The Prerequisite for Fellowship

OBEDIENCE
BY
LeROY EIMS

OBEDIENCE IS HARDLY an exciting topic for some of us. We think it smacks of legalism or stern self-discipline that takes all the fun out of life. That's why God gives us good reasons to obey Him.

THE PREREQUISITE FOR FELLOWSHIP

"This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from every sin" (1 Jn. 1:5–7).

During World War II I was stationed on a little island in the Pacific. It was a horrible place to live, and one of the few things that made us Marines happy was the monthly beer shipment (this was before I became a Christian). The rule was that we each got two beers, and we weren't supposed to buy beer from each other. But in those days I didn't care about rules, so I'd go around and pay lots of my buddies a dollar a can for more beer. When I'd collected fifteen or twenty I'd go to my tent and get drunk.

Once, after drinking about a dozen beers, I took my bayonet and stabbed a can. It shot a heavy stream right at the flap of my tent. Just then my lieutenant opened the flap to come in. From the moment I first saw him standing there, dripping with beer, I knew our relationship was marred. And it wasn't the beer that had done it. It was my disobedience.

The same thing happens when we disobey God. It doesn't just hurt us personally. It disrupts our relationship with Him. It wounds the special communion that ought to take place between a loving Father and His children.

Jesus taught clearly that obedience is the only way to maintain fellowship with God: "If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love" (Jn. 15:10).

THE MEANS TO EFFECTIVE PRAYER

"Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands . . ." (1 Jn. 3:21–22).

God attends not just to what we say, but to what is in our hearts. That is why He could say of the rebellious Israelites, "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me" (Is. 29:13a; cf. Mt. 15:8). He wasn't impressed with what came out of their mouths unless it reflected what was in their hearts.

One Sunday afternoon I went with a doctor to see a patient. When he returned from examining the patient, he shook his head and said, "This guy's got a bad heart."

How could he know that? The patient might have said, "I'm fine, doctor. There's no trouble." But his words wouldn't have meant much. What he needed was a true physical examination, and that's what the doctor did. He used his stethoscope and with that he could hear what the heart was doing. What he heard assured him the patient had a bad heart.

How can you know what is in your heart? Look at your behavior. There's no better sign of the heart than the life. "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander" (Mt. 15:19).

When we're saying one thing and doing another, God isn't fooled. He knows we're drawing near with our lips but are far from Him in our hearts. And then our prayers go unanswered. But when our hearts are right with God because we're obeying Him, we can be confident of receiving what we pray for.

THE SPRING OF EFFECTIVE WITNESS

"I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes" (Ezk. 36:23).

What is a witness? A witness is someone who knows something, but he's also someone who is something. He must know something about the subject, but he must also be the kind of person whose words are believable. His life must back up his words.

In my hometown in Iowa there was an old man known as the town liar. His stories were the most outrageous anyone ever heard. He was a nice enough old man, and all of us kids liked being around him. But no one would have called him to testify in a trial, even if there was proof he'd seen the crime. No one could ever have known for sure whether he was lying or telling the truth. His life couldn't back up his words.

The Christian's life should be exactly the opposite. His moral reputation should so shine that no one would think to question whether he was telling the truth as he saw it. He might not always be right, but he'd always be honest. God intends for unbelievers to get to know what He is like by seeing what we're like. We should be living images of God (Col. 3:10).

An effective witness rests on the foundation of obedience. That is why Paul emphasized, ". . . our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake" (1 Thess. 1:5).

OBEDIENCE SHOWS LOVE FOR CHRIST

"Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me" (Jn. 14:21a).

Sometimes we think obedience is merely external. But obedience is really internal. Our behavior reveals what is in our hearts.

When we're born again, we enter the Kingdom of God, and in that Kingdom there's a King. As loyal citizens of that Kingdom, we must always want to know what the King wants us to do and where He wants us to go, and then we must do that and go there. That is what really shows our love for Christ.

Obedience really is the only true test of our claim to love Christ as Lord. "Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord, ‘and do not do what I say?" Christ asked those who followed Him with their lips but not with their hearts (Lk. 6:46). On the other hand, He said to His disciples, "If you love me, you will obey what I command" (Jn. 14:15).

It can't be a life in which we simply try to figure out for ourselves what God might want us to do and then do it. It must be a life in which we go to God Himself for our marching orders.

Imagine what would happen in a slave-holder's house if his slaves got up each morning and thought to themselves, "What would the master want us to do today? Let's go out and do that." Because the slaves couldn't know everything their master had planned, they'd keep going off in wrong directions, doing plenty of good things with good motives, but not the right things. No, slaves know that they are to go to their masters each morning for the day's orders, and then do precisely as they are told.

