3. An Obedient Life
3
An Obedient Life
Therefore, my beloved brethren, as you have always obeyed . . . work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
Philippians 2:12–13
People who don’t learn to obey rarely learn to do anything that is useful and lasting. Those who do not learn to follow orders are rarely chosen to give orders to others. “We learn more by five minutes’ obedience than we do by ten years’ study,” wrote Oswald Chambers, and Jesus agrees. “If anyone wants to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God” (John 7:17). A desire to know and a willingness to obey are the first essentials for learning God’s truth and knowing God’s will. There is no substitute for obedience, as disobedient King Saul learned from the prophet Samuel. “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?” asked Samuel. “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed as the fat of rams” (1 Sam. 15:22). When he turned his back on the will of God, Saul lost his crown and his life. “Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown” (Rev. 3:11).
God has built certain basic laws into His universe. If we obey them, they will work with us and for us and give us success; if we disobey them, they will work against us and possibly destroy us. Whether it’s the chemist in the laboratory, the surgeon in the operating room, or the astronaut in the spacecraft, obeying the basic laws is the secret of success. In the Christian life, there is the right way (the will of God) and the wrong way (our own will), and we must make the choice. As C. S. Lewis reminds us, at the judgment, our destiny is determined by whether in life we said to the Lord “Thy will be done,” or “My will be done.”
Two Essentials: Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility
From the creation record in Genesis 1 to the description of the new heavens and earth in Revelation 21–22, our God is presented as the sovereign Lord of all. By calling the Lord “sovereign” we place Him high above everything and give Him complete control over all. The person who wrote Psalm 115 ridiculed idolatry and extolled the indescribable greatness of the God we worship. “Our God is in heaven,” he wrote. “He does whatever He pleases” (v. 3). Our God is all-knowing, all-powerful, everywhere-present, and completely free to do His own will without consulting anyone or asking for approval. He is “the King eternal, immortal, invisible . . . God who alone is wise” (1 Tim. 1:17).
It’s important to realize that the Lord is free to do as He pleases in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. He created us after His own image, which means we have the ability to think, feel, decide, and act. When the Lord put our first parents into Eden, He told them what to do and what not to do, and left them to their employment and enjoyment. Our God is so great that He could allow them to make a choice. If they made a wrong choice, they would suffer the consequences, but God could still fulfill His great purposes. If we had not been given human responsibility, we would be robots. By giving us this freedom of choice, the Lord enables us to learn by experience, to grow in knowledge, character, and ability, and to love and obey Him because we want to, not because we have to. (I will have more to say about this freedom in chapter 14.)
God created the heavens and the earth without our help, but He ordained that men and women should participate with Him in caring for the earth and accomplishing His good purposes in the world. Adam and Eve worked in the garden. Their son Cain was a farmer and his brother Abel was a shepherd. The sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man worked together for the glory of God and the benefit of mankind. For “it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13). It pleases the Lord greatly when His children freely and lovingly obey Him. “I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart” (Ps. 40:8).
Two Men: Adam and Jesus
The key passage here is Romans 5:12–21, where Paul contrasts the first Adam, whose disobedience plunged the human race into sin, and the last Adam, Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:45), whose obedience brought salvation to the lost world. As you read the text, you get acquainted with four kings: sin is reigning (Rom. 5:21) and therefore death is reigning (vv. 14, 17), because “the wages of sin is death” (6:23), and because God’s grace is reigning through Christ (5:21), all who have trusted Christ may “reign in life” through the One, Jesus Christ (v. 17). Are you reigning?
