PRACTICAL PRINCIPLES OF OBEDIENCE
We have looked at how the subject of obedience relates to the phenomenon of faith, and the position of high importance placed on obedience by God down through history. We have also viewed how the old patriarchs faced and responded to situations demanding obedience in their lives. Now, let’s see if we can simplify several principles that will give some practical handles to help in an everyday life of quick and complete obedience:
THE PRINCIPLE OF CHRIST’S FORMULA
In the 14th chapter of John’s gospel, Jesus discloses the formula for success in regard to obedience. He states that: “if you love me, you will obey me.” The only logical conclusion to draw is that if you are not obeying him, it is simply because you do not love him. If you do not love him, it is because you love something else in his place. It is more than likely the case, that if you do not love him, what you are loving in his place is you . . . you are loving yourself.
Study again, for a moment, the diagram which was used in the previous sessions. You will see that obedience has everything to do with WHO controls your heart.
If you are at the center of your affections and being controlled by your own selfish bent, then you will be obedient to the wishes and desires of your own selfish nature.
If you are a Born-Again Christian, but not filled and controlled by the Holy Spirit, then no one from the outside needs to tell you that you are involved in a royal battle continually. The conflict and struggle is there all the time. Will you obey what your new nature tells you is right – or will you follow obedience to your old lower, selfish nature?
If you are a Spirit-Filled Christian, and your very heart or seat of affection is controlled by Christ through the Holy Spirit, then your deepest desire will be to please God through a lifestyle of on purpose obedience.
So, it stands to reason that there will always be a major problem with obedience as long as you have a problem with the question of who controls your heart. You will always follow with action what you subconsciously desire to see accomplished.
In Christ’s formula, He goes on to explain that “if you love me, you will obey me -- and if you love me and obey me, I will reveal myself to you:”
The one who obeys me is the one who loves me; and because he loves me, my Father will love him; and I will too, and I will reveal myself to him. . . Because I will only reveal myself to those who love me and obey me. (John 14: 21&23 TLB)
This revelation is all that you need for further obedience. It is the wisdom which has been promised through the very mind of Christ being lived out through your spirit and heart. It is your hope of being able to see things as they really are. The experience of seeing things as they really are, builds your confidence in the Holy Spirit, who is the great “wisdom-giver” and the one who allows you to trust Him as you step out in quick and complete obedience.
Christ also adds that He wants to give to those who love Him and obey Him, not only revelation, but He wants to give them a gift – a gift of peace of mind and heart.
I am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart! And the peace I give isn’t fragile like the peace the world gives. So don’t be troubled and afraid. (John 14:27 TLB)
No, this peace is not fragile like the peace the world gives, but is the assurance that comes when you love Him completely and obey Him quickly. It is the assurance that comes that you are on the right track and all is well in the relationship between you and your Lord!
Summary: The Principle of Christ’s Formula is that – “If you love me you will obey me; if you love me and obey me, I will reveal myself to you one step at a time and give you the gift of peace of mind and of heart.”
THE PRINCIPLE OF CONIDENCE AS IT RELATES TO OBEDIENCE
Early in my spiritual journey, I bumped into a wonderful little book written by Hannah Whitall Smith: The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life. (Old Tappan, N.J.: Fleming H Revell Co., 1952 p. 208) In her book, she shared the idea that “perfect obedience would be perfect happiness if only we had perfect confidence in the power we were obeying.”
Over the years, I have taken liberty to paraphrase her idea and tighten it up a bit.
Perfect obedience would be perfect happiness if we had perfect confidence in the one we obey. For you see, perfect confidence is when you are so convinced of God’s Will that you waive all your own personal rights in favor of pursuing His Plan. Does that sound familiar? That’s perfect faith!
As you will recall, faith implies action, and it is the action part of faith that becomes the initiation of obedience. Without perfect faith or confidence, there can never be perfect obedience. But when there is perfect faith in God’s Plan for your life, followed by perfect obedience in carrying out that Plan, the net result will be perfect happiness. That is because you are fulfilling the Plan for which you were created. There is no greater happiness than that!
Happy are all who perfectly follow the laws of God. Happy are all who search for God, and always do his will, rejecting compromise with evil, and walk only in his paths. (Psa. 119:1-2 TLB)
THE PRINCIPLE OF INSIGHT, OPPORTUNITY, AND OBEDIENCE
Very often, a visual aid can help us understand and retain a concept. Look carefully at this diagram and observe the phenomenon of obedience:
God will give you an insight as to something He wants you to do. That insight may come through reading the Bible or some other written Word. Or, it may come as you are traveling in your car on the way to work. Or, it may come through the words of a religious song, or while you are in prayer and devotion, or through the sharing of a friend.
However, the insight comes to you, it is usually quite quickly followed by an opportunity to do something about the new insight. On the heels of an insight, usually comes an opportunity to either obey or disobey some instruction.
As you will recall, in the early part of this chapter, it was stated that the story of mankind is a pageant, revealing a person’s response and reaction to God’s command to specific obedience. It was also stated that history is the simple recording of the results of the lives of men and women who individually decided how they were going to handle this conditional requirement of obedience.
So it is, at this point, that history is determined. You can either obey or disobey at this point. If you choose to take this opportunity to obey, you are then allowed another insight, consequently, another opportunity, etc., etc.
This is the way spiritual growth and maturity take place. This is the way you allow the growth or influence of the Holy Spirit to, more and more, control the activities of your life.
