Obedience to God's Word

Grace to You.org ^ | 1997 | John MacArthur, Grace Community Church

[metmom]

“By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments” (1 John 2:3).

True believers obey God’s commandments.

Before Jesus ascended to Heaven after His resurrection, He gave the following Great Commission to His disciples: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” (Matt. 28:19-20). Notice that a true disciple was to observe, or obey, all of Christ’s commands.

The apostle John understood well the Lord’s instruction. He knew that obedience to the commands of God produces assurance—the confidence of knowing for sure “that we have come to know Him” (1 John 2:3). The Greek word for “keep” in that verse refers to watchful, careful, thoughtful obedience. It is not an obedience that is only the result of external pressure; it is the eager obedience of one who “keeps” the divine commandments as if they were something precious to guard. Such obedience is motivated by love, as John indicates in verse 5: “Whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him.” That’s supported by the word translated “commandments,” which refers specifically to the precepts of Christ rather than laws in general. Legal obedience demands perfection or penalty, while 1 John 2:3 is a call to gracious obedience because of the penalty Christ has already paid.

However, those who claim to know God and yet despise His commandments John calls liars: “The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (v. 4). “They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient, and worthless for any good deed” (Titus 1:16).

How can you determine if you are a true Christian? Not by sentiment, but by obedience. If you desire to obey God out of gratitude for all Christ has done for you, and if you see that desire producing an overall pattern of obedience, you have passed an important test indicating the presence of saving faith.

Suggestions for Prayer

If you have found your obedience is predicated more on the act of obedience than on gratitude for God, confess that now and seek to change your attitude.

For Further Study

Memorize 1 Samuel 15:22 as motivation for the right spirit of obedience.

[metmom]

Studying God’s Word ping

[Elsie]

Obedience to God's Word

There's that; but there is also...

Obedience to God's Word the way that Rome explains it.

[Elsie]

Notice that a true disciple was to observe, or obey, all of Christ’s commands.

Then we'd better find out just what those 'commands' are; right?

If we MUST follow them; it SURELY is important; right?

---

John 6:28-29

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

---

1 John 3:21-24

Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.

[metmom]

This will blow some minds.

We are NOT under the Law any more.

We are under grace.

[Just mythoughts]

We are not under the law of blood sacrifices... Sin is the transgression of law. And this world is overflowing with sin, transgression of God’s laws. Those Ten Commandments are still in effect... You really think having another “god” than the Heavenly Father is covered by grace?

[AppyPappy]

Rick Warren’s devotion today was along the same lines but he took it a bit too far. He claimed blessings were a reward for obedience.
“If you will become a because-you-say-so man or woman, God will bless your life. His instructions do not have to make sense to you. When God says so, you do it, and you trust him in faith.”
Kinda sketchy theology. Almost prosperity gospel.

[metmom]

That’s OT thinking.

[MHGinTN]

You asked of metmom, “u really think having another “god” than the Heavenly Father is covered by grace?” Perhaps you should explain further, since there is not a single indication that metmom went in that direction.

[Just mythoughts]

This notion that the law was done away with is NOT of Christ. He said keep my commandments... What are His commandments... Well, they would be the laws given to Moses. Christ did preach about those that sit in Moses seat... Moses was the ‘lawgiver’... And Christ preached Moses... Revelation 22:14 Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have ‘right’ to the tree of life, and may enter into the gates into the city.

15 For without are dogs and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie...

Now this word dog does not mean literal animal dogs... but is in reference to Phoenician remains, as applied to a class of servants attached to a temple of Ashtoreth in Cyprus...

Grace means unmerited favor... And Grace comes to us at a very great price, the flesh body of Christ... and it is NOT earned... however, IF one has any expectation of receiving Grace, they sure are not going to be out sinning and claiming the law is no longer in effect...

