a biblical picture of obedience

David VanAcker, Pastor of Discipleship

Grace Church, Sunday Worship

Various Texts

September 18th, 2011

introduction

It is a simple and obvious fact that God’s people are called to obey God.  Consider the following verses:

Deuteronomy 6:1-3  Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the rules that the LORD your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it,  ² that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long.  ³ Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

John 3:36  Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Hebrews 5:9  And being made perfect, he [Jesus] became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him.

1 John 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 

Consider also the fact that there are hundreds and hundreds of commands given by God in Scripture:

Deuteronomy 6:4-5  Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.  ⁵ You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 

Love your neighbor as yourself…(Matthew 22:39).

Rejoice in the LORD…(Philippians 4:4).

Bridle your tongue…(James 1:26).

Do not quarrel, be jealous, be angry, be hostile, slander, gossip, be conceited, be disorderly…(2 Cor. 12:20).

Have no gods before God…(Exodus 20).

And consider the severe punishment that God promises for all who refuse to obey:

Deuteronomy 8:20  Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God.

Romans 2:6-8  [God] will render to each one according to his works:  ⁷ to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life;  ⁸ but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.

For me, these three plain teachings in Scripture (direct commands to obey God, the direct commands of God, and the harsh penalties described for disobeying God) make a clear and undeniable case that we are expected—indeed required—to obey God.

Now I hope this seems obvious to you.  I hope you’re wondering why I’ve already talked for so long about something so plain.  The main reasons are: 1) I’m convinced that, despite of the obviousness of these things, we (I) are missing some equally obvious things as well; and 2) There area some areas of confusion surrounding the obedience that God requires of us.  Let’s look at each.

The obvious things that we miss

To illustrate the first reason, I’d like to share a story of something that happened recently (I asked Jeremiah’s permission to tell this to you).  My sons and I are reading through the bible in a particular way.  One aspect of our approach is to take some notes as we read.  And one of the things that we make a note of each time is any commands or applications that the passage expects us to obey. 

For some time I’d been wrestling over issues surrounding obedience to God…I felt uncomfortable about how easy it is for me to disobey God at times.  I felt convicted about slipping into a comfortable groove when there’s a spiritual battle raging all around me.  I’d been hearing and seeing a lot of confusion in the church surrounding true obedience.  And I’d seen a lot of disobedience in my life and others.  In short, I was spending a decent amount of time in thought and prayer about the problem of disobedience and what I might do about it. 

In this context Jeremiah presented me with his notes one evening and God used what he wrote to clarify some things that I’d been struggling with.  When we got to the command/application note he rightly understood that the passage was calling him (and all of us) to repent—to turn from our sins to God.  When I asked him if he did, his reply was, “Did I what?”.  “Repent,” I said.  He looked at me with a puzzled look on his face.  “Buddy, you just told me that in this passage God calls his people to confess their sins and turn from them.  Did you confess your sins and ask God for help to repent of them?” 

It did not dawn on Jeremiah (in this case at least) that God’s command to repent meant that he should actually repent.  This might sound silly at first.  It might seem obvious at first.  However, as I thought about it I realized that this happens over and over in my life and in the lives of the people that I pastor.  I wondered how many times before he’d brought me an answer just like that one and I’d accepted it as legitimate.  I wondered how many times I’d read a passage that clearly called me to some kind of obedience which I mentally acknowledged but completely ignored at the same time.

The first reason that I want to give an obvious sermon is that some of its obviousness isn’t as obvious as it should be.  My prayer is that God would use this sermon to wake us up to the reality that we’re missing some things that we shouldn’t be missing.  Chief among these things is simple fact that when God gives a command he expects that we’ll obey it, now!

Matthew 4:17  Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand…now!

John 14:1  Believe in God; believe also in [Jesus]…now!

Ephesians 5:25  Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her…now!

Ephesians 5:22  Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord…now!

Ephesians 6:4  Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord…now!

Ephesians 6:1  Children, obey your parents in the Lord…now!                                  

1 Thessalonians 5:11  Encourage one another and build one another up…now!

1 Thessalonians 5:14-22  Admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.  ¹⁵ See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.  ¹⁶ Rejoice always,  ¹⁷ pray without ceasing,  ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances…¹⁹ Do not quench the Spirit.  ²⁰ Do not despise prophecies,  ²¹ but test everything; hold fast what is good.  ²² Abstain from every form of evil…now!

I imagine that there are many reasons why we struggle with this.  Perhaps some of the reasons are legitimate.  I’m confident that most of them are not, however. 

