Obedience

Promise and Faith

Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. Genesis 15:6 This passage is from the story of God reaffirming the promise He initially made to Abram in Genesis 12:1-3. Despite Abram’s misgivings, which he had enumerated in the previous verses, we are told he trusted God. His trust in God…

Rehabilitating Obedience

Obedience is a word with a complicated history in Christian life. Too often it has been demanded by some of others, husbands of wives, those in power of their subjects, or by clergy of lay people, all in the name of faithfulness and divinely bestowed authority. The assertion is made that scripture grants authority a…

Beyond Obedience

Obedience is an insufficient response to God. Doing what God says is not actually what he asks for or wants from his children. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. 1 John 5:2 The family God desires is defined by mutual love, where…

Compliance vs Obedience

What is the essence of obedience spiritually? We might think the answer is doing whatever we are instructed to do. However, this is a very minimalist sense of obedience. Spiritual obedience, which is the expression of faith, is much more than simply doing as instructed. When we define obedience as doing what we are told,…

The Spirit of Obedience

In his letter to the Romans, Paul twice uses the phrase “obedience of faith.” In 1:5 he states Jesus Christ gave grace and apostleship in order to bring the nations to this obedience of faith. In 16:26 it is the revelation of the mystery of Jesus Christ which is now known through the preaching of…

Christ linked obedience to love when he said to his disciples, “If you love me, keep my commands.” (John 14:15). How often have we heard instead, if you keep my commands, I will love you! Obedience is not the precondition to being loved nor is God’s love for us increased by doing what God says.…

Tag: Obedience