Obedience

[Scott]

Our obedience is a pleasure to the Lord.

8 But Noah found grace (favor) in the eyes of the Lord.
9 This is the history of the generations of Noah. Noah was a just and righteous man, blameless in his [evil] generation; Noah walked [in habitual fellowship] with God.
Genesis 6:8–9

But what about the feeling we get from our obedience to God's plan for us. When I'm disobedient I feel that Holy Spirit and want to make a change in my behavior. When I make that change and do what is right in God's sight I feel like I'm growing in Christ Image, sanctification.

2 Corinthians 3:18 says that “we are being transformed into Christ's likeness”

Christlikeness is God's goal for all who trust in Christ, and that should be our goal also.

I like this from Oswald Chambers

Sanctification
But it is from Him that you have your life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom from God, [revealed to us a knowledge of the divine plan of salvation previously hidden, manifesting itself as] our Righteousness [thus making us upright and putting us in right standing with God], and our Consecration [making us pure and holy], and our Redemption [providing our ransom from eternal penalty for sin] 1 Cor. 1:30.

The Life Side. The mystery of sanctification is that the perfections of Jesus Christ are imparted to me, not gradually, but instantly when by faith I enter into the realization that Jesus Christ is made unto me sanctification. Sanctification does not mean anything less than the holiness of Jesus being made mine manifestly.
The one marvellous secret of a holy life lies not in imitating Jesus, but in letting the perfections of Jesus manifest themselves in my mortal flesh. Sanctification is “Christ in you.” It is His wonderful life that is imparted to me in sanctification, and imparted by faith as a sovereign gift of God’s grace. Am I willing for God to make sanctification as real in me as it is in His word?

Sanctification means the impartation of the holy qualities of Jesus Christ. It is His patience, His love, His holiness, His faith, His purity, His godliness, that is manifested in and through every sanctified soul. Sanctification is not drawing from Jesus the power to be holy; it is drawing from Jesus the holiness that was manifested in Him, and He manifests it in me. Sanctification is an impartation, not an imitation. Imitation is on a different line. In Jesus Christ is the perfection of everything, and the mystery of sanctification is that all the perfections of Jesus are at my disposal, and slowly and surely I begin to live a life of ineffable order and sanity and holiness “Kept by the power of God.”

Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

 

[civic]

I might add this- it should be the believers “ pleasure “ to serve, obey, walk with Jesus on a daily basis. It’s a privilege to serve Him. It should be something we have to do but we get to do.

We need to change our thinking process. It’s not a burden , it’s a privilege and our pleasure to walk with Him. Fixing our eyes on Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith.

Amen !

 

[Scott]

That exactly where I was headed. It gives us:

“ pleasure “ to serve, obey, walk with Jesus on a daily basis.

Jesus came to serve not to be served Matthew 20:28 and Mark 10:45

And we are "Imitators of Christ".

And that refers to the Christian practice of following Jesus' example in our life, as detailed in the New Testament. This involves emulating His character and actions, such as walking in love, kindness, and forgiveness, and refraining from behaviors like greed and immorality. The concept is rooted in the idea of discipleship, where followers learn and model their lives after their teacher.

 

[Jay]

Scripture describes a very close relationship between knowing God and obedience, in several ways.

First knowledge of God produces obedience. If we know Christ, indeed, if we love him, we will keep his commandments.

John 14:15 If you [really] love Me, you will keep (obey) My commands.

Obedience leads to the knowledge of God. Jesus says in John 7:17, “If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority”. You see? A desire to obey leads to the knowledge that Jesus’ words come from God.

The obedient heart comes first, the knowledge second. And then, certainly, the new knowledge will lead to new obedience, the new obedience to still more knowledge, and so on.

There is a spiral relationship between knowledge and obedience: more of the one leads to more of the other. We’re used to hearing people say that knowledge comes first, then ethics; knowledge first, then obedience. But the Bible, remarkably, teaches also that obedience leads to knowledge.


One reason why obedience is so important is if you want to know whether someone knows God, look at their life. 1John 2:3–4 tells us: “And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.

Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him”

 

[Amos]

Obedience is a good thing. God's laws are for our own good. We are to do what is right and just in His eyes.

19 For just as by one man’s disobedience (failing to hear, heedlessness, and carelessness) the many were constituted sinners, so by one Man’s obedience the many will be constituted righteous (made acceptable to God, brought into right standing with Him) Romans 5:19

 

[Soyeong]

Scripture describes a very close relationship between knowing God and obedience, in several ways.

First knowledge of God produces obedience. If we know Christ, indeed, if we love him, we will keep his commandments.

John 14:15 If you [really] love Me, you will keep (obey) My commands.

Obedience leads to the knowledge of God. Jesus says in John 7:17, “If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority”. You see? A desire to obey leads to the knowledge that Jesus’ words come from God.

The obedient heart comes first, the knowledge second. And then, certainly, the new knowledge will lead to new obedience, the new obedience to still more knowledge, and so on.

There is a spiral relationship between knowledge and obedience: more of the one leads to more of the other. We’re used to hearing people say that knowledge comes first, then ethics; knowledge first, then obedience. But the Bible, remarkably, teaches also that obedience leads to knowledge.