Peter describes Christians as slaves to God (the word "servant" in 1 Pet. 2:16 translates the Greek word doulos, "slave "). The true life of obedience is the life of submission to God in which we go to Him daily for instructions and then do what He has told us to do. And that life, says Peter, will confound the false notions of nonChristians about Christians so that they will be attracted to Christ rather than repelled from Him.

SETTING THE EXAMPLE

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you" (Phil. 4:8–9).

When your friends look at you, do they think, "I'd like to be like her"? Would you like them to think that? Or would you rather say, "Well, Susan, I'd like you to be like me in these areas. But don't follow my example in these others over here"? If there are any reservations in your willingness to hold your own life up as an example to others of what Christ can do in a person, then those are areas that need to be made obedient.

In some circles, you are the best Christian somebody knows. That person will look at you to see what the Christian life is all about. If that doesn't frighten you a bit, perhaps it should, because it means that someone's concept of Christ Himself will be built on what he sees in you.

Jesus Himself showed the importance of being an obedient example. When He called the disciples to evangelism, He didn't say, "Listen to Me, and I will make you fishers of men." No, He said, "Come, follow me . . . and I will make you fishers of men" (Mt. 4:19). Even Jesus didn't try to change people with words alone. He gave them His life as a pattern for them to follow.

Jesus even indicated that He followed Another's example, and then called us to follow His: "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love" (Jn. 15:9–10).

Do you want to remain in Christ's love? Do you want your life to be the kind of example others will want to follow? And when they follow your example, do you want them to know a life filled with joy (Jn. 15:11)? Then you must be obedient.

AFFECTING THE LOST

"Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men" (1 Pet. 2:12–15).

In Peter's day Christians were suspected by unbelievers of thinking and doing horrible things. Unbelievers thought Christians practiced cannibalism in the Lord's Supper. Because Christians rejected the pagan gods, they were accused of atheism. Unbelievers even thought Christians practiced wife swapping and child abuse, though it's not clear where those ideas came from.

Peter said Christians should live such upright and exemplary lives that unbelievers would find it impossible to believe the rumors. Instead, unbelievers should be persuaded by the good lives of the Christians that these truly were servants of God.

In our own day unbelievers think some pretty silly things about Christians, too. They think we'd like to use laws to force everyone else to profess faith in Christ, and that we aren't capable of living peaceably with anyone who doesn't agree with us. They think we throw our minds out the window to become believers, or that the Christian life is nothing but dreary rule-keeping. Only a life of joyful obedience (Jn. 15:10–11) can counter such ideas.

The Christian's life should testify not only to who God is and what He's like, but also to the wisdom and liberty to be found in God's commandments. "See," Moses wrote, "I have taught you decrees and laws as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.' What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?" (Dt. 4:5–8). When others see how joyful and fulfilled the obedient Christian life can be, they naturally respond, "Surely this . . . is a wise and understanding people."

OBEDIENCE GLORIFIES GOD

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven" (Mt. 5:14–16).

Our obedience glorifies God. We ourselves glorify God by obeying Him, and other people glorify Him when they see our good deeds.

Once I was discipling a group of young men at a seminary. One of them was reciting the Westminster Catechism, and the first question and answer were, "What is the chief end of man? The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever."

"That's great," I thought. And then I asked him, "Don, how do you glorify God? If I said to you, ‘Begin glorifying God,' how would you do it?" Don thought for a moment and then said, "I don't know. I never really thought about it."

"How are you going to glorify God if you don't know how?" I asked. Then we did a Bible study on how to glorify God, and we focused on obedience.

How does our obedience to God glorify Him? By showing forth His authority, for one thing.

Once when a Roman centurion asked Jesus to heal his servant, Jesus responded, "I will go and heal him." But the centurion wouldn't hear of it. "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof," he said. "But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,' and he goes; and that one, ‘some,' end he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,' and he does it" (Mt. 8:7–9).

When people see others obeying someone, they know that that person has authority. It is the same when people see us obeying God: they know He has authority.

When people watch your life, do they glorify God by recognizing His authority over you?

THE EVIDENCE OF SALVATION

"Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; neither is anyone who does not love his brother" (1 Jn. 3:7–10).

It is not ultimately my claim of faith that confirms my new life with God. It is the pattern of my life. If I continue to revel in sin, it is a sure sign that, regardless of claims to the contrary, I have never surrendered to Christ. But if I strive to obey Christ out of a desire to serve the One I love, that is evidence that I have indeed confessed Him as Lord not only with my mouth but also with my heart (Ro. 10:9–10).

This is why James demanded good works as the fruit of faith:

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? . . . faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. (Jas. 2:14, Jas. 2:17–26)

We could as easily understand "faith without deeds is dead" as "faith without deeds is not faith." As Luther is reputed to have said, "Faith alone saves, but true faith is never alone." A life of obedience is an indispensable sign of saving faith.

THE PATHWAY TO JOY

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does" (Jas. 1:22–25).