It seems to me that obedience has become a four letter word, both outside and inside the church. Outside the church, every person is free to decide what they should obey. “Everyone did what was right in their own eyes” (Judges 17:6). Without a normative absolute truth for all, obedience looks different for each person. Inside the church, where the Bible gives us absolute truth for all, obedience has become synonymous with legalism. When (or if) we hear someone speak on obedience, it is common to declare that a works-based righteousness is being taught, rather than a doctrine of grace. As I consider what the Bible has to say about obedience, a few thoughts come to mind.
- Obedience does not save me, but I cannot be saved without obedience. The following statements have been tremendously helpful in helping me to see the importance of obedience while understanding that it is not what saves me.
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- The ground of my salvation is God’s grace freely given to me through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection.
- The condition of my salvation is faith in Jesus Christ and declaring him as my savior.
- The evidence of my salvation is obedience to His commands.
These statements need to be understood in the correct order (ground → condition → evidence). I am saved by grace alone, through faith in Jesus (Ephesians 2:8-9), not by anything I do. And yet obedience is an integral part of that equation because when we declare Christ, the Holy Spirit resides in us and we are a new creation! (2 Corinthians 5:17) As a new creation, our lives should bear godly fruit and we should have a desire to obey God’s commandments (1 John 2:3-4). This is the evidence of a transformed life.
- Obedience and legalism are not the same. Obedience is adhering to the commands of God. Legalism is adding to the commands of God. They are two different things and yet within the church, it has become common to group them together. Let’s not be mistaken – legalism is dangerous and harmful, but a lack of obedience is as well. We have been given freedom in Christ (1 Corinthians 8-9), but I would suggest that as believers, we have a responsibility to understand the Scriptures in such a way that we understand the difference between the two.
- Understanding is not a prerequisite for obedience. My human nature tells me that I need to understand something in order to obey it. It is easy to write off commands of the Bible as cultural or not applicable in today’s world. After all, why should I obey something that doesn’t make sense to me? Men, this is not an excuse for not obeying. Although there is value in studying a command in order to gain understanding, we do not need to understand a command in order to obey it. It is easy for me to say to God: “Show me what you mean, or why you commanded this, and then I’ll obey it.” God says: “Obey me and I will give you understanding.” (John 7:17, 8:31)
This is by no means an exhaustive list and much more could be written on the topic of obedience. My challenge to us as believers is to understand and remind ourselves that salvation is by grace through faith, but obedience to the commands of God is the evidence of that salvation.
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