How is it possible for a man or a woman to obey God? Have you ever thought about that? I have, I still do, every single day of my life, ok maybe not every day, but often, maybe a little bit more than seldom. In fact, not only do I think about it, I pray for it. I really do; don't you? I want to be obedient to God, don't you? The apparent problem about obedience for me is solved by pondering about what God has done for me during the past 24 or so years; this is a true statement, if I have ever been obedient to Him at all, it is because He made it happen; I didn't really have anything to do with His work, except being at the receiving end of the equation. If I was willing, is because He made me willing.
Obedience is a work of God. I am talking about experiential, tangible, everyday obedience; obedience in thoughts, and in words and actions. Obedience is very similar to faith, it actually comes with it, it works the same way as far as I can see it in the word of God, and in my experience, as subjective as that can be.
In reality, no one can obey God, the same way that no one can believe God without His sovereign grace working in the heart; disobedience is the fundamental problem of the human heart; it is worse when the heart has never been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, that is obvious; but for the ones who have been born from above, obedience is a matter of faith and trust; it has to be, since only those who have been regenerated and granted faith can be obedient to God.
So what comes first, the chicken or the egg? God created chickens first, so the chicken comes first; in the same way I can ask, what comes first, faith or obedience? Neither one; what comes first is regeneration, then faith, then obedience; and what makes regeneration possible? Grace or mercy? Both, since they are only possible to be granted because of the work of Jesus on His death and resurrection; it is through Jesus' body and blood being offered as a sacrifice that our redemption was accomplished; Jesus' sacrifice was the price He had to pay to get us out of darkness into His marvelous light.
That might sound weird to you but it is not weird, it actually makes sense; think about it, man in his natural state is dead in tresspassess and sins, he lives in the flesh all the time, and according to Paul, man cannot be subject to the law of God, it is impossible, he cannot please God; he needs to be given life first, or be born again, then he is given grace through faith so that he can believe; no one can believe without faith, no one can have faith and be obedient without grace, and no one can have either one without being made alive first.
But not only was His body and blood offered as a sacrifice, His whole life was offered at the same time; He lived a life of perfect obedience to God the Father; it was necessary that He would have to be tempted and tried in every way as we are, and suffered in a human body, yet without sin, so He could sympathize with us, the bible says; He is the Lamb of God, without blemish or spot or any such thing.
Thinking very carefully about what obedience is, I have to look at it from the negative side, disobedience is basically the opposite, duh, but disobedience is the very reason the human race is sunk in a state of depravity; our first parents disobeyed God, they were deceived by the cunningness of the serpent; they disobeyed because of deceit; their disobedience was originated by believing something that was not true about God, their disobedience was basically not believing what God said and acted accordingly; or in other words, their disobedience was the result of their lack of trust in God's word, God's commandments; and obviously, it all was based on their unbelief of what God said was true; I can say that Satan's deception caused them to not believe God and therefore to disobey God.
I wrote another post called "disobedience is idolatry", which I haven't posted yet because I keep on adding stuff to it and it is too long by now, and in it, I bring up king Saul as an example of it; you can find the story in 1 Samuel 15, I'm not going to rewrite what I said in that post because you don't have the time to read it and because I'm lazy, but there is one verse in the story where Saul says "I have sinned; I have indeed transgressed the command of the LORD and your words (Samuel's), because I feared the people and listened to their voice"; sounds familiar?
The word of God is majestic, it is awesome, it is glorious, it is relevant for any circumstance, it never changes, and above all, it is truth, it is always true, every single word in the bible is trustworthy, do you agree? I do agree with myself, it is true, the word is, and it is majestic and sharper than any two-edged sword, it is living and powerful, and it is perspicuous, it is clear, and lucid, and understandable; it is the light that pierces the darkness of our humanity, and as the apostle says, it discerns the thoughts and the intents of the heart, this heart that refuses to comply with its directives.
I have been searching, and researching this subject for many days, in fact it has been months, maybe even years, I don't really know how long it has been, I don't even know what day it is or the date, but it is a subject that fascinates me, to me, it is one of those mysteries of life that either drive you crazy or give you peace.
On one side we have some teachers and preachers that use obedience as a chastening rod, I have heard all kinds of aberrations coming from their mouths in regards to this topic, it is almost insane (like saying that the man with the withered hand was healed because he was obedient when he stretched out his hand, yeah really, that's what a pastor said, which is ridiculous, it is like saying that the light was obedient when God said let there be light); at the end of their messages you either think you are a piece of crap for being disobedient, or you think the guy is a total idiot, like in that case. Oh my goodness!! I just called that pastor a total idiot, what a blasphemy, how dare I? I repent.
Then on the other side, there are those who don't even want to discuss it for fear of sounding legalistic, or even worse, antinomian; but the truth is that the bible calls God's children to be obedient, period. It is a reality of this Christian walk, we must obey God's word or else it is useless, but a disobedient Christian is a contradiction, there cannot be disobedient Christians, it is impossible the way I see it displayed in that holy book.
