THE SPIRIT OF OBEDIENCE

A person of genuine, Biblical faith, is a person who truly wants to obey God, the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Understanding obedience should be of great benefit to us. To that end, in this space last month, we gave attention to the nature of obedience. Being from a compound word made up of "hupo" (under) and "akouo" (to hear), the idea of giving ear, listening, submitting, and being in subjection thus derives. The desire of "obedient children" (I Pet. 1:14) should be to bring "every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:5). That being true, let's consider the spirit of obedience.

NEGATIVELY CONSIDERED: The spirit of obedience is not selective, picking and choosing what of God's desires and commands it will fulfill. This is true even if some of the things required are not pleasant. To illustrate, Paul charged the Corinthians to deliver to Satan the incestuous person among them; for "if anyone who is called a brother and is a fornicator…not even to eat with such a person" (I Cor. 5:5-11). He later stated that one of his purposes for so writing was "that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things" (2 Cor. 2:9). Having to withdraw from a brother or sister who have fallen into disreputable behavior is never pleasant, but necessary nonetheless.

The spirit of obedience does not determine by personal tastes and preferences what it will perform. Saul, Israel's first king, was commanded to go and "attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them" (I Sam. 15:3). It is interesting to observe that Samuel prefaced this command by calling upon Saul to "heed the voice of the words of the LORD" (vs. 1). Saul "attacked the Amalekites" (vs. 7), and "utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword" (vs. 8b), but "he took Agag king of the Amalekites alive" (vs. 8a). He "and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed" (vss. 8-9). Look at the words "unwilling", "despised and worthless." Their personal tastes and preferences became the determinants of what they would do. Thus, there was in reality no obedience (see vss. 19, 22-23).

The spirit of obedience does not seek to offer minimal service. Paul commended his beloved friend, Philemon, saying that he had "confidence in your obedience…knowing that you will do even more than I say" (Philem. 21). Jesus said, "whoever shall compel you to go one mile, go with him two" (Mat. 5:41).

The spirit of obedience does not seek to substitute for what is required. A classic illustration of one who sought to do so was Cain who "brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD" (Gen. 4:3). But to that offering, given instead of an animal sacrifice, God had not respect. Nor should we expect Him to look any more favorably upon substitutions in our day.

POSITIVELY CONSIDERED: The spirit of obedience will obey whether another does or not. It is not a matter of "I will if you will." A person coming to understand his sinfulness and God's truth should obey that truth whether his/her mate does or not.

The spirit of obedience will act whether the requirements appear reasonable or not. Did marching around Jericho sound militarily reasonable as a means to taking a city (Josh. 6)? Or dipping in the Jordan as a means to cleansing from leprosy (2 Kings 5)? To many the command to "repent and be baptized" may seem unreasonable regarding the procuring of "the remission of sins," but that is exactly what Peter called on people on Pentecost to do (Acts 2:38). To receive remission of sins is to receive salvation; and salvation is in Christ (2 Tim. 2:10). Baptism is into Christ (Gal. 3:27).