Christian Living

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“Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” — Romans 6:16

Have you had times in your life when you just felt like rebelling against authority and normal conventions, you know, having to always obey the rules and submitting to authority? This especially happens when we are younger, usually our teen years, trying to find out “who we are” and dealing with the constant peer pressure and other stresses of finding our place in life. Well, this may surprise you, but as human beings we are still dealing with peer pressure, and are still trying to find out who we are. And as long as we are in sin, we are still rebelling against authority — only spiritually! That rebellion comes through disobedience to the authority of God. To paraphrase our verse, we either obey God unto life, or obey sin unto death!

Remember that life is always about movement and that movement hinges upon our decision to obey, or not obey, the will of God. Every endeavor in life reflects this movement, you are either moving forwards or backwards, you never stand still. However, because of man’s will factor (freedom of choice which God has given to His children) we don’t always move consistently in one direction or the other. In other words we don’t always obey. It is imperative to realize that as children of God, it is required of us to constantly strive to move forward. Sin is moving backwards, or away from God, righteousness is moving forward, or towards God.

Let’s take an example

Climbing the corporate ladder takes a determination to succeed, at whatever cost. We must take responsibility for our own destiny by applying a good work ethic, actively positioning ourselves in the work culture, and other means to move forward. And herein lies the key, ambitiously climbing the rungs of the corporate management ladder entails the concept of movement. Moving from one place of authority and responsibility to another more advanced position. Again, life is about movement, going from one state of being to another. Up or down, life is the ultimate corporate ladder.

We must obey the rules of engagement with dedication and focused action, in order to achieve our goals, as obedience requires commitment to gain our desired results. One hundred percent obedience equates to one hundred percent commitment, and effort, which in a perfect world would result in a one hundred percent return on our investment of time and energy. As with all things, the amount of effort is directly in proportion to the results we wish to achieve. Give a hundred percent, get a hundred percent. The real question is, what corporate culture are we moving in, in God’s or the world’s?

So how does this relate to obedience, personal identity and submission to, or rebellion against God’s authority? To rephrase the previous question, we must first define who’s culture we are embracing, God’s or the world’s, and in doing so we can define which side we are on and what reward we should expect. Because obedience is service, when we decide who we will serve (obey) we choose what destiny, or reward, we shall receive. And a hundred percent service (obedience) secures our destiny, or reward, a hundred percent. It is very simple and straightforward.

There is only one authority

First we must understand that there is only one power in the world, and that is God’s power. And that power is derived from the divine authority of God that expresses in all of creation. It is when we are in submission to that power and authority, through obedience, that we move forward in life. Life is all about moving forward or backwards, and obedience or disobedience to the authority of God is the mechanism by which we travel this road.

When we accept and embrace the standards, and consequent lifestyle, of the world, we are actually in rebellion against God and His power in our lives. He is the only true authority in life, therefor not accepting that authority puts us in a state of rebellion against life itself, which means we have chosen death. We either identify with God and accept His authority in our lives, which is obedience unto righteousness (as stated in our reference verse) or we go into identity crisis by taking on the standards of the world.

It is by our choices in life that we either gain or lose our full inheritance with God. We also lose our familial status with God, as we become children of perdition and no longer remain children of God. That is our identity crisis. Our true identity is in being the children of God that we are meant to be.

Always remember that Satan is not a god, and never was, therefor he can only be the father of lies — not the father of men. We are never under his authority, nor do we have a familial (family) relationship with him. Through the agency of our free will we can give a stranger and a thief our most precious of valuables, but in doing so it does not convey an inherent right to them. Neither does Satan have an inherent right of authority over mankind.

So we see three elements in action in our lives spiritually; God’s authority, our own identity and our level of obedience to God’s authority. In submitting authority to God in our lives through obedience, we are also identifying ourselves as being His children. This requires us to obey the principles, rules and tenets of our faith, as this is the acknowledgement of the authority and power of God! By living a worldly lifestyle with all the sins and lusts therein, we are in rebellion, or disobedience, to the authority of God. When we do this we are relinquishing our will to the world, rather than to God, and lose our inheritance and identity (family ties) with God through this disobedience.

It is important to understand that God is the only true authority and His authority is always intact. Disobedience to that authority is rebellion and sin. And sin’s reward is death. Sin has no authority in our lives, except that we ourselves have given it.

Which way are you moving?