The following diagram is designed to illustrate how the influence of the Holy Spirit can radiate into the physical and psychical areas of your life. Obedience is one of the main factors which governs this influence in your life.
It is no wonder the Psalmist was so insistent that “growth in wisdom comes from obeying his laws.” (Psa. 111:10 TLB)
THE PRINCIPLE OF “LAG-TIME”
Now that you have briefly looked at Christ’s principle of “If you love me, you will obey me,” the principle of “Confidence as it relates to obedience,” and the principle of “Insight, Opportunity, and Obedience,” you’re ready to investigate another concept that we call “Lag-Time.”
Graphically, “lag-time” would look like this.
The period of time that elapses between the time God reveals to you what you should do and when you finally get around to doing it, is what is referred to here as “lag-time.” Perhaps this is the most subtle weapon that Satan can use against you concerning obedience.
You may have been confused and do not see it as “lag-time.” You may hesitate and claim that you have “placed it is the pigeonhole of suspended judgement.” The tragedy lies in the fact that no matter how you rationalize, the end result is still the same . . . a missed opportunity for obedience. You may have been led to believe that being extremely “cautious” is a sign of wisdom, stability and maturity when in reality, it could be nothing more of less than disobedience.
Satan’s approach is to prolong the “lag-time’ to the extent that you never quite get around to obeying what you know you ought to do. Even if there is obedience following a period of “lag-time,” it is sad to think that God’s perfect timing may have been thrown off by your delayed obedience.
In the 14th chapter of the Book of Numbers, one the saddest incidents in the life of the Children of Israel is recorded. God’s instructions to the Israelis were to move out from the wilderness of Kadesh-Barnea and enter into the promised land. Joshua and Caleb reassured Moses and all the people: “Let us go up at once and possess it . . . for we are well able to conquer it.” (Num. 14:30 TLB)
But the people revolted, “There are giants over there. . . and fortified cities . . . take us back to Egypt lest we all die here.” The Lord’s anger was hot against them and he demanded that they move away from the entrance to the promised land. He declared that no one over twenty years of age in the group would ever see the promised land. They would wander in the wilderness for forty years – one year for every day they had revolted and disobeyed his commands. This “Lag-Time” propensity is pretty serious stuff!
In dealing with the principle of “Lag-Time” there are at least two points necessary to be remembered:
Your awareness level must increase and your sensitivity must become more acute so that you can more quickly respond to God’s Will.
You must develop the skill of cutting down the “Lag-Time” to the point where “knowing” and “obeying” become exactly the same. You must work on bringing the period of “Lag-Time” down to Zero!
THE PRINCIPLE OF “EAGER-PURSUIT”
The Psalmist David crystallizes this principle in the very first Psalm. He explains that it is not enough to sit back and wait for God to hand down a command for you to obey. He claims that you should always be meditating on God’s ways and be creatively thinking about the possibility of your being in “eager-pursuit” of new and challenging opportunities for obedience:
Oh the joys of those who do not follow evil men’s advice, who do not hang around with sinners, scoffing at the things of God: But they delight in doing everything God wants them to do, and day and night are always meditating on his laws and thinking about ways to follow him more closely. They are like trees along a riverbank bearing luscious fruit each season without fail. Their leaves shall never wither, and all they do shall prosper. (Psa. 1:1-3 TLB)
II. CONCLUSION
Willful disobedience separates you from God (examples: Eve, Solomon, Judas, etc.):
But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your
God, and your sins have hid His face from you, so that He does not hear. (Isa. 59:2 NASB)
A life of postponed or delayed obedience produces “spiritual fog.” In this condition, little or nothing is clear; everything is morally gray and out of focus. What you once counted on as a well-defined landmark, now becomes a “mobile-situational-ethic,” hardly recognizable in the haze of life.
Christ has no responsibility to reveal Himself clearly except in response to quick and complete obedience. If you want to know His Will more clearly . . . you must obey more quickly.
His promise is that He will reveal Himself and His Plan only to those who love Him completely and obey Him without hesitation.
A poorly maintained “love-life” will always result in postponed response. If you think you can afford the luxury of delayed or postponed obedience, then you may as well count on spending the rest of your life stumbling around in “spiritual fog.”
The person who chronically complains of the malady of “non-revelation” (I just don’t know God’s Will”) has not only disclosed his symptom, but has also, in the same breath, put his finger on the cause. If you don’t know God’s Will, it is more than likely due to a delinquent response of obedience to the last installment of revelation.
For Christ, who is not the author of confusion, but light and revelation, promised that he would reveal Himself one step at a time to those love Him and obey Him. How imperative it is for you to obey!
Look back for a moment at the pageant stage and listen to what Moses is trying to tell us in closing:
Look, today I have set before you life and death, depending on whether you obey or disobey – Oh, that you would choose life; that you and your children might live! Choose to love the Lord your God and obey him and cling to him, for he is your life and the length of your days. (Deut. 30:15-20 TLB)
This contract is not with you alone as you stand before him today, but with all future generations of Israel as well. (Deut. 29:14 TLB)
And now, the Apostle Paul adds:
But some of these branches from Abraham’s tree, some of the Jews have been broken off. And you Gentiles who were branches from, we might say, a wild olive tree, were grafted in. So now you, too receive the blessing God has promised Abraham and his children, sharing in God’s rich nourishment of his own special olive tree. (Rom. 11:17 TLB)
Now Christ, with outstretched arms, motions to speak the final word:
I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Live within my love. When you obey me, you are living in my love. . . John 15:9-10 TLB)
Next Week: God’s Will Part 1: God’s Will in Your Life