Disciples Obey

Mat 28:19-20 NIV – 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” [emphasis mine]

Read the verse again slowly if it’s never occurred to you before that the type of disciples Jesus wants are those that learn to obey.  Those who have no interest in obeying Jesus are not His disciples.  Obedience is essential, but what type of obedience is the Lord looking for?  Here are a few thoughts.

Obedience From Faith

Rom 1:5 ESV – 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, [emphasis mine]

Paul’s mission was to call people to obedience.  But not just obedience.  Obedience by itself can be very dangerous because it can puff oneself up into self-righteousness.  “I thank you God that I am not like that sinner over there” (Luke 18:9-14).  No, the type of obedience that magnifies Christ is obedience that comes from faith – obedience that responds to all that God is for us in Christ.  It makes much of our own weakness and much of God’s grace through Christ.  Our obedience is a response to God’s acceptance of us through the cross of Christ not a means of trying to earn God’s acceptance.  This type of obedience leads us  to humility because it is at the cross that we understand that we could never do enough to earn God’s acceptance.  Our acceptance is earned only through Jesus paying the price.  We believe this and our obedience flows from this grateful place.

Hard-working obedience

Phl 2:12-13 ESV – 12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

There is a thought that since godly obedience comes from faith then all we have to do is believe and we will naturally obey.  But this couldn’t be further from reality.  Obedience is hard work and anyone that tells you otherwise has probably not given much thought to practically obeying God.  It isn’t easy to love our spouses at times let alone our enemies.  It isn’t easy to forgive a person once let alone seventy times seven (Matt 18:22).  Obedience isn’t always easy, but it is possible through Christ.  God regenerates the hearts of those that have placed their trust in Him and He gives them the ability (or will) to obey (Phil 2:13).  Obedience is possible because God is at work within us and it is the obligation of every believer to work out what God is working in (Phil 2:12-13).  The disciple of Christ sets his hand to the plow and is ready to work hard in order to obey Jesus (Luke 9:62), but he considers it a joy like the man who sold everything to buy a field with a lifetime of treasure (Matt 13:44).

Whole-hearted obedience

Luk 9:62 ESV – 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Rom 6:17 NIV – 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.  [emphasis mine]

God is looking for wholehearted obedience.  The Greek word that is translated as “obey” in Matthew 28:20 (the first verse in this post) is rendered as “observe” in other translations.  It means to observe, keep, watch, or hold fast.  In other words, it means to pay careful attention to.  There is a type of fake obedience that only has it’s eyes set on the least that needs to be done, as in a child that storms off to carry out his parents orders – doing what he’s told, but only because he has to.  The disciple not only puts their hand to the plow but he doesn’t look back.  The mercies of God have captivated him.  He wonders, “Where else can I go?  Jesus has the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).  It’s hard to define “whole-hearted”, but I believe that a person is whole-hearted about those things that he truly believes will satisfy him.  A disciple sees Christ as the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Heb 11:6).  The disciple of Christ doesn’t ask, “How close to the line of sin can I get?” but rather, “What can I do to please the Lord?” (Eph 5:10).

Stay tuned for my next post when I talk about “Disciples Die”.