The law that Christ fulfilled, and we are no longer bound by is the law of blood sacrifices... Christ was the one and for all time perfect sacrifice. Thus, under grace we can go directly to the Heavenly Father, in the name of Christ our Savior and be forgiven of our sins.

There is not a ‘new’ God that replaced the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob.. Christ came through this bloodline... What is ‘new’ is we have direct access to the Father through Christ... That veil in the temple where the priests did the sacrificing was miraculously rent from top to bottom while Christ hung on the cross...

[MHGinTN]

I can agree somewhat with the following, but I have one question after: "IF one has any expectation of receiving Grace, they sure are not going to be out sinning and claiming the law is no longer in effect..."

ONLY Jesus lived a sinless life. By my faith in Him (God with us) I am attached to that sinless life, but my carnal self is still here, sinning. So I confess to Him directly, without need of a blood atonement to be made again since His Cross is my blood atonement.

May I ask, am I already saved when I confess with my mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in my heart that God has raised Him from the dead, or should I consider myself striving to keep purity in order to finally receive salvation?

[MHGinTN]

BTW, the veil sequestering the Holy of Holies, inside the Holy Place was rent when Jesus died ont he Cross. That veil was a very important sign that you might want to study further, since you are in error as to where it was.

The blood was carried through the veil into the Holy of Holies from the outer court where the sacrifice was accomplished. Then the blood was spread upon the Mercy Seat, to cover the laws the Israelites had violated. By their faith in that ritual, God cast their sins away. The sacrifice was done in the outer court at the Laver and altar, then the blood was taken into the Holy of Holies to the Mercy Seat.

[Elsie]

e Ten Commandments are still in effect...

And to whom were they delivered?

[Elsie]

Well, they would be the laws given to Moses

And to WHoM did he deliver them?

[Just mythoughts]

BTW, the veil sequestering the Holy of Holies, inside the Holy Place was rent when Jesus died ont he Cross. That veil was a very important sign that you might want to study further, since you are in error as to where it was. The blood was carried through the veil into the Holy of Holies from the outer court where the sacrifice was accomplished. Then the blood was spread upon the Mercy Seat, to cover the laws the Israelites had violated. By their faith in that ritual, God cast their sins away. The sacrifice was done in the outer court at the Laver and altar, then the blood was taken into the Holy of Holies to the Mercy Seat.

I simplified the 'sacrifice' meaning the 'blood'.. It is good to know you at least know the procedure... MY only point was that we common people were given direct access to the Heavenly Father in/through Christ without the prior required blood sacrifice via a fleshly priest. Few recognize that miracle that give direct access of the commoners to the Heavenly Father. Grace is the sacrifice Christ willingly made of His flesh body... There was nothing 'free' about what flesh man, orchestrated by the devil, did to Christ and there is nothing we children can do meaning the 'law' to pay for that price. AND fulfilled Hebrews 2:14. The devil and a numbered angels have already been judged to death... Jude, Ezekiel 28:12- Isaiah 14:12----

[Just mythoughts]

I can agree somewhat with the following, but I have one question after: "IF one has any expectation of receiving Grace, they sure are not going to be out sinning and claiming the law is no longer in effect..." ONLY Jesus lived a sinless life. By my faith in Him (God with us) I am attached to that sinless life, but my carnal self is still here, sinning. So I confess to Him directly, without need of a blood atonement to be made again since His Cross is my blood atonement. May I ask, am I already saved when I confess with my mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in my heart that God has raised Him from the dead, or should I consider myself striving to keep purity in order to finally receive salvation?

I am surprised you think I have the authority or the capability to 'judge' your salvation. What I can tell you is who it is Written that will NOT be given access to the 'tree of life'. Probably the most used verse in the whole of the Bible is John 3:16.... To 'believe' in, means to follow the instructions given by Christ. He said repeatedly 'keep' my commandments. It is the fiber of Christianity... And as Paul wrote, Christ became our Sabbath... We rest in Him, daily, not on some man appointed day.