The God of the universe has issued commands for his people.  What must become obvious to us is that he expects—demands even—is that we obey them. 

This is plain.  Its implications, at times, are not.  Let’s look at seven challenging aspects of the doctrine of obedience. 

Areas of confusion

Before we get to this last section, however, I want to repeat something that I’ve said numerous times before. 

As an occasional preacher I love the fact that I can cut right to the chase.  I love that I can pick a topic or passage that God’s been laying on my mind and heart and go after it with you. 

On the other hand it feels almost paralyzing to get only one week to speak on a topic as huge as this.  What follows is a painfully abbreviated attempt to address some massive concepts. 

In a way I’m going to raise more questions than I’m going to answer.  Please see this sermon as a starting point rather than a finish line.  Please use this sermon as a sort-of-guide to examine Scripture and your life in regards to obedience to God.  Bring this up at home, in family devotions, at your DG, in your time of personal devotions.  If you’re content with what I offer in the next few minutes it means that you missed most of what I offered. 

With my disclaimer out of the way, I want to invite you to join me in struggling through seven questions surrounding obedience to God. 

1.    What, specifically, are we to obey?

As the Catechism says, all that we are responsible to obey is the Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.  It (the Word of God) is the only rule to direct us in our obedience.  We are not responsible to obey anything not expressly taught in God’s Word (in the form of a command or principle). 

This means that we must know God’s Word.  This means that we are responsible to study it and meditate on it.

This is why we have Berea.  This is why the longest part of our worship service is the preaching of God’s Word.  This is why Pastor Daniel preaches mainly expositional sermons.  This is why the majority of our DG time is spent in study.  This is why the main responsibility of pastors, according to the NT, is to give themselves to the study of God’s Word and to prayer.  And this is why we promote Scripture memory. 

We are to obey God’s Word and only God’s Word. 

2.    How much of God’s Word are we supposed to obey?

We all intuitively know that in this life we’ll never be fully like Jesus.  We’re not perfect.  We’re still weak.  God can’t therefore expect that we’d perfectly obey, can he?

In the Great Commission we read these words:

Matthew 28:18-20  And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

At the beginning of verse 20 we read that Jesus’ disciples are commanded to observe “all that I have commanded you.”  This means what you think it means.  It means that Jesus expects us to obey all of his commands.  We’re not called to obey some of God’s Word now and a bit more after we’ve grown up in Christ.  We’re called to obey all of it now.

3.    Is obedience required for our salvation?

This is one of the most historically charged discussions surrounding obedience to God.  And so we’ll spend the bulk of our time here.  I’ve just said that God demands obedience from his people and promises terrible consequences for those who do not obey.  How then does our obedience relate to our salvation?  Or, does our obedience in any way contribute to our salvation? 

The Church, even in the NT, wrestled with these questions.  Paul and Jesus speak directly to this matter.

Ephesians 2:8-9  For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,  ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 

John 3:16-18  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.  ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Luther and Calvin too directly address this question.  In many ways the entire Reformation was fueled by this question.

Luther says[1], “Faith is God's work in us, that changes us and gives new birth from God. (John 1:13). It kills the Old Adam and makes us completely different people. It changes our hearts, our spirits, our thoughts and all our powers. It brings the Holy Spirit with it. Yes, it is a living, creative, active and powerful thing, this faith.”

And Calvin says[2], “Christ given to us by the kindness of God is apprehended and possessed by faith, by means of which we obtain in particular a twofold benefit; first, being reconciled by the righteousness of Christ, God becomes, instead of a judge, an indulgent Father…”

We’ll get to Calvin’s second benefit in a moment, but please know that still today we find this discussion raging on.  Pastors like John Piper and R.C. Sproul still feel the need to defend this doctrine.

Piper says, “Christ died for your sins and he provided a righteousness, so that all of your guilt can be taken away and all the righteousness that God requires of you can be provided totally by another. And this forgiveness and righteousness is received totally by faith alone.”

And Sproul says, “We are not saved by a profession of faith or by a claim to faith. That faith has to be genuine before the merit of Christ will be imputed to anybody. You can’t just say you have faith.”

In the awesomely unified words of these men (spanning 2000 years) we find ourselves looking squarely into the face of the gospel.  The essence of what they are saying is this: Everyone, like Adam, has failed to obey God.  No one has kept (what theologians call) the covenant of works established in Genesis 2. 

Genesis 2:16-17  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden,  ¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."

