Walking in Obedience

Simple Obedience?

Obedience is simple, right? When we first think about obedience, we simply assume that obedience is simple. But, if it were so simple why isn’t it. I remember the 1st year that I was a teacher, it was a nightmare. Some classes were fine but I had this one group of hyena’s called 9thgraders that were predators. They ate teachers up and then spit them out and I was fresh meat.

You’d think teaching would be simple. Kids come into the class and sit down. You impart your knowledge to them, demonstrate, ask for feedback, and then test to make sure they understand. NOPE! They want to do none of those things. Getting them to sit down is a skill. Keeping them from hitting one another is another skill. Having eyes in the back of your head is a bonus. Obedience doesn’t come easily.

Do you remember your 2 yr old? Going to the store, bedtimes, eating…these things can all be as complicated as Washington’s army crossing the Delaware. I suppose that God often wonders why we do the silly things that we do and then, like the Israelites, we spend 40 years trying to get into a Promised Land that should have taken 11 days.

What is Christian obedience? “A willingness to submit oneself to the will of God and to put it into effect.” Interestingly, the Hebrew word is used for both ‘hear’ and ‘obey’. Have you ever realized that you needed to get the focused attention of your child, your workers, before they can perform the action? In construction we used to call back the measurement before we made the cut. You must hear it before you can obey it. In studying God’s ways we can say that obedience is:

Obedience is a responsive action. It assumes that God has already acted on our behalf, and that our fitting reply is to follow his will; very often, he then promises further blessing.[1]

Walking in Obedience

We began a study last week that looks at what the Bible means that we are “walking in the light”. We learned that light and darkness don’t mix and took most of our time discussing sin and the confusion that the early church had on the subject. We also realized that we often struggle with the same confusion. Fortunately, we have an advocate with the Father – Jesus Christ who forgives our sin if we will simply confess them.

We are going to stay in the same letter of John today.

1 John 2:3–6 NIV

We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

Practical Realities of Walking in Obedience

Experience and Beliefs are NOT Necessarily Truths

An experience is not necessarily a truth.

Some people hold experiences as absolute truths. Have you ever heard people talk about how to get rid of the hiccups? Stand on your right leg, lift your right hand into the air, and chug a gallon of water. I had a bad case of hiccups in 2008 and that is what I did, and they went away 30 minutes later. Just because you have an experience, it doesn’t make it true.

Obeying the rules of your experience is not walking in biblical obedience.

Beliefs are not necessarily the same as the truth. The first, and most obvious problem with beliefs is that my belief may not be your belief. That makes belief relative. Many people believed that the earth was flat or that the Sun rotated around the earth. You can shout your beliefs or say them tearfully, it doesn’t make them true. Truth stands apart from both experience and belief.

The Apostle Paul wrote:

Ephesians 4:11–14 NIV

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.

Without having the truth, we are without a compass. As Christians, it is our responsibility to know the truth.

Dennis wasn’t a big fellow, but as he played Little League Baseball, his knowledge of the game made up for any lack of size. On a particular summer day he swung at the ball with all his might, and to his amazement, the ball rocketed off his bat in the general direction of left field.

Off he ran! As he rounded first base, his head was down. In doing so, he failed to see whether or not the ball had landed in fair or foul territory. Before he arrived at second base, the second baseman on the other team flagged Dennis down and said, “Go back. It was a foul ball.”

Without hesitation, Dennis ignored the second baseman and slid safely into second base. The umpire, whose opinion mattered the most, signaled that the ball was fair.

What is the lesson for us here? Keep on running until the Umpire of our souls, the Lord Jesus Christ, tells us to go back. We need to ignore any other voice that would hinder our running ahead to the next base.

Fair or foul? Fair ball—keep on running to the Lord. In Him, you’ll always be called safe![2]

Many of us recall Jesus saying, “…the truth will set you free” but can we quote the bigger context?

John 8:31–32 NIV

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

The truth will set you free is predicated on the necessity of holding to the teachings of Jesus. Obedience demands that we listen to the speaker of truth – God. Walking in obedience means that we are walking in God’s truth – not the facts of our experiences or personal beliefs.

Obedience Reflects Maturity

1 John 2:5 NIV

But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him:

John describes a ‘complete’ love to underline for us the fact that obedience is the way to growth and maturity. ’John is here speaking, as often in this Epistle, of an idealstate of things. No Christian’s love to God is perfect; but the more perfect his knowledge, the more perfect his obedience and his love.[3]

Jesus said a similar statement in the Gospel of Luke

Luke 11:28 NIV

He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

In the Greek he uses the word phulasso which means to guard (like a military sentinel) it (the word heard).” I think maturity is a lot about taking it seriously. Do you regard the commandments of God seriously? The entire faith chapter of Hebrews 11 details men and women who were inspired by faith to do what God commanded them to do. It is the pinnacle of heroism for the men and women of the Old and New Testaments.

