decision at a time.   As we are obedient to the things God does reveal to us He gives us more guidance. God does have a master plan for our life and "the just shall live by faith" (Jeremiah 29:11: "I know the plans that I have for you...")   God has promised to make His ways plain in Isa. 35:8, and Isa. 30:21: "Whenever you turn to the right or to the left, you shall hear a voice behind you saying: 'This is the way, walk ye in it.'" Psalm 25:4 says God will reveal His way to us ("The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him").

But one caveat: Laurie says the condition of an enlightened mind is a surrendered heart. Some people want to know God's will so they can decide if they want to follow it or not. We must surrender to God's will first, then He will reveal it to us.   Eph. 5:17 says: "Do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is." Acts 22:14 says that it has been granted unto us to know His will. When we get in sync with the Bible we can echo Hebrews 10:7 which says, "Behold, it is written of Me in the volume of the Book: to do Thy will." God's will is not just common sense, but sometimes we are to go against the grain and march to the beat of a different drummer. 

Proverbs 3:5-6 says not to lean unto our own understanding--"there is a way that seems right to a man."  I'm not saying we should be mystical or "spooky," but the more we grow in grace, the clearer God's will becomes to us. If we make a mistake God can "turn curses into blessings."   You will have peace of mind as you walk by faith, so "start walking." This  begins with our relinquishment or surrender to God's sovereignty over our lives. 

"The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way" cf. Psa. 37:23).  The Lord is our shepherd and "for His name's sake" "He leads us in the paths of righteousness" (Psalm. 23). We are to pray "Thy will be done" in our prayers. King David was anointed because he was willing to do all of God's will.  The Word of God is the "litmus test;" [cf. Isa. 8:20] so if it doesn't line up squarely with the Word, it is wrong for you.  To sum up, I don't know the future, but I know who holds the future.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Are You With The Program?

God doesn't want any spiritual Lone Rangers, we are in this together as the body of Christ. Some believers march to a tune of a different drummer from that of the church. They don't take part in any of the activities, especially Bible study, and shun contact or fellowship because they don't want to be held accountable. To be with the program of the church is vital and if you can't honestly agree with it you'd be better off in another church where you can consent. The book of Judges is about Israel doing their own thing and it says each man did what was right in his own eyes. They are doing their own thing! "All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned each to his own way" (cf. Isa. 53:6).

The pastor of the church is the under-shepherd and will give account for you at the judgment. Heb. 13 and verse 17 says to "obey your leaders and submit to their authority." We are not lone wolves in the church that can survive on our own; we need fellowship, accountability, and support from other believers. Going to church regularly is like getting a spiritual checkup.

I am writing this from experience because I refused to do a Bible study that our pastor wanted everyone to do because I disagreed with some Pentecostal elements. Some Christians are really members of the "nod to God crowd" that just shows up on Sunday and doesn't have any intercourse during the week with the body of believers. If you don't like Christ's body you don't like Christ!   Soli Deo Gloria!

Are Christians Always Obedient?

God gives His Spirit to those who are obedient! (cf. Acts 5:32).    The point is that believers are obedient to the faith (cf. Acts 6:7, Romans 1:5; 16:26).   Nonbelievers are referred to by Paul as "sons of disobedience." The writer of Hebrews equates unbelief with disobedience in Heb. 3:18. John MacArthur says that faith is only manifested in obedience. Paul referred to the "obedience of faith." Martin Luther and Dietrich Bonhoeffer said that only he who believes is obedient and only he who is obedient believes. But Uzziah disobeyed God by offering a sacrifice and God made him a leper. King David disobeyed God by committing adultery and conducting a census. Moses even disobeyed God and was kept from entering the promised land. And so all believers are disobedient in some sense.

But Luther said we are sinners at the same time justified. We obeyed the gospel and are considered obedient. Heb. 5:9 says that God gives eternal salvation to all who "obey" Him. Acts 2:39 says, "He gives the Holy Spirit to all who obey Him." And so, if we are Christians who have salvation and the Holy Spirit; consequently we have already "obeyed Him." We are forgiven of all our sins of omission and commission--if we were remiss God filled in the gap in our stead.

When Jesus says, "Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?" He is talking to unbelievers who didn't obey the gospel to repent and believe in it. There are no believers to whom Christ will say this--we don't just call Him Lord, but we have Him as our personal Lord and Savior. There are no such creatures as "carnal Christians" who have not accepted Christ as Lord; nevertheless, there are Christians who are in the flesh and living defeated lives.   CAVEAT:  CHRISTIANS ARE JUSTIFIED SINNERS (CF. GAL. 2:17).     Soli Deo Gloria!

Easy-believism

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the famous Lutheran Nazi resistor, talked about "cheap grace." Our salvation is free, but it costs everything. "Easy-believism" refers to belief without commitment and lordship. We must accept Christ as the lord of our lives and the center of our being. Simple acquiescence or agreement is not enough (the Romanists or Papists believe that agreement with church dogma constitutes a meritorious faith); one must believe in one's heart and decide to follow Jesus no matter the cost. Jesus said, "Take up your cross, deny yourself and follow Me" (Matt. 16:24).

William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, regretted that the twentieth century would usher in Christianity without Christ and faith without repentance. Your head belief must travel 18 inches to your heart to be heart belief. True faith loves Jesus and is a living relationship with Him. Repentance is the flip side of faith and goes hand in hand with it. They compliment each other and need each other--they are different viewpoints. We are to leave the fundamentals of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God. To get assurance we must "examine our hearts and look at the fruit of our lives," according to R. C. Sproul. Also, he says the "Word of God coupled with the testimony of the Holy Spirit" will bring assurance of true faith.

Don't let anyone tell you that it is easy to become a Christian. Sure children can get saved but one must receive it as a child even if one is old. Jesus said to enter at the "narrow gate" for narrow is the gate and hard is the way that leads to life and "few there be that find it" (Matt. 7:14). Many preachers say, "Just believe! (we don't need faith in faith per se, but obedient and penitent faith) It's easy!" but the Holy Spirit must be working in the person's heart to convict them (John 16:8) and draw them to Christ (John 6:44).

Jesus said, "Apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). Soli Deo Gloria! God gets all the glory and we are not the captain of our souls or the master of our fate--our ultimate destiny is in the hands of God. Arminians think this makes God look like a terrible tyrant, but in reality, He is sovereign over all.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Loving Jesus

Every believer will tell you that he loves Jesus--in fact, there is a biblical curse on everyone who doesn't. But how do you know that you love Jesus? You will love the brethren and your brother whom you can see. Anyone who looks down or despises his brother or hates him cannot love Jesus. If we love the Lord we will love the Word. We will also have a burden for souls.

To know Him is to love Him and our love grows as we grow in Christ. Our goal is to fall in love with Jesus. Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." Obedience is the key and the test. Loving Jesus without knowing Him would be mere sentimentality and that is not the goal. Loving Jesus is the ultimate response to knowing Him. We must turn our knowledge about Him to knowledge of Him by applying the Word and being a doer of the Word.  As Richard of Chichester said, "To know Him more clearly, to follow Him more nearly, to love Him more dearly"this goal is ours to aim for.   Soli Deo Gloria!