In confirmation class I learned that Jesus was the Prophet when here on earth, and when He returned to heaven He became the Priest. One day He will come again and will reign as King. But then I discovered that Jesus Christ is both King and Priest today! According to Hebrews 6:20, He is “High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” (You’ll find this exciting truth explained in Hebrews 7–8.) The children of God have the Holy Spirit interceding within them (Rom. 8:26–27) and the Lord Jesus interceding for them in heaven (Heb. 7:25). Genesis 14:18–24 explains that Melchizedek was both a king and a priest. His name means “king of righteousness” and he was king of Salem, which means “peace.” The offices of king and priest and the blessings of righteousness and peace were united in this unique man just as they are in Christ, who is our King and Priest and our righteousness and peace (Ps. 85:10; Isa. 32:17–18; Rom. 5:1). The first Adam disobeyed God and brought sin, conflict, and death into the world, but Jesus Christ “became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:8) and brought the righteousness and peace of salvation into the world.
Let’s think about Jesus the King. He came to earth and boldly confronted the enemy. He met Satan personally in the wilderness and defeated him in each proposition he offered (Matt. 4:1–11). Because He is victorious, Jesus can help us defeat the evil one when he tempts us. Throughout His three years of ministry, Jesus exposed Satan’s lies; delivered Satan’s people from disease, bondage, handicaps, and even death; and on the cross defeated him once and for all (John 12:31–32; Col. 2:15). Through His death, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus declares Himself victor and we are “more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Rom. 8:37). Our King is enthroned in heaven and we are identified with Him in His victories (Eph. 2:4–10). Herod’s soldiers mocked our Lord’s kingship by dressing Him in a cast-off robe and placing a reed scepter in His hand and a crown of thorns on His head (Matt. 27:27–31). But in heaven today, that mockery has been transformed into majesty! Jesus Christ is Lord and is robed in glory, crowned with glory, and holds “a scepter of righteousness” (Ps. 45:6). He is “the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth . . . and He has made us kings and priests to His God and Father” (Rev. 1:5–6). What a privilege that “as He is [King and Priest], so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17).
The first Adam became a thief, took the fruit of the forbidden tree, ate it, and was cast out of paradise. But Jesus Christ, the last Adam, hanging on the appointed tree, turned to a thief and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Two Wills
On the battlefield of the Christian life, it’s the Father vs. the world (1 John 2:15–17), the Son vs. the devil (John 12:31–33), and the Holy Spirit vs. the flesh, our fallen nature inherited from Adam (Gal. 5:16–26). The basic issue is the will of God: Are we going to be obedient children of God or join the enemy and disobey? The world says, “If the Father really loved you, He would allow you to enjoy worldly things!” The devil says, “God made you with certain desires, so why ignore them? After all, you are human!” The flesh declares war on the Holy Spirit and wants us to produce fleshly works, not spiritual fruit.
Most Christians don’t suddenly dive into worldliness; instead, they gradually drift back into the old lifestyle and sometimes don’t even know what’s happening. They first get friendly with the world (James 4:4) and then little by little begin to be “spotted” (defiled) here and there by the world (1:27). If they don’t repent and return to the Lord, they start loving the world (1 John 2:15) and becoming conformed to the world (Rom. 12:2). Compromisers don’t take seriously God’s words of warning in Scripture or His chastening (Heb. 12:1–11), and the day comes when they find themselves condemned with the world (1 Cor. 11:32). Scripture records the tragic endings of believers who were “saved, yet so as through fire” (1 Cor. 3:13–15). Lot and his family come to mind (Gen. 13:11–13; 19:1–29; 2 Pet. 2:7–8), and so does the family of Korah (Num. 16), along with Samson (Judg. 13–15), Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5), and Demas (2 Tim. 4:10). During my years of ministry, I have grieved over more than one believer who once had a vibrant testimony but slowly drifted back into the old life, and I pray daily for myself, “Lord, help me to end well.”
Cultivating a negative attitude toward the will of God is the first step toward disappointment and defeat. God’s will is not chains (Ps. 2:3) but cords of love (Hos. 11:4). His will is not a bit and bridle (Ps. 32:8–9) but the secret of joyful freedom. “And I will walk at liberty, for I seek your precepts” (119:45). God wants us to know His will (Acts 22:14), obey His will from the heart (Eph. 6:6), understand His will (5:17), and delight in His will (Ps. 40:8). God’s will is not a buffet dinner where we choose only what pleases us. His will is a rich and nutritious meal prepared especially for us, and we must accept all of it. “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work,” said Jesus (John 4:34). God’s will is not punishment but nourishment. The will of God is the expression of the love of God to each of His children, the invitation to a rich and fruitful life. “The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations” (Ps. 33:11). His will comes from His heart.
