Christian Living

Pursuit of Obedience

by Thomas Kirkpatrick
03/07/19
Free to Share
Author requests article critique

  Message Writer
  Hire Writer

Tweet

“If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself.” (John 7:17)

If a man gained all knowledge it would be useless to him if he did not abide in that knowledge. "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction." Proverbs 1:7) Likewise, if the knowledge he had gained was the truth, then the truth would be meaningless to him if he lacked obedience to that truth. "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me." (John 15:4) To gain knowledge is to have reverent respect of the source of that knowledge, which is the Lord God Almighty. To use the knowledge of truth requires obedience to what it tells you.

Now it was in the middle of the Jewish Feast of Booths that Jesus went into the Temple and began to boldly teach the truth of the Kingdom of God. The Pharisees, who always took the wrong side of Jesus’ teaching began to question His knowledge. "How has this man become learned, having never been educated?" (John 7:15) Jesus replied that His knowledge was not His own but that of His Father who had sent Him. Then Jesus challenged the Pharisees with our text. It is not that Jesus was teaching a different doctrine than the Pharisees knew but that they were not abiding in the knowledge they had been given. If they knew, then they would have known that the words of Jesus’ teaching were of the truth. But this truth of Jesus’ words was meaningless because they were not obedient to His truth.

The pursuit of spiritual understanding is not one of obtaining complete knowledge but one of complete obedience to the truth of the knowledge. If one is seeking knowledge of social science, then he must have a curiosity about society. If one is seeking the knowledge of Jesus’ teachings, then he must have a desire for obedience to the truth of His Word. If there is disobedience to the Word of God, then the spiritual truths will remain hidden. Intellectual vagueness is the product of ignorance but spiritual vagueness is the result of disobedience by my own intention. "They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed." (Titus 1:16)

When one receives a word from God soon they will be put to the test to see if they have treasured it, to see if they are willing to structure their life according to it, and to see if they will obey the command of it. If we fail, then we will not experience spiritual growth. Let this not be a wonder to you, as if we fail to move forward, then we cannot reach higher. In His Sermon on the Mount Jesus taught this truth. "Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering." (Matthew 5:23-24)

The words of Jesus will always bring His light to the darkest corridors of our heart. "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12) As the Pharisees were hypocrites, appeared to live as righteous but were wicked in their hearts, neither can we stand before God as imposters. His Spirit will uncover the self-vindication of our spirit and bring awareness to things we have yet to give a thought of

We are as followers of Jesus far from the image that He created us to be. Yet He created us for the good work that was ordained by the Father for us to accomplish through Him. "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10) We are His ambassadors and children of His Kingdom and carry the message of reconciliation. "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God." (2 Corinthians 5:20)

This is the primary calling upon each of us to make disciples for Christ through the whole of the world. (Matthew 28:19-10) We cannot be effective ministers of the gospel of Jesus if we are not actively growing into a likeness of the image that we were created to be, that of God. "Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness." (Genesis 1:26)

To do this the Christian must desire to be in the will of the Father each and every day by submission to His Word. We must know the teaching and be obedient to the truth of His Word. The truth of His Word is imprinted upon our hearts through the power of the Holy Spirit which dwells within us. God’s Spirit will guide us into all truth that we may know what we know that we know His ways. "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come." (John 16:13)

The Holy Spirit is the sanctifier of our life and brings us closer to the image of our Lord. It is the Holy Spirit that gives us the power to change from the world of darkness to the Kingdom of light. It is the Holy Spirit that instills the characteristics of the God we serve. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23) Our walking in the power of the Holy Spirit is the bases of our discipline to be transformed from the old self to the new. "For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline." (2 Timothy 1:7)

The motivation for obedience to the Word of God is love. God loved us so much that He sacrificed His only begotten son that we could receive the gift of salvation. Not one saint who has received salvation from God was righteous, they all were sinners just like you and me, yet God loved us. Jesus while we were yet sinners went to the cross to pay our sin debt that we could live free in the Kingdom of God. If love is the motivation of God to show His grace to you and me, then this is the motivation for us to obey His commands. "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." (John 14:15)

When I was but a child many years ago in the mid-fifties of the last century George Beverly Shae sung a song that I have carried with me through the years titled, “Trust and Obey.” It was a song written by John Stammis in 1817. "Trust and obey, for there’s no other way To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey." Throughout the ages men have survived this world by their faith in God’s Revelation, Faith in Jesus Christ. All the knowledge, all the truth of His Word, is worthless if we do not trust and obey. "If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God." (1 Peter 1:17-23)

Thomas N Kirkpatrick

First Baptist Church of Durant, July 27, 2017