Adam ate the fruit of disobedience which we have continued to eat ever since.  And so we, like Adam, must die.  No amount of obedience on our part is able to make amends for our disobedience.  But God provided for us One who could make amends for our disobedience because he was both like and not like Adam. 

He was able to make amends for our disobedience because he was like Adam in that he had no earthly father (and therefore no inherited guilt).  He was like Adam in that he was a man in the flesh (and therefore able to atone for the sins of men of flesh).  He was like Adam in that he was charged to obey God the Father. 

But he was able to make amends for our disobedience because he was not like Adam in that he was superior to Adam in every way.  In fact, he is infinite God (and therefore able to atone for all sins).  He perfectly obeyed (and therefore had no sins of his own to atone for).    He is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15).  He is before all things and in him all things hold together (Colossians 1:17).  This one is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact imprint of his nature (Hebrews 1:3).  His name is Jesus!

And this Jesus was handed over to disobedient men to be crucified for the sins of all who would believe on him.  His obedience, his keeping of God’s requirements, his taking the wrath of God upon himself for the sins of the world, purchased, for all of God’s people, for all who would accept his death as their own, eternal life.  By grace, through faith, we are united to Christ in his death and resurrection and in his favor with God.  Our salvation, then, is not the result of our obedience or works, but Christ’s.  The terrible punishment promised by God for disobedience was executed on Jesus on the cross for all who would trust in him. 

In short, our salvation results from Christ’s obedience not ours.  We must be clear on the fact that we’re called to obey all of what God’s Word calls us to, but not as a basis for finding favor with God. 

4.    If obedience is not a requirement for salvation, why then should we obey?

Once we get past the fact that obedience isn’t the basis for our salvation, and that once we’re in Christ the threat of punishment from the Father is gone, we can quickly find ourselves in other murky waters.  If we can be saved apart from our obedience, why obey?  Why wouldn’t we just go on sinning?

Again, this question dates all the way back to the NT.

James asks, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” 

And Paul asks, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound” (Romans 6:1)?

But Paul answers,  “By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?  ³ Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  ⁴ We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.  ⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.  ⁶ We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.  ⁷ For one who has died has been set free from sin.  ⁸ Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.  ⁹ We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.  ¹⁰ For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.  ¹¹ So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.  ¹² Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions.  ¹³ Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness” (Romans 6:2-13).

.And Luther answers, “Faith cannot help doing good works constantly. It doesn't stop to ask if good works ought to be done, but before anyone asks, it already has done them and continues to do them without ceasing.  Anyone who does not do good works in this manner is an unbeliever.  He stumbles around and looks for faith and good works, even though he does not know what faith or good works are.”

And Calvin answers, naming the second benefit of God-given faith, “Being sanctified by his Spirit, we aspire to integrity and purity of life.”

And Piper answers, “The faith that justifies justifies by faith alone, but the faith that justifies is never alone. It will always be accompanied by graces like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control."

And Sproul answers, “True faith will absolutely and necessarily yield the fruits of obedience and the works of righteousness.”

Again, over a 2000 year span, we find these men speaking in complete unity about the fact that the faith that God freely gives, and through which saves his people, also produces good works in his people.  Christ’s obedience did not simply secure a pardon for all the disobedient among us.  It also secured new life, new hearts, and new obedience for us as well.  Indeed, our obedience results from our salvation.  It is not caused by it.  We obey because we’re saved, not in order to get saved.

Paul says it succinctly, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10)

Simply, our salvation is a work of God.  That is, God must do a work in us in order for us to trust in him and be saved.  The same work that causes us to trust in him and saves us also changes our desires.  Our old desires were for the things of this world; to obey our sinful lusts.  Our new God-given desires, which necessarily result from God’s work in our lives, are for the things of God; to obey his sweet commands.

Simpler still, we obey God as Christians because God causes us to want to. 

We must be clear on the fact that, for a Christian, we’re called to obey, not as a requirement for our salvation, but as a result of it. 

5.    How are we to obey now?

All who have been born again, who are truly saved, have Christ in them.  It is Christ in us who enables us to obey.  We disobeyed in our own strength.  We now obey in Christ’s strength. 

Philippians 4:12-13  I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  ¹³ I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

2 Corinthians 12:9  "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

Galatians 2:20   I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Ephesians 3:14-17  For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,  ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,  ¹⁶ that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,  ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith...

Again, we now obey in the strength that Christ provides.

6.    How should we look at obedience in light of Christ’s work on our behalf?

All of the promises of disobedience are lies.  Disobedience promises joy and happiness but always leads to destruction.

