Sadly, most people in the world do not recognize God. Therefore, it is unsurprising that they do not obey Him. Yet for those who claim to be Christians, obedience ought to be a way of life. But why should we live a life of obedience?
The New Testament clearly indicates that we do not obey God in order to earn our salvation. Because all of us have sinned (Romans 3:23), the only thing we have earned is eternal punishment (Romans 6:23). Jesus said, “So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done’” (Luke 17:10). Even if we could perfectly carry out every command the Lord has given, we are still “unworthy slaves” who are dependent upon the grace of God.
At the same time, Jesus implied in the statement above that His people would obey Him (“when” – not IF – “you do all the things which are commanded…”). When He commissioned His apostles to go out and make disciples, they were to teach them “to observe all that I commanded” (Matthew 28:20). Obedience is expected of those who would be Jesus’ disciples.
That brings us back to our question: Why do we obey God? There are a few reasons presented to us in the Scriptures:
- We obey because we have faith – At the beginning of Paul’s letter to the Romans, he explained his mission in preaching the gospel was to “bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles” (Romans 1:5). Many want to portray faith and obedience (works) as being opposing concepts. Yet the New Testament shows that they necessarily go together. James explained, “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead” (James 2:26). Jesus asked the question: “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46). If we believe that Jesus is “Lord” (one with authority), we need to obey Him.
- We obey because we have chosen to obey – The fact that man has free will and can choose whether or not to obey God is clearly seen in Joshua’s challenge to the people of Israel: “Choose for yourselves today whom you will serve…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). Because Jesus has “all authority” (Matthew 28:18), He has the right to expect us to “observe all that [He] commanded” (Matthew 28:20). Yet He does not force us to do this. Instead, He gives us the choice. If we obey the Lord, it is because we have chosen to do so.
- We obey because we are servants of God – Notice what Paul wrote to the Romans: “Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness” (Romans 6:16-18). Paul was writing to Christians, and they had chosen to follow the Lord and be obedient to Him. By doing this, they became servants of God, committing themselves to living righteously before Him.
- We obey to demonstrate our love for God – John wrote, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). We do not obey God grudgingly; instead, we obey God because we love Him and want to please Him. Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15).
- We obey because we fear God – The wise man summarized our purpose in life in this way: “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Paul explained that “the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 5:6), and this is something we want to avoid. “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31). Obviously, fear should not be our only motivation for obeying God. As we noticed in the previous point, we obey God because we love Him. Yet the “terrifying expectation of judgment” (Hebrews 10:27) ought to motivate us to submit to the will of God. When the Lord returns, those who “do not obey the gospel…will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9).
- We obey in order to be saved – Many will balk at this idea. They insist that we obey because we are saved, not to be saved. Yet the Hebrew writer indicated that Jesus is “to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation” (Hebrews 5:9). When Peter preached to non-Christians on the day of Pentecost, he admonished them to “be saved from this perverse generation” (Acts 2:40). Yet the way they would do this was by repenting of their sins and being baptized into Christ (Acts 2:38, 41). Peter would later write that we purify our souls when we obey the truth (1 Peter 1:22) and that “baptism now saves you” (1 Peter 3:21). Even after the initial steps of obedience that lead to salvation, we are to continue to obey the Lord if we want to remain in a saved condition. The Hebrew writer warned that we need to “encourage one another” because it is possible for Christians to “[fall] away from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12-13). He used the example of the Israelites who fell in the wilderness to remind all Christians to “be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience” (Hebrews 4:11). In other words, Christians need to continue to obey the Lord and “be faithful until death” (Revelation 2:10) in order to receive the reward that He has promised.
The above reasons are why we obey God. In them, we can also see why it is so important to do this. Consider what we do when we disobey God:
- We live as if we do not believe in Him – James wrote, “But someone may well say, ‘You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (James 2:18). Faith and works are naturally and necessarily linked to one another. If we do not obey the Lord, any claim we make of believing in Him is an empty one.
- We choose to reject Him – Having the free will to obey the Lord means that not obeying is also a choice. After encouraging the brethren in Philippi to follow his example and “walk according to the pattern,” he explained that others would not do this, making themselves “enemies of the cross of Christ” (Philippians 3:17-18). If we do not choose to obey the Lord, we are choosing the side that is against Him.
- We become servants of sin – In a passage we noticed earlier, Paul reminded the brethren in Rome that they “were slaves of sin” before obeying the gospel (Romans 6:17). If we turn from being “slaves of righteousness” (Romans 6:18), we go back to being the slaves of sin. Again, we are “slaves of the one whom [we] obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness” (Romans 6:16).
- We renounce our love for Him – Again, love leads to obedience (1 John 5:3; John 14:15). Yet many believe they can claim to love the Lord while rejecting His teachings. John wrote, “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him” (1 John 2:3-5).
- We show that we do not fear (respect) God – In the Bible, to fear God does not simply mean to be in terror of Him (though, as we noticed previously, there is an element of this). More than that, fearing God includes reverence for Him as we respect who He is, what He has done, and what He is able to do. When Paul gave reasons why the world was “all under sin” (Romans 3:9), he concluded with the statement, “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:18). One may know what the word of God teaches, but if he does not respect God, he will not submit to His will.
- We jeopardize our salvation – When Paul wrote to the brethren in Corinth, he compared the Christian life to a race (1 Corinthians 9:24-25). He then explained that even he had to exercise discipline so that he would not become “disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27). He used the same analogy in his second letter to Timothy and made the point that an athlete “does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules” (2 Timothy 2:5). Even after initially obeying the gospel, Christians must continue to obey the Lord. If, instead, we “go on sinning willfully,” we stand to face “a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries” (Hebrews 10:26-27). We can “have confidence” as we look forward to Christ’s return, but only as we “[practice] righteousness” (1 John 2:28-29). If we turn back to a life of unrighteousness and disobedience, we no longer have the assurance of salvation.
Obedience is a requirement for those claiming to be the Lord’s disciples. Yet it is not enough to merely go through the motions. We need to have an attitude of love and reverence that motivates us in our obedience. Our obedience demonstrates our faith and is done of our own free will as servants of God. Knowing that the Lord will save those who obey Him, let us continue in faithful service throughout our lives.