We will always be moving in one direction or another, as we are always making decisions in life, and acting upon them. Each decision is inherently calibrated to either serve the world or to serve God. Every decision, and consequent action we make, is either in obedience with the authority of God, as clearly stated in the principles, laws and tenets of our faith, or are in disobedience of that authority. In other words we are either sinning or not sinning, we are making decisions that either reflect sin or reflect righteousness. So again, this is how we move forward or backwards in life through the application of obedience, or lack thereof, to God’s authority.

One hundred percent effort gives a one hundred percent return, and only in this way do we achieve success. And as children of God we want to be successful in reaching our heavenly home, through the front door and free from sin. This can only be achieved by being in total submission to the authority of God and anything that is in rebellion (meaning sin) to that authority must be taken out of our lives completely! This is a crucial point. We must be one hundred percent obedient, one hundred percent of the time, in order to receive within ourselves, complete, or one hundred percent, righteousness.

Obedience to God’s authority brings life, and that life is perfect and eternal. It is because in living the laws, truths and promises of God, as reflected perfectly in the life of Jesus Christ, we lose the ability to sin and to receive it’s reward — death! Obeying God places us in the center of His will and that will is to bring about the redemption of our souls and to bring us home to the heavenly kingdom. Sin is rebellion to the authority of God, and as such loses all the fulfilling of the promises of hope that God gives under that authority. Obedience is the only key to moving forward towards this fulfillment.

If we are moving forward only to move backwards again, we will never reach our goal. We must move consistently forward in order to arrive at our destination on time!

Always obedient

When we are being obedient to the will of God, we are being consistent with the teachings of Christ and the tenets and principles of our faith. When we are obedient all the time, in every act of thought and deed, then we are being constant in our efforts to obey and have risen to another level in our walk of faith. Now we begin to walk in the power of dynamic change in our lives. The power to change us from carnal man into the children of God that we are. It is in our constant obedience that we cast aside the destructive power of sin in our lives — without wavering, faltering or ultimately, without failure because we are applying it one hundred percent of the time in our lives.

It is much like when we learn or acquire any skill, habit or discipline, in life. You must practice consistently AND constantly to master it. Consistent in that you do it the same way, or method, that has been proven to gain the same results. You do it constantly so that it establishes the skill, habit or discipline. You may apply the same method each time to attain a desired result, but it is in the constant application of that method that increases your ability to attain the result each and every time.

Much like learning to play a piano, you first learn the basic skills, such as the musical scales. As you progress (move forward) you gain new, more advance skills and abilities. The ability to acquire these greater skills comes from constantly putting into use what you have learned and then seeking constantly to learn more. The only way to one day play Moonlight Sonata is to first learn how to play Mary Had A Little Lamb. Each level builds on the one before it.

So applying our obedience at every opportunity accomplishes this same principle of progression in our walk of faith. First we overcome the old habits of our sinful nature, the basics (and beginning) of our Christian walk, by constantly putting forth the effort to obey. Then as we overcome these things, we can apply our newly acquired skills to more areas of our lives, building upon our previous efforts through the discipline that we have acquired by the constancy of those efforts. But until we have developed a level of discipline we won’t have the tools to move forward in our walk with God.

So we see that we need not only consistency in our obedience, but we also must be constantly obedient. This is how we mature in our faith. It is this maturity that ultimately erases all sin from our lives and opens the door to receiving the fullness of God’s will, power and authority in our lives. When that happens, all that is unlike God is transformed, including ourselves. Being one hundred percent obedient, one hundred percent of the time IS the power of constancy that matures us in our faith.

God’s forgiving mercy

In our walk with God there will at times be setbacks, as we are not perfect until we are perfect. In other words, you are not at your destination until you get there! God knows this, just as He knows our hearts. In this we are given a great gift, it is called forgiveness. God forgives us of our sins (our moving backwards) until we reach an age of maturity in Christ. It is in that maturity that we can constantly, and consistently, move forward. So, much like when we were young and trying to find ourselves amongst the pressures of life, so are we in our walk of faith. It is when we finally fully mature, overcome our identify crisis, submit our will to His authority, and cease our rebellion, that we will gain our righteousness and heavenly reward.

It is then we understand that obedience is not cruel constraint placed upon us by some capricious god, but rather through our Father’s love it is the very key to the heavenly realms. In the final analysis, we must ask ourselves which master we would rather choose to serve and obey; sin unto death, or God unto life eternal? I for one, choose life.

Jonathan D. Payne
www.apointoffaith.com

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