[Just mythoughts]

What do you mean ‘to whom’ were they delivered? In the parable of the ‘rich’ man, Luke 16, Abraham told the ‘rich’ man ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear then.’ Mind you Abraham is a Christian and he along with all the souls from the beginning were offered Christ, when Christ was in the tomb. We are NOT told how many accepted Christ, only that Christ spent those 3 days and 3 nights in the tomb ministering to those souls/spirits since the beginning.

But hey you think you are set aside to ignore the Ten Commandment then you and you alone will get to answer for your beliefs. Do not be blaming somebody else when you get to account.

[MHGinTN]

If you have read John 3 then you will have read the passage where Jesus explained the brass snake in the wilderness. The Israelites were making little brass snakes just a few hundred years later and praying to them, as if they could 'connect with God's Grace' by appealing to the power of the incident of the brass snake in the wilderness.

So it is with the law, taken to be the means to 'keep' one's Grace given by God. That makes the law a kind of idol to which people turn as if they can connect to the 'keeping of the law' to appease God ... the God Who took flesh and dwelt among us. Paul addressed this by asking if those he had evangelized who were trying to keep the law of Judaism's Tradition to appease the very GOD WHO shed His sinless creature blood to buy their redemption.

When one confesses The Lord Jesus believing God raised Him from the dead, God cleanses the spirit of that one and puts the spark of His Holy Spirit in the believer, the faither. Ues the cerb form.

Jesus summed all the law and the prophets with two commandments: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul, and love your neigbnor as you love yourself.

I would caution you to not make an idol/brass snake out of The Law of Moses. If you have been born from above, as Jesus instructed Nicodemus in John 3, then you are a member of His family and your 'want to' will change such that God and seeking His righteousness in your living will become central to your nature. It is GOD's Promise that He will rasie you up in the way that you should go. Take Him at His word. This will manifest gloriously in so many different ways in people who are thereafter your brothers and sisters in Christ. Basing Christianity on don'ts and beggings makes a mockery of the family name.

[Just mythoughts]

If you have read John 3 then you will have read the passage where Jesus explained the brass snake in the wilderness. The Israelites were making little brass snakes just a few hundred years later and praying to them, as if they could 'connect with God's Grace' by appealing to the power of the incident of the brass snake in the wilderness. So it is with the law, taken to be the means to 'keep' one's Grace given by God. That makes the law a kind of idol to which people turn as if they can connect to the 'keeping of the law' to appease God ... the God Who took flesh and dwelt among us. Paul addressed this by asking if those he had evangelized who were trying to keep the law of Judaism's Tradition to appease the very GOD WHO shed His sinless creature blood to buy their redemption. When one confesses The Lord Jesus believing God raised Him from the dead, God cleanses the spirit of that one and puts the spark of His Holy Spirit in the believer, the faither. Ues the cerb form. Jesus summed all the law and the prophets with two commandments: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul, and love your neigbnor as you love yourself. I would caution you to not make an idol/brass snake out of The Law of Moses. If you have been born from above, as Jesus instructed Nicodemus in John 3, then you are a member of His family and your 'want to' will change such that God and seeking His righteousness in your living will become central to your nature. It is GOD's Promise that He will rasie you up in the way that you should go. Take Him at His word. This will manifest gloriously in so many different ways in people who are thereafter your brothers and sisters in Christ. Basing Christianity on don'ts and beggings makes a mockery of the family name.

There is NOTHING 'brass idol' about the first Commandment... Thou shall have NO other gods before me. What that Commandment means is that Christians demonstrate their love of the Heavenly Father by studying Him.... John 1:1.. it is the only way any can discern which 'spirit' they are following. God did say He would send some the 'spirit' of slumber .... How does one know if they are really slumbering like some of those ten virgins, if the depth of their knowledge of the Heavenly Father is to claim they are not expected to keep Christ's Commandments...

[ealgeone]

THIS!