Obedience To God Is Key In The Christian Life

by Kevin Burton

   Teach us this day oh Lord, that “obey” is not Pig Latin, but a central and essential message of the Bible.

   I’m not sure which preacher it was that said the Ten Commandments are nor ten suggestions and of course everybody knows that without being told. But this is a good and a needed reminder, don’t you think?

   If not, why would Jesus ask, “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?”

   “Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great” (Luke 6: 46-49 MKJV).

    Also consider: “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him” (John 14:21 NKJV).

   We have an example of the need for obedience of our Heavenly Father from our earthly families, writes Alistair Begg, speaker on the Truth For Life radio ministry.

   “When the believer is adopted into the Lord’s family, his relationship to old Adam and the law ceases at once; but then he is under a new rule and a new covenant,” Begg writes. “Believer, you are God’s child; it is your first duty to obey your heavenly Father.”

   “A servile spirit you have nothing to do with: You are not a slave but a child. And now, inasmuch as you are a beloved child, you are bound to obey your Father’s faintest wish, the least intimation of His will.”

   “Does He bid you fulfill a sacred ordinance? It is at your peril that you neglect it, for you will be disobeying your Father. Does He command you to seek the image of Jesus? Is it not your joy to do so?”

   “Does Jesus tell you, ‘You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect’?Then not because the law commands, but because your Savior enjoins, you will labor to be perfect in holiness.”

   “Does He bid his saints to love one another? Do it, not because the law says, ‘Love your neighbor,’ but because Jesus says, ‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments.’”

   “And this is the commandment that He has given unto you, ‘that you love one another.’”

   “Are you told to distribute to the poor? Do it, not because charity is a burden that you dare not shirk, but because Jesus teaches, ‘Give to him that asks of you.’ Does the Word say, “Love God with all your heart”? Look at the commandment and reply, “Ah, commandment, Christ has fulfilled you already. I have no need, therefore, to fulfill you for my salvation, but I rejoice to yield obedience to you because God is my Father now, and He has a claim upon me, which I would not dispute.”

   We have all seen Christians rebuking unbelievers for their various gross sins. In a way that makes sense, but in a way not. After all, those with no belief in Christ are doing what comes natural to a person born with a sin nature.

   Sinners sin.

   But a believer, though he will not be perfect until he enters Heaven, should be striving for perfection nonetheless. The core of that is obedience to God.

   There are some mysteries in the Bible for sure. But much of it is all too clear.

   “May the Holy Ghost make your heart obedient to the constraining power of Christ’s love,” Begg writes, “that your prayer may be, ‘I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart!’”

   ^“Grace is the mother and nurse of holiness, and not the apologist of sin.”