"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).
"Teaching 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).
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.
"... [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!
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.
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.
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.
"... [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!