THE OBEDIENCE OF FAITH
THE OBEDIENCE OF FAITH
An overview of the Bible shows God has always interlaced faith with works. Belief in Jesus Christ is important, and without it we can never have any promise of salvation. Without it, we can never enter into the kingdom of God; without it, we can never be a member of the church of God. But the Word of God also says faith must express itself in obedience to the gospel. Unless faith manifests itself in obedience, it is of no value.
Paul unfolds to us the great book of faith, the book of Romans, and he wants us to understand in the very introduction that he is going to preach the gospel to the entire world. He says that at the centre of that gospel message is the idea of the obedience of faith. What does Paul mean by that expression? He says the whole Gentile world did not know or understand God, and it must come to know Him by the obedience of faith.
When the gospel of Christ was taken from Jerusalem to the uttermost parts of the Roman world, it always went with the principle that no man can ever come to God unless he has a faith that expresses itself by his obedience to the gospel of Christ. Hebrews 11:18 reminds us that this principle of the obedience of faith was not new at all. It operated in the Old Testament. We are told that by faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out into a land he was afterward to receive as an inheritance.
Most of the members of the church clearly understand that none can ever become a Christian except through faith that expresses itself through obedience to God. But has it ever occurred to you that once you make your entry into the church of God, you will not continue as a servant of Christ unless your faith produces a life of obedience? You must be constantly giving yourself to God. Remember when the children of Israel were about to settle into the land of Palestine? The Law had just been given them, and in Deuteronomy 5:33 God said through Moses to the children of Israel, “Ye shall walk in all the way which Jehovah your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.”
What Moses said to the children of Israel is this: When you settle in the land that God gave you, it is yours only so long as you obey the commandments of God. Obedience to God on a daily, routine basis was expected of all the children of Israel as long as they remained the chosen people of God (1 John 2:3-5). It would be very difficult for anyone to express himself more explicitly than John did. If we say we know God, and yet we are not obeying Him, John says with a staggering bluntness that we are just not telling the truth.
Demosthenes was once asked what he thought were the first, second, and third priorities to becoming an orator. He said, the first, second, and third priority is action. Martin Luther once said he would rather obey God than have the power to perform miracles. No reality, no privilege you possess is greater than the privilege you have to obey God everyday you live. Faith and obedience interlocked all the way through the Bible. They compose the expectations of God for His people throughout all ages of time. It is when you obey God that you give evident to faith professed.
Word Affirmation: The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want – Psalms 23:1 (Don't just say it, mean it!)
“No reality, no privilege you possess is greater than the privilege you have to obey God everyday you live.”
MIND THIS
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