One reason why obedience is so important is if you want to know whether someone knows God, look at their life. 1John 2:3–4 tells us: “And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.

Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him”

The Hebrew word “yada” refers to intimate knowledge gained by experience, such as with Genesis 4:1, where Adam knew (yada) Eve, she conceived, and gave birth to Cain. God’s way is the way to know (yada) Him and Jesus by experiencing being in His likeness through being a doer of His character traits, which is the way to eternal life (John 17:3). For example, Genesis 18:19, God knew (yada) Abraham that he would teach his children and those of His household to walk in His way by being a doer of righteousness and justice that the Lord might bring to him all that He has promised. In Exodus 33:13, Moses wanted God to be gracious to him by teaching him to walk in His way that he and Israel might know (yada) Him, and in Matthew 7:23, Jesus said that he would tell those who are workers of lawlessness to depart from him because he never knew them, so the goal of the law is to teach us how to know (yada) God and Jesus, which is His gift of eternal life.

 

[Angelo]

THE LIGHT OF OBEDIENCE

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
PSALM 119:105

If you go into any of the big-box home-improvement stores, you’ll find an entire section devoted to flashlights. Some of them are huge! They advertise millions of units of candlepower in brightness and can light up objects a quarter mile away. These lights are a far cry from the tiny, handheld oil lamps in biblical times: one candlepower in strength, lighting up objects perhaps five feet away!

The psalmist writes that God’s Word is a lamp to his feet and a light to his path. And in the mind of the Israelite, God’s Word was something to be obeyed. As I obey God’s Word where I stand today, His Word will give direction for the next move I should make. In other words, there is no need to see a quarter mile down life’s path if I am not going to obey and take the one step God has made clear where I stand. If you are seeking direction for your life, obey what God has shown you today. Do that one day at a time, and looking back, you’ll realize the entire way has been illuminated.

Obedience is not a matter of seeing the whole path, only the next step. Obedience increases seeing.

The plain fact is that not everyone who professes to seek guidance is honestly desirous of being guided into God’s will.
J. OSWALD SANDERS

From my devotion today
David Jeremiah, Your Daily Journey with God: 365 Daily Devotions

 

[Jay]

In both the Old and New Testaments the word obey is related to the idea of hearing. Obedience is a positive, active response to what a person hears.

God summons us to active obedience to His word. Man’s failure to obey God results in judgment. In the Old Testament covenant between God and man, obedience was the basis for knowing God’s blessing and favor.

Now therefore, if you will obey My voice in truth and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own peculiar possession and treasure from among and above all peoples; for all the earth is Mine
Exodus 19:5


Samuel emphasized that God’s pleasure was not in sacrifice but in obedience.

Samuel said, Has the Lord as great a delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
1 Samuel 15:22

Even the promise of a new covenant emphasized obedience as God’s gift.

But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel: After those days, says the Lord, I will put My law within them, and on their hearts will I write it; and I will be their God, and they will be My people.
Jeremiah 31:33


In the New Testament, the obedience of Christ stands in contrast to the disobedience of Adam. The disobedience of Adam brought death, but the perfect obedience of Christ brought grace, righteousness, and life.

12 Therefore, as sin came into the world through one man, and death as the result of sin, so death spread to all men, [no one being able to stop it or to escape its power] because all men sinned.
13 [To be sure] sin was in the world before ever the Law was given, but sin is not charged to men’s account where there is no law.
14 Yet death held sway from Adam to Moses [the Lawgiver], even over those who did not themselves transgress [a positive command] as Adam did. Adam was a type of the One Who was to come [in reverse, the former destructive, the Latter saving].
15 But God’s free gift is not at all to be compared to the trespass [His grace is out of all proportion to the fall of man]. For if many died through one man’s falling away (his lapse, his offense), much more profusely did God’s grace and the free gift [that comes] through the undeserved favor of the one Man Jesus Christ abound and overflow to and for [the benefit of] many.
16 Nor is the free gift at all to be compared to the effect of that one [man’s] sin. For the sentence [following the trespass] of one [man] brought condemnation, whereas the free gift [following] many transgressions brings justification (an act of righteousness).
17 For if because of one man’s trespass (lapse, offense) death reigned through that one, much more surely will those who receive God’s overflowing grace and the free gift of righteousness reign as kings in life through the one Man Jesus Christ .
18 Well then, as one man’s trespass [one man’s false step and falling away led] to condemnation for all men, so one Man’s act of righteousness leads to acquittal and right standing with God and life for all men.
19 For just as by one man’s disobedience the many were constituted sinners, so by one Man’s obedience the many will be constituted righteous (made acceptable to God, brought into right standing with Him.
20 But then Law came in, [only] to expand and increase the trespass [making it more apparent and exciting opposition]. But where sin increased and abounded, grace has surpassed it and increased the more and superabounded,
21 So that, as sin has reigned in death, [so] grace (His unearned and undeserved favor) might reign also through righteousness (right standing with God) which issues in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 5:12–21