God’s plans for us were made by the Lord long before we were ever conceived or born (Ps. 139:13–16; Jer. 1:5). In His love, the Lord has equipped us with just the tools we need to serve Him. Furthermore, the Lord has already prepared the works He wants us to do! “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). My prayer is that I might one day be able to stand before the Father and say what Jesus said in His great high priestly prayer: “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do” (John 17:4). Our lives are not accidents but divine appointments, and if we are obedient to the Lord, He will see to it that we fulfill the ministry He has assigned us to do (2 Tim. 4:7–8).
Our obedience should be motivated by our love for the Lord (John 14:15, 21; 15:10, 14), balanced by our reverence and fear of the Lord. “You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him” (Deut. 13:4). We Christians tell the lost that God will judge them one day, and this statement is true, but the Lord also judges His people if they willfully disobey Him! Psalm 50:4 declares, “He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people.” The verse is quoted in Hebrews 10:30 and applied to believers today. There is joy in serving Jesus, but we should also heed Psalm 2:11: “Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.”
“If anyone wills to do His will,” said Jesus, “he shall know concerning the doctrine” (John 7:17). British Greek scholar Henry Alford translates this verse, “If any man be willing to do His will, he shall know concerning the teaching.” A willingness to obey the Father is the first requirement for knowing and doing the will of God. God doesn’t reveal His will to us to get our approval, but to command our obedience.
Two Nations
The only ancient nation whose history we have from start to finish is the nation of Israel, and it’s the only nation on earth today with whom God has made a covenant. Patriotic Americans like to think that the United States is a “covenant nation” because of its Christian forbearers, but that isn’t true. The only other “covenant nation” in today’s world is the church, for the Lord has made a “new covenant” with His believing people (Matt. 26:26–29). Jesus makes this clear in Matthew 21:43, “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you [Israel] and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it [the church].” Peter wrote to the believers of his day, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people” (1 Pet. 2:9). The church is a “holy nation” called to reach the nations with the gospel.
The Lord set Israel apart to accomplish specific purposes: bearing witness to the one true and living God, bringing the promised Savior into the world (“salvation is of the Jews,” John 4:22), forming the nucleus of the first church, and writing the holy Scriptures. The Lord has set apart the church as a holy nation to reach the nations. Israel failed to obey God and instead imitated the wicked nations around them, and therefore they lost God’s blessing. The church today must not conform to this world (Rom. 12:2) but declare and demonstrate the gospel of Jesus Christ. If we obey the Lord, He will use us to reach others; if we compromise with the world, He cannot answer our prayers or bless our service.
Our citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20), our names are written down in heaven (Luke 10:20), and we are “pilgrims” in this world (1 Pet. 1:1). A fugitive is running from home, a vagabond has no home, a stranger is away from home, but a pilgrim is heading home. This dual citizenship forces us to look at this world from the viewpoint of heaven. “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col. 3:1–2). When we start to look at the things of Christ from the world’s point of view, we have taken the first step away from the blessings God wants to give us.
The citizen of a country speaks the language of that country, obeys the laws of that country, and seeks to enhance the glory of that country. As citizens of heaven, we aren’t ashamed to speak heaven’s truth, obey heaven’s laws, defend heaven’s reputation, and do everything we can to bring glory to the triune God who reigns in heaven.
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. (Phil. 2:12–13)
We obey God and work for Him because He graciously works in us and through us to accomplish His will. To be obedient to the will of God is not an accident or an insignificant incident but a divine appointment that, if kept, leads to achievement to the glory of God.
“Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10).
“Then I said, ‘Here am I! Send me’” (Isa. 6:8).