Obedience

When martin luther rediscovered the basic truth, “The just shall live by faith”—salvation by faith alone—he found himself released from the burden of a conscience weighed down by sin from which no efforts of his own could have freed him. Out of this there came the Reformation with its recognition of the grace and mercy of God to which alone man owes his salvation.

But since that time there have been those who have misinterpreted “faith” to be a mere affirmation of words, and “grace” to be a gift without corresponding obligations.

Perhaps we all would do well to stop and consider that faith becomes saving faith when validated by obedience, and saving grace is God’s free gift only to those who do God’s will.

Many years ago I visited in the home of a man who was a prominent Bible teacher in his community. There I discovered by his own admission that he was living a life of open and unrepented-of sin. The “grace” about which he taught was a cheap grace that denied the holiness of God and the life of obedience God requires of those who call on his name.

The Apostle Paul answers this question once for all: “Now grace is the ruling factor, with righteousness as its purpose and its end the bringing of men to the eternal Life of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now what is our response to be? Shall we sin to our heart’s content and see how far we can exploit the grace of God? What a ghastly thought!” (Rom. 5:21–6:2, Phillips).

Our Lord also made it clear that the only faith that counts is a faith that results in obedience. Near the conclusion of his “Sermon on the Mount” he declared: “Not every one who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21).

That this applies to “religious” people is obvious. All of us who profess him as Lord should be very sure that he truly is Lord of our lives, enabling us to live in obedience to his revealed will. And what is his will?: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thess. 4:3). We know that sanctification is a work of God’s grace in our hearts whereby, empowered by the Holy Spirit, we “die unto sin and live unto righteousness” (1 Pet. 2:24).

The daily lives of many who call themselves Christians show only a very superficial Christianity. Our Lord’s words should warn us all—ministers, church officers, and those who sit in the pews: Calling him “Lord, Lord” has no meaning unless it is coupled with obedience. The God who sent his Son to redeem us from our sins is the same God of whom we read, “Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Gal. 6:7, 8).

We may shout from the housetops our faith and orthodoxy, but unless they are coupled with obedience to the teachings of God’s Word, there will come a time when we find ourselves rejected from his eternal presence.

Obedience requires that there be both repentance for sin and a turning from it. The Apostle Paul is crystal clear on this when he says, “Do you presume upon the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience?… By your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed” (Rom. 2:4, 5).

Faith without obedience is disobedience, and disobedience is rebellion. Satan—the instigator of all rebellion—and his cohorts know the truth but do not obey it. “Even the demons believe—and shudder” (Jas. 2:19). No Christian has the right to glory in his faith who does not with that faith try to obey the One who has redeemed him.

Obedience involves a recognition of God’s authority and right to command. Furthermore, in the line of obedience there comes the realization that God knows what is best for us. It is this recognition of the love and sovereignty of God in our lives that enables the true believer to rest in his promise that “in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28).

Let us get this clearly in our minds: Obedience is not legalism. It is not doing something whereby we earn or merit salvation. Rather, obedience is one side of the coin and faith the other. Neither can exist alone. We cannot ignore the fact that our Lord and the apostles rang the changes on the necessity of obedience in the Christian faith. The Apostle James warns against the deception involved in merely hearing the word. We must also obey that word. Furthermore, knowledge adds its own responsibility; we read that “whoever knows what is right to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (Jas. 4:17.)

Perhaps never in the history of the Christian Church has there been such a need for unswerving obedience in the realm of purity and moral living. The Apostle Paul, after affirming that it is God’s will for us to be sanctified, cautions “that you abstain from immorality; that each one of you know how to take a wife for himself in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like heathen who do not know God; that no man transgress, and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we solemnly forewarned you. For God has not called us for uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his holy Spirit to you” (1 Thess. 4:3–8).

The temptation to moral uncleanness is all about us, and the communications media continually thrust before our eyes the strange fire of unbridled lust. On every hand there are those who claim to be experts on sex but who disregard the moral and spiritual aspects of this God-given drive and teach that it is merely a matter of physiology, biology, and psychology. They ignore the fact that God has the authoritative word in this matter and that obedience to his laws is the only way to peace and joy. I am convinced that Satan is attacking this permissive generation at its weakest point. Let us beware lest we heed his siren call to lust and lasciviousness and ignore what God has to say on the subject!

But God does not require an obedience we are unable to render. Whatever his requirements may be, we are at the same time given the strength necessary for victory. There is therefore no legitimate excuse for disobedience. The God who has revealed the inexorable fact that “the wages of sin is death” has also revealed that “the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). The same Jesus who requires of his followers that they obey the will of the heavenly Father has promised to be with us in the person of his Spirit right down to the end of the age.

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