Obedience comes from true faith. If your "faith" in Jesus does not result in a desire and at least a valient attempt to obey, you may want to speak to God about whether you really have the faith He's referring to.
"But obedience ... that sounds like works. I thought we were saved by faith."
Yes.
"But, are you saying that we must have faith and do good works to be saved?"
No, that's redundant. Because obedience comes from faith. If you're doing things to win your place in heaven on your own, with your own power, you can stop. Those works are like dirty rags. But if you have faith and you trust in Him ... if you truly have a relationship with Him, you'll want to obey (a) because you love Him and want to please Him just like a loving, appreciative child wants to please His parents, and (b) you know He loves you, so you know that whatever He commands will be far far better than anything you could ever come up with. You know He's a good, good Father. And a good father keeps us safe (especially from ourselves), guides us, directs us, helps us to become the best Us possible.
As Paul says, "... obedience comes from faith." And this isn't a "faith" that has been redefined by modern times. In biblical terms, faith naturally results in loving obedience. Not perfection, but obedience which comes along with periodic and natural stumbling.
Wake up call:
If your "faith" doesn't result in a loving and trusting obedience, it may not be faith at all. The solution is not to "do more". The solution is to run after Him.
Call to Action:
Take a gut check, then respond.
No comments:
Post a Comment