You might be asking what am I talking about? I say it is impossible to be disobedient if you are a real Christian, but that sounds too farfetched, it sounds 'out there', doesn't it? It does but it is not out there, it is not farfetched, it is actually what the bible teaches as far as I can see (which might not be too far); of course there is no verse that says "it is impossible to be disobedient", but what I mean is that a true Christian cannot live a lifestyle of disobedience; it is the same as when John says in his letter: 1Jn 3:9-10 No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. (10) By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.
Do you see what I mean? The practice of sin is impossible for those who have been born of God, why? Because His seed abides in him. What is the seed John is talking about? It is God's seed, namely the nature of God, who abides in believers through the Holy Spirit living in them, that is why he cannot sin, because he has been born of God, and since God is love, the believer loves his brother, with the same love with which God loves him (for some reason that doesn't read right, it must be my English, or maybe it is just my brain). So, as John says, anyone who practices unrighteousness is not from God; and what is the practice of unrighteousness? It is disobedience to what God commands, to His will, that is what it is; and who are those who are disobedient and practice unrighteousness? According to John, they are the children of the devil.
But, what is this so seemingly elusive obedience? It is keeping God's word. John 14:14-21 "If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. (15) "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. (16) "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; (17) that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. (18) "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. (19) "After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. (20) "In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. (21) "He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him."
Here Jesus equates keeping His commandments with loving Him; this is a statement of fact, not a conditional statement, it is like saying 'if the sun burns it will give its light', it is a fact that the sun will give its light because it is burning; that is why He explains that He will ask the Father to give them a Helper to be in them, and us who believe, this is the assurance that they will keep His commandments, because the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, love without which we could not love Him nor obey Him, or keep His commandments; and He says it again: John 15:10 "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love." How did Jesus keep His Father's commandments? By being obedient, by practicing righteousness. This is the very same obedience that has been imputed unto the one who believes in Jesus; that is why I said that obedience is related to faith in Jesus.
Here are more verses to help me see it:
Eph 2:1-3 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, (2) in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. (3) Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
We were children of disobedience because we were living according to the course of this world, we had another spirit working in us causing us to indulge in our flesh and the desires of our mind, the wrath of God was hanging over our heads since the moment we arrived in this planet, we were dead, we were walking corpses, but we are no longer sons of disobedience but sons of the Most High God, willingly desiring to obey Him, that is the longing of our hearts now.
Eph 5:5-9 For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. (6) Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. (7) Therefore do not be partakers with them; (8) for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (9) (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth).
You see that? Again, we were in darkness, immoral, impure, covetous and idolaters, but we are now Light in the Lord; and the fruit of that light is goodness and righteousness and truth, we are sons of obedience now.
Col 3:5-8 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. (6) For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, (7) and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. (8) But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.
Once more, Paul likes to use that term doesn't he? Sons of disobedience, which amounts to the unregenerate, the unbelievers; the opposite is that we are children of obedience, and the children of obedience behave in such way, not in immorality, impurity, passion, anger, wrath, malice, slander, foul mouthed nor greedy and idolatrous; consider your mortal body as dead to these things he says, that is how obedience is demonstrated.
John 3:36 "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."
Acts 5:32 "And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him."
2Thes. 1:8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
Heb. 5:9 And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation,
1Pet.1:2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.
Rom 6:17-18 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, (18) and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. (Having been regenerated you believed and were obedient).
Faith in Jesus results in righteousness, this faith enables obedience, it causes obedience; this is so awesome that Paul basically says that being obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which we were committed, we have become slaves of righteousness; and only those who have faith have become slaves of righteousness, or slaves of Jesus because there is no unrighteousness in Him.
Another place where this is very clear is Hebrews 11:1-2 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (2) For by it the men of old gained approval. Whose approval? God's approval; by faith Abraham obeyed God, etc. Every single example of faith in those mentioned there by the apostle performed an act of faith and obedience to please God; so what was it that pleased God? Their faith, and their obedience, look at Rahab and see how this is worded: Heb 11:31 By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace.
Is that a mistake? Not at all. "Those who were disobedient"; who are they? The people who lived in Jericho, right? And who were they? Pagans, unbelievers, people who had no faith in the God of Israel and among whom Rahab lived, even though she was a prostitute; her faith rendered her obedient to God.
Am I confusing you? I hope not; it is very clear to me that faith is considered obedience; obedience is the external manifestation of the internal reality of faith, but they are the same thing, at least in those verses above; they are interchangeable terms as I see it. I think this is the reason why Paul says this in Philippians 2:12-13 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; (13) for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
Do you see what I have been talking about? Paul says to work out your salvation, which means to demonstrate it in the exterior, with your behaviour, in the way we speak and act, to bring it out from the heart, with fear and trembling; why with fear and trembling? What does that mean? It means with awe, with faith, with humility, with meekness, and with a broken and contrite heart, always repenting, always humbling under His mighty hand, knowing the power of the Lord to kill body and soul in hell, and always abounding with more grace, and why is this so? Because it is the work of God, He is the One who actually makes it happen, because He delights in making it happen, it is His pleasure; it brings Him glory; because He is all powerful and can make it happen, so we fear and tremble at the thought of displeasing Him.
