Having been in several churches that each had their own flavor of how to "obey the word of God," I have come to see for myself that I had it all wrong. I had so misunderstood obedience and what I now believe God says about it for us as believers. I will start with the forerunner of the obedience that we live in today, our Lord Jesus:
Heb 5:8 though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered.
Christ did not learn "to obey." He learned "obedience." He learned that he always obeyed, and that despite how it appeared at times to others, it was expressed THROUGH him but BY another source, his Father. He learned this not by doing or trying, but solely by the work of suffering given to him by his Father's life in him, for his father saw him for who he truly was. His father was the obedience expressing himself in Jesus' life so others who had eyes to see saw the Father when they saw Jesus.
Heb 5:9 Having been made perfect, he became to all of those who obey him the author of eternal salvation,
We are indeed those who obey him, even when our "behavior" tries to tell us otherwise!!
It is the same as a lump of gold learning pureness, poetically speaking. It does not learn by doing anything, but solely by the work of suffering given to it by the hand of the one who sees it for what it is, the gold miner.
1Pe 1:6,7 Wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been put to grief in various trials, that the proof of your faith, [OBEDIENCE, THE LIFE OF GOD] which is more precious than gold that perishes even though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ—
That is why this obedience is called the "obedience of faith." (Rom 1:5; 14:25) It issues out of faith, and belongs to faith, not sight. If we are looking for it with physical eyes in some "behavior" we will miss it, because, being of faith, belonging to that which is faith, it is something we can only see with eyes of faith, because just as the gold miner has to have faith that what he holds in his hand is pure gold, despite seeing so much dross, likewise by faith we understand that true obedience, the life of God within us, is just as real, despite seeing the flesh we live in, and the contradictions it portrays.
We have been placed into obedience himself, but, just as Christ had to learn it from what he suffered, so do we. Jesus was made "complete through sufferings." (Heb 12:10) This is the process during Jesus life that taught him of the obedience he had and lived in, not of what he did outwardly but of who he was inwardly.
2Co 10:6 and being in readiness to avenge all disobedience, when your obedience will be made full.
These wonderful Corinthians, you mean they had obedience? Yes they did, despite appearances. When Paul speaks of their obedience being made full, think of being completed, for that is what he means. It is the same as the contrasting fullness spoken of as sins being made full. Just as the sins of nations in the past happened until the time God said "enough," when it was full and time for judgment, so to the obedience of the Corinthians, and every other believer, the life of God within us, will also be made full, another way of saying "be made complete," and seen in the day of the judgment as complete. How will it be made complete? Not by anything of the flesh, not by what most have come to think of "obedience" as. No, but it will be by the suffering, the fiery trial, expressed in a battle wherein "imaginations and and every high thing against the knowledge of God" is brought to "the obedience of Christ." It is God who "begins the good work" and "completes it." We participate as we live, and to the extent that we believe we see it with eyes of faith.
In that battle that goes on within each of us, a daily battle against all the thoughts that try to convince us of who we are not, every one of those thoughts are being made to obey Christ. Notice that nowhere in that text are we being told to "do" anything. It is happening for us. It is spoken of as something we ARE doing. Go ahead and read it, in 2Co 10:3-5, if you like. The pureness of the gold [that proof of faith, OBEDIENCE] is being revealed more and more And this trial, just as it did with Christ, will be complete. Paul leaves no room for doubt, for he say when your obedience will be made full.
Rom 6:16 Don't you know that to whom you present yourselves as servants to obedience, his servants you are whom you obey; whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness?
Can you see God here? He is right there in the word obedience. Let's try it this way:
Rom 6:16 Don't you know that to whom you present yourselves as servants to God, his servants you are whom you obey; whether of sin to death, or of God to righteousness?
Paul makes this interchange seen in what he has said just before this:
Rom 6:13 Neither present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
As an aside, here is a list of all the scriptures which speak of obedience as it relates to God, under the new covenant. Notice the underlined portions in particular and see what common theme is expressed.
Rom 1:5 Through him we received grace and a commission as an apostle to bring about the obedience of faith among all the gentiles for the sake of his name.
Rom 6:16 Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey-either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
Rom 6:17 But thank God that, though you were once slaves of sin, you became obedient from your hearts to that form of teaching with which you were entrusted!
Rom 15:18 For I am bold enough to tell you only about what Christ has accomplished through me in the bringing of gentiles to obedience. By my words and actions,
Rom 16:19 For your obedience has become known to everyone, and I am full of joy for you. But I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.
Rom 16:26 but now has been made known through the prophets to all the gentiles, in keeping with the decree of the eternal God to bring them to the obedience of faith-
2Co 7:15 His heart goes out to you even more as he remembers how obedient all of you were and how you welcomed him with fear and trembling.
2Co 10:5 and every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive in order to obey Christ.
2Co 10:6 We are ready to punish every act of disobedience when your obedience is complete.
Phm 1:21 Confident of your obedience, I am writing to you because I know that you will do even more than I ask.
1Pe 1:2 the people chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through the sanctifying work of the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with his blood. May grace and peace be yours in abundance!
1Pe 1:14 As obedient children, do not be shaped by the desires that you once had in your ignorance.
1Pe 1:22 Now that you have obeyed the truth and have purified your souls to love your brothers sincerely, you must love one another intensely and with a pure heart.
Act 6:7 So the word of God continued to spread, and the number of disciples in Jerusalem continued to grow rapidly. Even a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
Php 2:12 And so, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only when I was with you but even more now that I am absent, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
Heb 5:9 and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him,
2Co 2:9 For to this end I also wrote, that I might know the proof of you, whether you are obedient in all things.
Can you see that they are statements of fact, statements of fulfillment, and not statements of possibility or of needing to be fulfilled? The last verse, 2Co 2:9, is the closest I could see that APPEAR to speak of doubt, but based on the verse in chapter 10:6...
2Co 10:6 We are ready to punish every act of disobedience when your obedience is complete.
this too speaks of certainty to me, from our standpoint seeing it transpire, but completed from God's standpoint in Christ.
Obedience is not what we do for God, but what God does through us. For Obedience ultimately is a God himself, expressed in his life, as he lives and walks in us.Our obedience to him is the symbiotic participation in that faith. Rejoice in the battle we are going through, in the trials that rage against us every day, for all of it is to reveal us as those who have "become obedient from the heart." (Rom 6:17) That obedience from the heart is nothing short of the miracle of the Life of God in Christ, our very life now!
Ron