One Bible teacher offers these thoughts:

Obedience to God’s Word is proof of our love for Him. There are three motives for obedience. We can obey because we have to, because we need to, or because we want to. A slave obeys because he has to. If he doesn’t obey he will be punished. An employee obeys because he needs to. He may not enjoy his work, but he does enjoy getting his paycheck! He needs to obey because he has a family to feed and clothe. But a Christian is to obey his Heavenly Father because he wants to—for the relationship between him and God is one of love. “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). This is the way we learned obedience when we were children. First, we obeyed because we had to. If we didn’t obey, we were spanked! But as we grew up, we discovered that obedience meant enjoyment and reward; so we started obeying because it met certain needs in our lives. And it was a mark of real maturity when we started obeying because of love. “Baby Christians” must constantly be warned or rewarded. Mature Christians listen to God’s Word and obey it simply because they love Him. (Wiersbe, W: Bible Exposition Commentary - New Testament. 1989. Victor)

Each of us may be in different places but we should all be moving to the place where we ‘want to’. That is the place of maturity.

Following the Doctor’s Orders

Some of you know that I’ve been complaining about foot pain for the past 2 years. Well, I finally went to the foot doctor and got some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that it is not a serious problem (which makes me feel like a wimp). The good news is that it can be taken care of but…I must follow the doctor’s directions.

Billions of dollars are spent each year in the area of medicine, but ironically, "more than half of all patients fail to follow their physician's instructions." Cindy gave me the “I told you so” look after Dr. Hebert gave me his opinion. Now I have to simply follow the doctors (and my wife’s) orders if I want to have pain free feet.

What occurs in the doctor's office also occurs in the Church. God's prescription for well-being is outlined in scripture, but many choose to ignore the Great Physician's orders. Have you ever tried to bargain with God …

• by trying to find loopholes?

• by obeying Him in the easy things?

• by passing up His hard instructions?

• by highlighting the wonderful promises of the Bible and overlooking the difficult sayings that require tough decisions?

Doctor Charles Stanley of Atlanta, Georgia, has said in his teaching that obedience to God is defined as Doing …

• what He says

• when He says

• how He says

• all He says

Anything less than this is not obedience, but disobedience.

A Christian who wants to walk in the Light must obey the Scriptures in all points. Anything less than obedience is disobedience.[4]

Obedience Impresses God

One more thing before we wrap things up. The good news is that those who desire to and follow through with obeying God’s commandments end up in a really good place – pleasing God.

Now, I’m not talking about following rules for rules sake. While the Bible places a strong emphasis on obedience, it's critical to remember that believers are not justified (made righteous) by obedience. Salvation is a free gift of God, and we can do nothing to merit it. True Christian obedience flows from a heart of gratitude for the grace we have received from the Lord:

Romans 12:1 NIV

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

One man who made this literally true was the pastor of Smyrna. I’ve heard that he was mentored by the Apostle John. At the age of 86 the Romans came to force him to worship Caesar and recant. Polycarp replied, “Eighty-six years I have served him, and he never did me any wrong,” said Polycarp. “How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?” Threatened with wild animals and fire, Polycarp didn’t flinch. He responded, “You threaten with fire that burns for a short time and is soon quenched. You don’t know about the fire of the coming judgment and eternal punishment that awaits the wicked. But why are you waiting? Come, do what you will.”

A mob gathered wood and soon a pyre was erected. Polycarp was tied to the pole and prayed a final prayer. Immediately upon his final amen they lit the fire. An eyewitness to the martyrdom wrote this:

When he had said the amen and finished his prayer, the men in charge of the fire lit it, and a great flame blazed up. We who were given the privilege to witness it saw a great miracle, and we have been kept alive so that we might report to others what happened.

The fire took the shape of a vaulted room, like a ship’s sail filled with wind, and surrounded the body of the martyr like a wall. And he stood inside it—not as burning flesh, but as bread that is being baked, or as gold and silver being refined in a furnace.

And we smelled a fragrant aroma, like the scent of incense or other costly spices.

Seeing that his body could not be consumed by the fire, the lawless men finally commanded an executioner to go up and stab Polycarp with a dagger. When he did this, there came out a dove and so much blood that the fire was extinguished.

What an amazing testimony! Fortunately, not all obedience to the commands of God require martyrdom. But, as Polycarp’s offering had fragrance, God is pleased with the obedience of each of us – no matter how big or how small.

[1]Gabrielson, T. A. (2014). Obedience. In D. Mangum, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, & R. Hurst (Eds.), Lexham Theological Wordbook. Lexham Press. [2]Leadership Ministries Worldwide. (2001). Practical Illustrations: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians (pp. 100–101). Leadership Ministries Worldwide. [3]Jackman, D. (1988). The message of John’s letters: living in the love of God (p. 49). InterVarsity Press. [4]Leadership Ministries Worldwide. (2001). Practical Illustrations: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians (p. 101). Leadership Ministries Worldwide.