Obedience: Absurd, Marvelous and Beautiful

Note: This is the final article in a mini trilogy of articles. The first one being ‘A Ticket to Heaven’ and the second was ‘Do You Really Love Jesus?’

In my past two articles, I’ve talked about what it means to have faith in Jesus and to love Jesus. But there’s still one last bit that I haven’t touched on yet and that is obedience. In my first article about faith, I mentioned that ‘faith is not without works’ (James 2:26) and in my second article about love, I wrote, ‘Love is told out by our thoughts and actions. To know whether we actually love God relies on our actions, our obedience.’.

Obedience is another important part of the original question I had 3 months ago, that is, ‘Are you saved?’ So, what is obedience? Obedience is following what another person or thing says. This can vary from obeying laws, your own self, social norms or people above you in authority. But in the case of this article, we’ll talk about obeying God. Obeying God means that when we hear God’s Word, we act upon it. We obey God out of love which is why we follow God’s Will. One might ask, what is God’s Will? Why should I follow it? Well, the Bible says in Romans 8:28,

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

– Romans 8:28 (ESV) –

God is good and knows what is best for us. Even more wonderful than this is that God created us and loves us so much that he died on the cross for us. This is also something that is so amazing – that God’s love for us is so deep and wonderous.

Now that we know what obedience to God is, let’s focus on how absurd it is. Now, you might be wondering, what do you mean by absurd? I already obey God… I read the Bible, go to church, I don’t do bad stuff!

Well, first of all, if you really think you’re super perfect, you’re wrong. Romans 3:23 states that:

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

– Romans 3:23 (ESV) –

No person is perfect and without sin. Yet, sin is the opposite of God. God is holy and cannot be with sin. After all, opposites are not supposed to be like each other. If we’re sinful, then, how can God expect us to follow His Will?? Following God’s will is everything we don’t want to do naturally. Our very nature is to disobey God! It’s absurd. How can we be expected to follow God’s Will perfectly to go to heaven? No one can do that!

Now, you might be thinking, no, I actually want to obey God! Now, there are two possibilities that can stem from this. One is that you aren’t actually obeying God out of love. You think that obeying God is like a law or rule you have to abide by, because otherwise, you go to hell. This is the wrong motivation to obey God.

Saul was the first king of God’s chosen people, Israel. Before waging war against an enemy, God commanded Saul to not leave any living thing behind; to ‘devote them to destruction’. But Saul decided that his way was better than God’s and left the king of the people and many animals that could be used for sacrifice. Sacrifice was the Israelites’ symbol of obedience and devotion to God and his commandments. But here, despite his intentions, Saul disobeys God’s commandment to destroy the enemy completely. The prophet Samuel confronted Saul in 1 Samuel 15:22,

“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.”

– 1 Samuel 15:22 (ESV) –

Now, you might be thinking,  how do we know whether we have the right motivation then? How could God expect us to be obedient on our own? Well, if you’re thinking this, then you have every reason to give thanks to God! Why? Because he doesn’t expect you to follow his Will perfectly. In fact, he doesn’t expect you to follow His Will at all – that is, on your own. The most marvelous thing about being saved is that obedience comes as a response to our faith. Here’s how Jon Bloom from Desiring God (https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/how-do-i-know-if-i-really-love-jesus#not-that-kind-of-must) puts it:

“Though they [faith, love and obedience] are distinct, they are inseparable. We cannot love Christ without trusting (exercising faith in) him (1 Peter 1:8)”

1 Peter 1:8 explains that we cannot love Christ without believing in Him beforehand. Faith strengthens us because even though we have not seen Jesus in person, we still believe in Him.

“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.”

– 1 Peter 1:8 (ESV) –

“We cannot trust Christ without obeying Him (James 2:17)”

James 2:17 explains that we cannot have faith in Christ with no obedience. Faith will not sit still and do nothing, obedience is the believers response to faith.

“So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

– James 2:17 (ESV) –

“So, naturally, we cannot love Christ if we live in persistent, conscious disobedience to Him (1 John 1:6, Luke 6:46)

1 John 1:6 and Luke 6:46explains that it is impossible to be two opposites (light and darkness). We are either light or darkness and it is evident through our actions. What we do is a telltale sign of our love to Christ.

“If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”

– 1 John 1:6 (ESV) –

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?”

– Luke 6:46 (ESV) –

And my own addition:

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever.”

– John 14:15-16 (ESV) –

Something I haven’t mentioned yet is the Helper that is referred to here. The Helper is the Holy Spirit and this is what is so beautiful about salvation. God isn’t going to leave us alone to figure it out for ourselves. Oftentimes, we don’t know what to do with our lives. But, we should always remember, we have a Helper that will be with us forever.

And with that, this trilogy has come to a close. My question to you now is, what will you do? Will you sit with this discovery and ignore it? Or, will you do something about it? Will you seek out true faith? Will you love Jesus as much as you can? Will you obey Him?

The answer to these questions, I hope, is that you will seek out God for yourself and pray that He would reveal Himself to you. But, whether you do that or not, my friend, is up to you.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you… Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”

– Matthew 6:33, 7:7-11 (ESV) –