On the other hand, when we come to faith in Jesus Christ and he comes to live in us, we come to understand that God is for us and not against us (Romans 8:31) and that his commands truly bring light and life (Psalm 119:105).  Our obedience in Christ and to Christ flows from a trust that everything he’s told us to do is good and right and for our joy and satisfaction and, ultimately, for God’s glory (which is our chief aim and source of satisfaction).  His commands are not burdensome when we trust that they flow from his perfect love and wisdom and are infinitely superior to the lies of this world.

1 John 5:3  “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.”

Psalm 119:97-105  Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.  ⁹⁸ Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me.  ⁹⁹ I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.  ¹⁰⁰ I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts.  ¹⁰¹ I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word.  ¹⁰² I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me.  ¹⁰³ How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!  ¹⁰⁴ Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.  ¹⁰⁵ Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Obeying Christ in Christ is like being commanded to accept a free meal at your favorite restaurant.  It’s like being commanded to enjoy a vacation at the beach.  It’s like being commanded to take the job of your dreams.  It’s like being commanded to delight in the love of your spouse.  It’s like being commanded to eat your favorite desert. It’s like being commanded to accept the cure for your cancer…only far, far greater!

When we are in Christ his commands are not burdensome because we realize that they are what’s best and what will satisfy us in a way that nothing else can. 

7.    What if we agree with all of this, but just don’t feel like obeying?

I imagine, once again, that most of what I said sits well with most of you.  But, you’re thinking, all of this sounds good, but often times I just don’t feel like that.  I just don’t feel like obeying sometimes.  God’s commands don’t seem good to me.  I don’t feel Christ’s strength.  It’s hard.  I don’t think I can do it. 

What do I do if I just don’t feel like obeying?  What if it doesn’t feel like the Holy Spirit is empowering me?  What if God’s commands don’t feel sweet and pleasant to me?  What if they feel like a burden still?

There are two answers to this:

First, if there’s zero desire to obey and zero sense that God’s commands are good and right and sweet, then you are not saved.  You are not a Christian.  As Paul and James and Calvin and Luther and Piper and Sproul said above, to those whom God grants justification he also grants sanctification.  If you are truly a Christian, you will have a pull towards obedience and a taste for the goodness of God’s commands.  If you have no such pull and have tasted no such sweetness, repent and believe.  Turn to Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins.  Accept the forgiveness that he offers and receive the new life that he brings.

Second, and more likely for most of you, if a desire to obey and a taste for the goodness of God’s commands is present, but fleeting, if it’s there, but not very strong at times, if this describes you, repent and believe, but rest in the fact that it is the presence of faith which grants you hope of salvation, not the amount of faith. 

That is, confess your coldness to the things of God to God as sin and lean on the Holy Spirit for the strength to stop disobeying.  But do this while resting in the promise of God that he making you more like Jesus.  Do this with hope in the promise that he who began a good work in you will see it through to completion. 

At your conversion God began a good work in you.  It will be completed (and you will, eventually, desire all that God desires for you and only what God desires for you), but it isn’t completed yet.  It won’t be in this life.  But it absolutely will be in the next. 

If you simply don’t feel like obeying, call out to Jesus.  He is faithful and just and will forgive your sins and give you the strength to do what he requires of you.  But also, consider sharing this with a Christian friend or your DG leader or your pastor.  Consider fighting this fight in the context of community. 

Conclusion: What do we do?

With all of this in front of us, what should we do?  We should obey God. 

The fact is, all of us know far more than we obey.  All of us have been, what David Livingston calls, “informed beyond our obedience.”  Make a list of all the areas that you know that you are failing to obey God, confess those areas of disobedience to God, where your disobedience to God has effected others, seek their forgiveness, accept God’s forgiveness and theirs, cry out to the Holy Spirit for help, and obey. 

There’s no easy button.  Some of your disobedience will have consequences.  Some of your confessions will be painful and may be received with coldness and anger.  But none of this changes the fact that you must obey.

Then, begin to comb God’s Word for areas of disobedience that you didn’t even know were there.  As you pour yourself into God’s Word you will find many areas in which you were called to obey that you never knew.  Confess those areas of disobedience to God, where your disobedience to God has effected others, seek their forgiveness, accept God’s forgiveness and theirs, cry out to the Holy Spirit for help, and obey. 

Again, there’s no loop hole.  There’s no short cut.  There’s no way to soften this. 

By God’s grace and for his glory obey.  Obey all of what God’s Word calls you to do, not for your salvation, but because of it.  Obey in Christ’s strength, not your own.  And obey because it’s right and good and sweet and the way to eternal satisfaction.