Obedience by Faith THE GOOD NEWS OF OBEDIENCE BY FAITH
Chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood. 1 Peter 1:2, R.S.V.
Truth should never be judged by our experience. If the Wright brothers had done that, they would have continued making bicycles. But they said, There's something possible that we haven't seen yet. And today we have a Boeing 747 that is longer on the inside than was the Wright brothers first flight.
The fact that obedience is possible, and that obedience is necessary, and that obedience is God's goal for each of us, should not be discouraging. Perhaps you are aware, as I am, and painfully so, that you are not obeying perfectly all of the time. But whether we fall or fail has nothing to do with the truth of the fact that God has the power to keep us from sinning.
Obedience is possible. It is possible only through faith. This is true because faith is not just mental assent but trust based on relationship with One who is trustworthy. It is true because of our nature as sinners. Because apart from Jesus we have no righteousness, and only through connection with Him are we partakers of His righteousness. Obedience is only by faith because of the nature of surrender. When we are faced with our helplessness as sinners, our only option is to give ourselves up to the control of God. Obedience is only by faith because of the fact that until we have given up to God's control, we are being controlled by Satan. There is no middle ground where we run our own lives. We are under either God's control or the control of the enemy. Obedience is only by faith, because obedience is a fruit of faith, and fruit is always spontaneous, always a result of something else. Fruit is never obtained by working hard on producing fruit. Fruit comes by being united to the vine. And, finally, obedience is only by faith because of Jesus' example. As we depend on Him, in the same way as He depended on His Father, the obedience that was manifested in His life will be seen in our lives as well.
Obedience is not the cause of our salvation, even though it is a condition. It is the result. As we behold the love of Jesus day by day, we are changed into His image.
Chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood. 1 Peter 1:2, R.S.V.
Truth should never be judged by our experience. If the Wright brothers had done that, they would have continued making bicycles. But they said, There's something possible that we haven't seen yet. And today we have a Boeing 747 that is longer on the inside than was the Wright brothers first flight.
The fact that obedience is possible, and that obedience is necessary, and that obedience is God's goal for each of us, should not be discouraging. Perhaps you are aware, as I am, and painfully so, that you are not obeying perfectly all of the time. But whether we fall or fail has nothing to do with the truth of the fact that God has the power to keep us from sinning.
Obedience is possible. It is possible only through faith. This is true because faith is not just mental assent but trust based on relationship with One who is trustworthy. It is true because of our nature as sinners. Because apart from Jesus we have no righteousness, and only through connection with Him are we partakers of His righteousness. Obedience is only by faith because of the nature of surrender. When we are faced with our helplessness as sinners, our only option is to give ourselves up to the control of God. Obedience is only by faith because of the fact that until we have given up to God's control, we are being controlled by Satan. There is no middle ground where we run our own lives. We are under either God's control or the control of the enemy. Obedience is only by faith, because obedience is a fruit of faith, and fruit is always spontaneous, always a result of something else. Fruit is never obtained by working hard on producing fruit. Fruit comes by being united to the vine. And, finally, obedience is only by faith because of Jesus' example. As we depend on Him, in the same way as He depended on His Father, the obedience that was manifested in His life will be seen in our lives as well.
Obedience is not the cause of our salvation, even though it is a condition. It is the result. As we behold the love of Jesus day by day, we are changed into His image.
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