A Long Obedience
Obedience. With all this discussion of grace, we get to a sort of “So what?” If we have been saved, we have the major issue solved. Right? We can now get on with living like hell! The Apostle Paul replied to that idea this way in Romans 6:1,2, “What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it?” So what of obedience? Obedience to what?
First to Unfurl
We are social creatures. We like being members of the club. What does it take to belong to a club? If it has high standards, the club is looking for certain kinds of people, people that look and act like other members of the club. To be a member you have to pay your dues, too, which is probably most important. People participate in the activities of the club to different degrees. If it is a golf club, some golf. All the time, even every day. Others want to be leaders so they volunteer for leadership positions. It’s good to be in charge. Others may not engage in any club activities, other than social that is. It’s cool to just hang out at the clubhouse and wear clothing sporting the club logo.
Sounds just like church, doesn’t it? Whoa! Disagree? Well then, change the word “club” to “church” in the preceding paragraph and you’ll get my point. No, no, you say, a church is something much different from a club, something special. Ah, I say, so that’s the reason we have so many denominations! That’s what makes them special, right? Each with their own set of rules and styles, and they all get their dues from the members. We call that tithes and offerings, more special words. With so many to choose from, we can shop until we find one that looks good on us.
A change of pace, John the Apostle, exiled on the island of Patmos has this to say in Revelation:
“I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, ‘Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea. Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and on turning I saw… one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash across his chest… And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin of God's creation. I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. For you say, ‘I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.' You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. Therefore I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich; and white robes to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen; and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. I reprove and discipline those whom I love. Be earnest, therefore, and repent. Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me. To the one who conquers I will give a place with me on my throne, just as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches."
This passage is so rich. Jesus has a message for each of the seven churches, Laodicea being the last in line. “I know your works.” Works? I thought we were saved by grace and not by our works! But here is a judgment directly from Jesus as to the quality of our commitment, our works. He disciplines those he loves. Why should we need discipline? Repent? Why? We are members of the church! We are saved! “Listen!” To what? If you hear my voice… I will give you a place with me on my throne. If you have an ear, listen! This is a call to obedience. Listen for the voice of the spirit, which now lives in you, and do what he commands. Obedience.
In James 2:14-17 we read, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,’ and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.” But then the Apostle Paul writes in Galatians 2:16, “Yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law.” What a tangle! Can one be wrong and the other right?
Paul goes on to elaborate further in Galatians 5:13-25, that there are clear expectations for believers. “For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.”
He doesn’t command, “Be guided by the Spirit.” He says, “Let us,” which has a volitional tone, like let’s take a walk or let’s go someplace, arm in arm. Together. A little bit further on in Galatians 6, Paul says in verses 8-10, “If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.”
So I think James and Paul are both correct. Whew! James is talking about evidence of faith, that by putting on Christ through faith, we can get on with our responsibilities of doing the good works planned by God for us from the beginning, as I quoted from Ephesians chapter 2 in my first essay, Grace. Paul is talking about two things. First, that we are saved (justified) by God’s mercy and grace in Christ who satisfied the just demands of God’s laws through his sacrifice on the cross. We receive this truth by faith. As proof of that, we are given the Holy Spirit who indwells each believer so that we can become new creatures before God. Secondly, it is a process. Flesh and Spirit still war within us. Obedience is that good work by which, having listened to that still small voice of the Spirit living in us, we give thanks to God for that which he has done, is doing, and will complete doing in us so that we may stand with him in that day. Obedience is an expression of our gratitude. And when we fall short, as in some would say convicted by the Holy Spirit, we can repent, yes believers can repent and be realigned with Jesus; it is our part of the warfare against the flesh. Now, the word repent is interesting, translated from the Greek, metanoia, which literally means to change one’s mind. Obedience.
What does Jesus say? In the gospel of John the Apostle, chapter 10, he says in verses 14-18, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father." Elsewhere, scripture says he was obedient even unto death on the cross.
This was driving his enemies crazy. Some even accused Jesus of being insane, verse 20. They want to hear it said plainly so they can convict him of blasphemy, but he knows their hearts and his destiny, and steps boldly into the breach, “"I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father's hand. The Father and I are one." To be obedient, we have to follow. But then comes the grand finale in my opinion in John 14:11,12: “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.” We were made for good works from the beginning: Listen and do. Obedience.