OBEDIENCE
[I was inspired to write this while reading a book by a Lutheran theologian. I am not Lutheran. I might align with early Methodism led by John Wesley (not United Methodist Church of today). Wesley, interestingly, was inspired by Martin Luther. Yet, I do not wholly subscribe to any man-made theology. I try to be a Scripturalist, but I don’t mind hearing from others who are smarter or wiser than myself. If the Bible says it, I intend to believe it.]
There are two questions which must be answered: First, “Do I BELIEVE God?” This is not the same as “Do I believe in God?” Even demons believe God exists. Here I am asking if you know God always tells the truth? And when He gives a command, He is giving YOU the opportunity to obey.
The second question, “Do I TRUST God?” When we place our faith in God it may demand a level of trust, but what I am asking here is a bit different. Here it is, if I seek to obey Him will I trust not only His ability to accomplish it through me, but also trust Him to actually DO it through me if I choose to obey Him.
“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength; this is the first commandment. And the second is this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31 KJV.
Without any hesitation I can aver that God has not once given me a suggestion. Even so, if one were a soldier and the Supreme Commander were to “give advice,” his every word would be taken as a command. Yet, I can imagine no circumstance under which God would hesitate to make his will known. God commands and I must intentionally obey or intentionally disobey. It is always my choice.
Preachers sometimes make a theological mistake of inferring that God does not mean what he says. Most do it unintentionally through sloppy verbiage or unclear thinking. Unfortunately, others do it intentionally, perhaps for the purpose of easing the “harshness” of God’s commands, or worse, for the purpose of replacing God’s Sovereignty with their own version of “God’s Will.” To be clear, in the Garden of Eden the serpent’s re-interpretation of God’s command, and the capitulation to that falsehood by Adam and Eve, led to the greatest failure mankind has ever experienced. It is always a mistake to think God would give a command which is not to be literally understood and obeyed (at least at the time and by the people to whom it was given).
One complaint some may have about the previous statement is easily about God’s command to Abraham. “And [God] said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.” Gen 22:2 KJV. The real story there is that Abraham believed God and obeyed. Abraham knew that obedience was required. Abraham prepared. Abraham traveled to the mountain. Abraham built the altar. Abraham gathered the wood for the fire. Abraham raised the knife to sacrifice Isaac and was committed to plunging that knife into his son because God said to do it Therefore, Abraham obeyed the command and God meant it. Abraham’s reward was that God provided an alternative sacrifice as a type of Christ (That is, in a way that pointed to Christ’s death on the cross in our place). In Abraham’s heart and mind he had already sacrificed his son. He trusted God and God had a trustworthy servant.
None of God’s commands is easy or convenient. For example, God has never ordered me to “Place a dime in the offering plate,” or “Spend 90 seconds praying for friends.” No, the commands of God are hard. They entail grave inconvenience. In fact, almost everything God compels me to do is IMPOSSIBLE (and something for which I would seldom volunteer).
“For I am the Lord your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy…” Lev 11:44a.KJV.
“But, as he who hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of life, because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” I Pe 1:15-16 KJV.
That leads to a second theological mistake. (As I mentioned above, I have a simple theology which is the Bible. If the Bible says it then it is true.) There are two WRONG interpretations of God’s IMPOSSIBLE requirements and one correct one:
FIRST WRONG: “Since it is impossible, God does not expect me to obey.” This sad theology insists that Christians MUST sin every day and that the only solution is to rest 100% on God’s forgiving grace. Therefore, believers should avoid being obedient to God’s Word? This begs the question, “Why would an honest God tell us to do something he plans for us to disobey?” After all, a Sovereign God has the right to be obeyed, right?
SECOND WRONG: “Since God expects me to obey, I have the power within MYSELF to do it.” This self-aggrandizing theology insists that certain believers are given super-spiritual abilities. All we need is more than a little faith and those of us who are spiritually powerful have the ability to move mountains. These godlike people believe they have to power to heal the sick and raise the dead just because they one time repeated “The Sinners Prayer.” They prod others to follow their vanity by recklessly intoning prayers over the sick (without checking first whether there are deeper issues … I Tim 5:21) and “healing” scratch marks on their cars.
“A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if you have love one to another.” John 13:34-35 KJV
However, the CORRECT way to interpret this is not difficult to find in Scripture. The commands are impossible for believers to obey. Yet believers are required to obey them. So, we must acknowledge the truth: we cannot obey without the power of God’s Holy Spirit within; his power is sufficient. All things are possible with God. Therefore, we CAN obey and MUST obey as we trust in the only source of power. We do not have to sin daily due to our weaknesses if we allow God in us to overcome our sinful nature. We have no ability in ourselves to do the right things, but we can do all things through Christ our strength (Phil 4:13). If this were not more than we can handle we would not need the Holy Spirit living in us. Fact is, believers do sometimes fail because they are human, (but they are not required to fail) and thankfully God is always forgiving and renewing us.
This subject of Obedience to God takes us far beyond ourselves. Obedience first demands that we Believe God; He presents a clear demand which must be met. Obviously, it is beyond our own ability to obey. Therefore, Obedience secondly demands that we Trust God to provide the power which we lack. The Holy Spirit in us is able, and through Him we actually complete the task given. There is no other option. God commands and we obey. If He says, “deny yourself and take up your cross” He means it. The only question left is, “Will we?”
[Unfortunately there is not space here to explore the many benefits of obedience. Maybe that will be a future post.]
Copyright 2023 Donald Whelpley
[PLEASE NOTE that Don is always open to discussing the thoughts and opinions he shares here and welcomes comments as shared in the comment section. He doesn’t use other social media platforms, as I do, and won’t see whatever you’d like to share with him elsewhere. ~ Sherry]
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