Now, don't get me all wrong and think that I'm saying that to have faith is to be obedient, even though that is what I'm saying, but what I am also saying is that obedience is to believe, which is the same thing; actually I'm not the one who is saying that, the bible is saying that, as you can clearly read above. But this faith is the real deal, James makes that explicit when he says that even the demons believe and they tremble; the kind of faith that is equivalent to obedience is the saving kind of faith that is the only kind possessed by those who in Romans 8 have been called, justified, sanctified and glorified. The ones for whom all things are working together for their good.
Saying it in another way, this obedience is the manifestation of the faith that saves; as I said before, real believers are obedient because they cannot help themselves but to be obedient; regeneration changes the heart from a heart of stone into a heart of flesh, it changes our nature from being slaves to sin, to being slaves to righteousness; no matter how you look at it, we are still slaves, but we are now slaves to righteousness; and as slaves we have no option but to obey; but we obey willingly, because it is our nature to be obedient; this is the new creation of God in Christ (2Cor. 5:17), this is the miracle of regeneration leading to sanctification, and ultimately to glorification.
The problem, and it is just an apparent problem because it is expected to happen, the same way death is expected to happen, is that we are not obedient one hundred percent of the time of our lives in these bodies; and this is obviously what Paul is talking about in Romans 7; we don't do what we really want to do, and we do what we really don't want to do, furthermore, we also have doubts, sooner or later you will be attacked by doubt; this is the reality of the Christian life; the magnificent thing about it is that God sees us as obedient children, and the only reason He sees us like that is because we are in Christ.
I can see all of the above as my situational, or positional perspective, as in 'being' in a position, or the permanent situation of my being; that is my present state in life from the heavenly perspective; so obviously this has to be present in my experience, and it is; this is the very reason I think and write about this; it is pure, unadulterated truth, and by its very nature has to be reflected in the way I think, speak and act.
The reality of sanctification is where the rubber meets the road; either I am obedient most of the time, or not; and I say most of the time because no one can be obedient all the time, as illustrated by what Pauls says in his writings, and reflected in my personal experience, and in yours also. There is only one person who has ever been or ever will be obedient in the history of this world; and that privilege is only enjoyed by our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.
My Saviour, my Lord and my God, Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Son of Man, the Ancient of Days, is the only person in whom I trust for my salvation, He is my only hope, He said it: 'I Am the way , the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me'. I think about the wonder of it all, it is truly amazing, amazing love, amazing grace, I believe in the amazing God who found it the good pleasure of His will to set His favor on me; He has chosen the base and the foolish, and the weak things of this world to confound the exalted, the wise and the strong, and make them seem stupid and worthless, unworthy to even be compared to His wisdom.
This is the foolishness and the stumbling block to the Jews, and to the Greeks, but to us who are being saved, the power of God and the wisdom of God. I see the work of God in my life all the time, but I haven't always seen it, mostly when I was more aware of the oven of affliction than His work. Now I see that even in suffering He never stops His work in me, He always provides the comfort needed and the grace needed to keep on going, day by day; and I am very grateful for that.
Sometimes I am not obedient to God, I confess; but He knows that, there is nothing I can hide from God, we are all like open books in His eyes, that is where the fear and trembling comes from; from the awareness of our true wretchedness, the revelation of who Jesus is makes our condition obvious, and we hunger and thirst for His righteousness.
I know this post is too long, and I can't help that, it is what it is; but the main question in my mind is 'am I an obedient Christian?'; and the answer is yes I am; and so are you if you are a real Christian, a man or a woman who really believes that no amount of obedience on your part can gain you any approval with God, who is perfection and who will not accept anything but perfection from us.
Do you run to Jesus when your obedience falters? Do you trust in Him alone for your justification? Do you live in a permanent state of repentance knowing that you cannot stop sinning? Do you see your own righteousness as a filthy rag before Jesus? Do you consider that if our righteousness is a filthy rag, how filthy would our unrighteousness be? Do you see your impotence, your inability, your failure to comply with His commands? Do you acknowledge that no one can save you from sin and hell but the One and Only Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you believe the gospel of Christ, God in human form? You do? Then you are obedient to the gospel of God; and Jesus' own perfect obedience has been imputed unto you.
So stop tripping, and try a little harder.... I'm kidding. I hope you see my point, but at the same time I hope we all see the vanity of trying to be something that we already are. It is true, that we should strive to obey God in all things, the more when we realize that there is a spiritual battle going on; in the unseen world of the heavenly places, as Paul calls it, there is strife, and there is struggle, and there is fighting; but we need not despair because we not only have the Holy Spirit making intercession for us with groanings that cannot be put into words, but we also have the Saviour at the right hand of the Father also making intercession for us; we have two full time intercessors praying for us and defending us against all accusations, and they are none other than God Himself.
We can rightly say with Paul 2Co 10:3-6 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, (4) for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. (5) We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, (6) and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.
Have a nice day.
http://makariotes.blogspot.com
