The word "obedience" is one that elicits stomach rumbling among a lot of people. This is more pronounced now than at any other time before, because we are living in a time when it is a thing of pride to think outside-the-box, be unconventional, be non-conformist, or, indeed, be rebellious.

The truth is that for the Christian, obedience to God and His word, is a part of his/her life, whereas, for a non-Christian, disobedience to God and His word, is a way of life. Sadly, among those who profess to be Christian, quite a number do not regard obedience to God and His word, as a fundamental part of their lives, hence, it is common to hear people who say that they are Christians express opinions, suggestions, ideas, etc., which are contrary to the word of God. It is this expression of opinions, suggestions, ideas, etc., which has made the subject matter of obedience even more pronounced for the Christian today.

First and foremost, it should be made clear that if you are a Christian, you are a spiritual being; not a natural man. This distinction must be made, for, it is only those who are spiritual who can truly, by 'nature', be obedient to the word of God. Indeed, those who are spiritual cannot live any other way! In 1 Corinthians 2:14, the bible tells us that
"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."
What this means in clear terms is that the man who is natural, fleshly, carnal, or uncircumcised-in-heart, cannot receive or accept the things of the Holy Spirit, which include, the word of God, the fruit of the Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit, the Will of God, and so on. But for the spiritual man, receiving or accepting the things of God, and thus being obedient to God and His word, comes 'naturally'.

One of the major things that God seeks to do in the life of anyone who has been born again, is to immediately be made able to obey God and His word. We call this sanctification. Hence, the unsanctified man is that man who has refused the inner working of the Holy Spirit in his/her life by refusing to yield to the Holy Spirit's work in him/her. In 1 Peter 1:2, the bible indicates of Christians; that they are,
"Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied."
A look at this verse of scripture in other translations gives us a clearer picture of what is being said here. The Easy-to-Read Version of the bible translates this verse as,
"God planned long ago to choose you and to make you his holy people, which is the Spirit's work. God wanted you to obey him and to be made clean by the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ. I pray that you will enjoy more and more of God's grace and peace."
The Message version of the bible puts it as,
"God the Father has his eye on each of you, and has determined by the work of the Spirit to keep you obedient through the sacrifice of Jesus. May everything good from God be yours!"
And The Amplified Bible translates the verse as
"according to the foreknowledge of God the Father by the sanctifying work of the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace [that special sense of spiritual well-being] be yours in increasing abundance [as you walk closely with God]".

In all these translations, we can see that the plan and purpose of God for the Christian is that he be made able to obey Him; a trait which is impossible in the unsaved or unregenerate man!

Hence, once you are brought into the family of God (that is, you are born again), the immediate thing to follow is to make you able to freely obey God without any coercion, intimidation, or, fright/threat of the loss of something precious. The obedience of a Christian is thus freely, willingly, and voluntarily manifested!

The bible tells us that our obedience to God is the result of our love for God. Put simply, and clearly, if you do not love God, you cannot freely, willingly, and voluntarily obey Him. For instance, in John 14:15, the Lord Jesus said,
"If you [really] love Me, you will keep and obey My commandments." (AMP)
In 1 John 5:3, the bible says in part,
"Loving God means obeying his commands..." (ERV).

For obedience to God as a result of love to take place, the Holy Spirit is given to us. In Romans 5:5, the bible says,
"... the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." (NKJV)
In Ezekiel 36:26-27, God said through Ezekiel the prophet,
"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them." (NKJV)
and in Deuteronomy 30:6, Moses said of God's work in the children of Israel, and by that token, in the life of every Christian,
"And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live." (NKJV).

When we put all these verses of scripture together, we receive a revelation about God's work in us as follows:
1. God's plan and desire are for His children (that is, Christians), to obey Him and His word.
2. God does not want His children to obey Him or His word out of compulsion or coercion, but freely, willingly, and voluntarily.
3. To make this free, willing, and voluntary obedience possible, God has given His Spirit to His children to do a work of heart circumcision, which involves the removal of the stony heart (or the hard, unfeeling, impenetrable, selfish, nature of man which delights to sin and disobey God and His word), and replace/exchange same with a heart or nature that loves God.
4. The love of God is the impetus for the obedience of God's children to Him and His word; not the reward of any sort.
5. Without the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of any man, that man cannot, and will not be able to love, nor obey, God and His word.

No wonder, in Revelation 2:1-7, the glorified Jesus, told the Church in Ephesus (and to all churches everywhere),
"To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, 'These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: "I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name's sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place?unless you repent. But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God." '" (NKJV).

All the good works which the Church in Ephesus did, didn't count because of the absence of their "first love"?they were not doing the good deeds out of a heart of love, and therefore, their 'good deeds' were not acceptable before the Lord! In other words, their 'good deeds' were considered dead works, because of the absence of their love for God.

Hence, it is safe to say that the church in Ephesus, like many churches today, was engaging in activities not sanctioned, approved, or initiated by God! This means that the church in Ephesus, like many churches today, was doing her works, not the work of God, even though they called it the work of God!

In Matthew 7:21-23, the Lord Jesus made it abundantly clear that it is possible to preach, teach, prophesy, cast out demons, heal the sick, work miracles, and so on, using the name of Jesus, and such acts are regarded by Him as iniquity, lawlessness, or acts not authorized by Him! For the avoidance of doubt, anything that we do that is not the direct result of love for/obedience to God is dead works, and unacceptable to God!

So, we ought to be mindful of the crusades, miracle services, and such programmes that dot the landscape of the church on the earth today. We need to be sure that those activities, which we usually ascribe to God being present in, because of the number of people attending them, are authorized by heaven! Remember David, in 2 Samuel 7:1ff, wanted to build a house for God?a very good thing?yet, God's response to him was not to build it. This ought to give us food for thought, before we go on with our grandiose plans of building the largest auditorium in the world, gathering the biggest crowd ever, etc.

The bottom-line in all that we have said is this: let our obedience to God be the result of the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives, through sanctification?the removal of the stony heart and its replacement with a heart of flesh for the obedience of Christ?which will result in voluntary service or worship from a heart of unfeigned love toward God. This unfeigned or sincere love is going to be seen, when we love our neighbours, as the expression was used in the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37).

Beloved, in obedience to God and His Word, we have been told to love not only our fellow Christians (which for some, is a tall order), but also to love the unlovable (Matthew 5:43-48). If this is to be our way of life, then we must be subject to the work of the Holy Spirit within us, and the discipline of God upon us when we err or fall short of God's expectation of us (Hebrews 12:5-11)!

May the grace and peace of God continue to lead and guide us through our walk in this untoward world, Amen.

---

Back to all articles