Beautiful Obedience

Mark Dunagan
11/28/10 - Sunday Morning

Beautiful Obedience

“I read 2 Corinthians today, and noticed no less than three mentions of ‘obedience’ (Greek hupakoe) within a space of nine verses (9:13; 10:5-6). You don’t hear much about obedience in some Christian quarters. I can’t think of the last time I heard a sustained and hard-hitting sermon on obedience, one that did more than tag its hem while flying quickly back to the subject of grace. Maybe every 20th sermon should be about obedience” (Andree Seu, “The Forgotten Word”, 11-4-2010, Worldmag.com).

I can understand why the world would want to forget or ignore obedience – it isn’t easy, but for religious people who profess to be Christians to downplay the importance of obedience is without excuse – especially when God has clearly stated that He prizes obedience over all sorts of things:

• “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams” (1 Samuel 15:22).

So God has made it clear: He delights in obedience over everything else. In the context of 1 Samuel, offering a huge sacrifice did not make up for a failure to obey what was initially commanded (15:15). Obviously, there is no substitute for obedience. God will not accept some sort of religious substitute. For example:

1. I cannot replace baptism with saying a prayer: Mark 16:16
2. I cannot say to myself, “I am doing quite well in this one area of my life, therefore I can stay in rebellion in this other area” (James 2:10).

No Delay

One writer noted that when she is dealing with a problem, perhaps an area of doubt she was struggling with, that it finally dawned on her that she was nursing it until she had time to meet with someone to discuss it. Counseling is important, but one of the dangers to avoid is to think that I don’t have to work on my doubt or obedience until I am talked out of doubt or into obedience. Talking to people is good and healthy, but we are not necessarily at obedience yet, when we are still merely talking. Obedience would include, “I want your insight here, but since the time I called you, I have been working on this question, praying about it, ransacking the Scriptures, I have discovered several possible answers”. When it comes to obedience, every moment needs to be used wisely (Hebrews 6:12).

Mental Obedience – Giving God all my Heart

• “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart... and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).
• “Let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1).
• “We are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ”(2 Corinthians 10:5).
• “Whatever is... true... let your mind dwell on these things”(Philippians 4:8).

Therefore, it is not enough to think that it is okay to believe something that is false just as long as you or someone else is not spreading it. That’s not the obedience that Christ commands. Can you imagine Jesus or the apostles saying that it was okay to hold to Gnostic or Nicolaitan doctrines just as long as one did not verbalize such teachings to others? Obedience includes not even “holding” such views (Revelation 2:14,15). Jesus wants our heart, not just our body.

The Right View of Grace

The grace that God offers does not remove the need to obey, rather, the grace that God offers provides the motivation, instruction and opportunity to obey:

• “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age”(Titus 2:11-12).

The proper response to grace is anything but slouching morally. The due response to God’s unmerited forgiveness of my sins is great effort in serving Him:

• “...by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them” (1 Corinthians 15:10).
• We see the same truth in Ephesians 2:8-10, where grace is followed by God’s people being diligent in working for Him. Grace is not opposed to effort, rather, it is opposed to thinking that we have earned or merited our salvation.
• Thus, we work hard for God, all the while remembering that none of this has earned our salvation or could ever put Him in debt to us. “So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done’” (Luke 17:10).

Keeping Obedience Simple

I am impressed that God does not make obedience a complicated thing, rather the passages on obedience are often described in very simple terms:

• “Not everyone who says to Me; ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
• The man who obeys is likened to a man who built his house on the rock (Matthew 7:24-27).
• If we are not obeying Christ, then it is obvious we are not taking Him seriously or truly viewing Him as the Master (Luke 6:46).
• If we love Christ, we obey Him (John 14:23). He has told us such is His “love language”.
• We only truly know God if we are obeying Him (1 John 2:3).
• Love for God is expressed in a very simple and clear form: we obey His commandments and view them not as a burden, that is, we obey happily and without complaint (1 John 5:3).

“When I think of obedience in the simplest terms, I think of a dog being told what to do and doing it: ‘Heel’, ‘Stay’, ‘Lie down’. It is best not to get too much fancier than that, lest we obfuscate the sheer submissiveness of obedience. God gives commands and we are to obey them. ‘Lord, your wish is my command’ – that’s the idea”(Andree Seu).

We must keep things simple because it is so easy to deceive ourselves into thinking that we don’t really have to submit to what is being said in the Word of God. The writer James warns, “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves” (James 1:22). James then gives the remedy to avoid such self delusion, which is nothing more or less than continually looking at Scripture and ourselves (James 1:25). The importance of looking intently into God’s law is readily seen when we look around us and see people who think they are faithful Christians who are believing things completely at odds with Scripture, such as:

• Baptism is not necessary for salvation – yet 1 Peter 3:21 clearly says “Baptism now saves you”.
• One is saved by faith alone – yet James 2:24 plainly states“You see a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone”
• One cannot lose their salvation – while Galatians 5:4 reads“You have fallen from grace”.
• Jesus Christ gave another gospel thru an angel – yet Galatians 1:8 warns “But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed”.
• Homosexuality is genetic – yet, Romans 1:26 explains those engaged in such behavior have “exchanged the natural function for that which is not natural”.
• We cannot understand the Bible alike – yet Ephesians 3:4 clears that up when it says “And by referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ”.

“So go ahead: Feel free to obey Christ, every command you can remember! Feel free to aggressively put on every article of armor in Ephesians. Scour Christ’s gospels for every command, suggestion, and counsel, with intent of performing them. Without hesitation. Without reservation. Without fear of sin (imagine that we have to say this). Without total abandon” (Andree Seu).

The Benefit of Obedience

• “So the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God for our good always and for our survival”(Deut. 6:24). Obedience opens up the door for blessings, a deeper spiritual life, a muscular faith, our continuance and survival as God’s people, and is insurance that the faith will be passed on to the next generation.
• It is easy to forget that the reason why you and I heard the truth and the correct plan of salvation is due to the uncompromising and unbending obedience of many generations before us. Their obedience did not look glamorous, it did not gain them many earthly rewards, yet it eventually was a contributing factor toward own salvation, and is thus priceless.
• While the rules in the world are in constant flux (Ephesians 4:14), I cherish the idea that the rules that God wants us to observe are unchanging. “He gives me the three ‘R’s’ I want: Relationship, Reason to live, and Rules to live by” (Andree Seu).
• Only when I obey will I find out really who I am and what I am capable of doing. You see, I was designed by God to obey. This is my primary function as a human being, all else is a mere side issue. When I obey, I am operating according to the designer’s specifications (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14). How sad it would be to live a life-time and never discover what you could have done with your life, or how patient, kind, courageous, loving, or moral you could have been. What a waste. Rather, how thrilling to serve Christ fully and end up surprised by your new level of courage, virtue, honesty and commitment.

Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net