Pleasing God, Making Disciples of Jesus Christ

The Christian’s Required Obedience

DEUTERONOMY 10:12-13 – “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?

THEME OF THE DAY. THE CHRISTIAN’S REQUIRED OBEDIENCE. In today’s scripture, we find the Lord listing five requirements for His people. They are fear Him, walk with Him, love Him, serve Him and keep His Word. This is a comprehensive list of God’s design for our lives. And at the risk of being repetitive, they are requirements. These are not “nice things to do” in the Christian life. Nor are they options we may pick and choose based on the season of life we are in or just how we are feeling at the present moment. Once again, at the risk of being repetitive, they are requirements. All of them fall under the one word which defines why God saved us and what it is to live out the Christian life – obedience to Him. Eric Alexander said, “The evidence of knowing God is obeying God.” Now before we get all depressed and want to throw in the spiritual towel because our obedience is too often like the ocean tides – ebbing and flowing, let these words from A.W. Pink encourage us, “Sincere obedience, though it be not sinless, is acceptable unto God; if it were not, then it would be impossible for any of His children to perform a single act in this life which was pleasing in His sight.” For sure, our obedience will not be perfect this side of heaven but our desire for perfect obedience and the sincerity in our obedience are possible, and should be pursued. And with that introduction, let’s consider this issue of obedience in three directions..

First, our obedience to the Lord is not a way to show our love for Him, but THE WAY, as in singular; as in only. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15). This is simple to understand but dangerously easy to ignore. Take a brief evaluation of our lives, say the past two days by asking this question, “Did I purposefully, intentionally, and actively put into practice known commands from God’s Word?” Don’t give ourselves a quick pass on this important self-examination. Obedience to God’s commands will not just happen. And herein lies the danger. We can get so busy with doing life that we fail to do obedience. We must make conscious efforts to obey God. There is no “spiritual cruise control” in the Christian life. Well thought out actions of obedience come from a mind filled with the Word of God that enables the Spirit of God to prompt the will to obey.

The second direction in our understanding of required obedience to God is keep it relational. Here is where preachers do a poor job in their exhortations toward obedience. Be concerned if a heavy dose of the preaching we sat under is all about doing, doing, doing. If we feel constantly “beat up” with false guilt because we are not doing enough and must get more involved, there is an imbalance. The preacher’s main job is to bring people face-to-face with Jesus Christ through the Scriptures. Of course this involves challenges toward obedience, and if we are being taken into the presence of God through the preached Word, obedience will be the fruit in our lives. As the listeners of sermons, if we are not being changed by the preaching which produces a more obedient life, something is seriously wrong. Yet, the obedience that flows from encountering the Lord Jesus in His Word and by His Spirit will be one gripping the heart with the powerful force of love; a love that says, “Thank you, Lord, for the privilege I have to obey Your Word.”

The final word today about our requirement to obey God is that true obedience, acceptable to Him and producing joy in us, will be a delight. The Apostle John wrote, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). When a person is born again, the Spirit of God places within the individual a desire to obey Him. And what we truly desire to do in life, we will strive to do in life, not out of dull duty, but deep delight. May it be so in our obedience to the Lord.

PRAYER: “Father, help me see that to fear You, walk with You, love You, serve You, and obey You leads to the best life.”

QUOTE: “Doing life God’s way is always best and brings contentment, joy, and satisfaction that the world cannot give”