Obedient means “submissive to the restraint or command of authority.”
God gave King Saul a command through the prophet Samuel in I Samuel 15:3.
1 Samuel 15:3 KJV 3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
Instead of obeying God, King Saul decided he had a better way. We find in verses eight and nine, he brought the king back alive along with some livestock. Saul found out that partial obedience was not obedience at all.
All Christians have people in authority over them. If we are going to be obedient to God, we must be obedient to those who have authority over us.
A Submissive Spirit
Like it or not, God teaches all Christians are to be submissive—not passive, but submissive to authority. The very first step in the Christian life, salvation, has to begin with a submissive spirit. A person cannot be saved until he comes to the point of admitting his sinful condition, repenting of his sins, and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The effective Christian is constantly submissive to God. James wrote in James 4:7:
James 4:7 KJV 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
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We are to submit to:
➢ Scriptural baptism according to Acts 2:38 KJV 38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
➢ To church membership according to Ephesians 3:21 KJV 21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
➢ And, to faithful service according to 1 Corinthians 4:2 KJV 2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.
Each day should be filled with submission to the Holy Spirit.
The Christian family is to have a submissive spirit. The husband is to be in submission to Christ in leadership of his home, 1 Corinthians 11:3 KJV 3
But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
Wives are to be submissive to husbands as well as to the Lord, Ephesians 5:22 KJV 22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. The children are to be subject to their parents and to the Lord, Ephesians 6:1 KJV 1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
It may sound like a terrible setup to some, but it is the only way a family can function properly.
In Ephesians 5:21, God even requires that His children be submissive to one another.
Ephesians 5:21 KJV 21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
This attitude is that of a person who never seeks to be the “star of the show.”
He never wants to be seen and heard just for attention’s sake. This kind of Christian is happy receiving less credit than he is due, and is ready to give other people praise for the work they have done.
First Things First
Obedience to God is the number one priority. This is basic to obedience to all other authorities. God has ordained other authorities. To obey Him is to obey them. Bible characters such as Daniel and his three friends realized this 31
Let’s look at some verses that establish the above paragraph.
Matthew 22:21 KJV 21 They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.
Mark 12:17 KJV 17 And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And they marvelled at him.
Luke 20:25 KJV 25 And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s.
Let’s look at Daniel and his friends. I am not going to comment on these verses from Daniel, but I
believe that you can recognize the principles as you go through the verses.
Daniel 1:8-20 KJV 8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. 9 Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs. 10
And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? Then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king. 11 Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 12 Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink. 13 Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king's meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. 14 So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days. 15 And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king’s meat. 16 Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they should drink; and gave them pulse. 17
As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. 18 Now at the end 32
of the days that the king had said he should bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19 And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king. 20 And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.
Jesus taught that love is the motive for obedience to Him. He said in John 14:15 KJV, 15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. This is the only motive that will last. Anyone who obeys God out of fear is missing the sweetest part of serving. Most pastors realize that love is the only basis that will cause church members to stay in service.
John wrote in I John 2:3-6 about something being seriously wrong with a person who says he is saved but does not obey the Lord. When a person who professes to be saved habitually disobeys the instructions of the Lord, he should check his salvation. On the other hand, the one who lovingly obeys God can find assurance in his obedience.
1 John 2:3-6 KJV 3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. 6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
The wonderful thing about obedience to God is that it is possible. God has never told us to do anything that couldn’t be done. Look at what John wrote in I John 5:3.
1 John 5:3 KJV 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
(The word “grievous” means “burdensome.” In other words, God’s commandments are not a burden to His children.) Jesus comforted His church by telling them that His yoke was easy and His burden light. You find that in Matthew 11:29, 30.
Matthew 11:29-30 KJV 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn 33
of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
The only thing standing between the believer and obedience is his own unwillingness.
Obedience to the Laws of the Land
I touched on this earlier, but I want to go into a bit more detail on it.
Obedience to God includes obedience to the laws of the land. Paul said in Romans 13:2, during the time when wicked Nero ruled over Rome, Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. Even though the government may be wicked, Christians are to be obedient as long as possible.
A little further explanation below.
God’s people have no right to resist the government unless it requires them to go against the laws of God. For example, a law which requires women to abort their babies could and should be resisted.
Peter wrote in I Peter 2:13, Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;… God’s Word, through Peter, instructed Christians that all laws are to be obeyed, not just the ones agreed with.
The law of the land is to be obeyed “for the Lord’s sake” (I Peter 2:13).
According to verse 15 of that same chapter, this obedience “puts to silence the ignorance of foolish men.” Being a law-abiding citizen is extremely important to our testimony before the lost. God has set up authorities in order for mankind to have a peaceful and orderly existence on this earth. I realize that in most places it is impossible to have a peaceful and orderly existence because of the sinfulness of leaders. However, we are to be obedient, nonetheless.
I cannot close this portion without giving this caveat. We are to be obedient to the laws of the land until and unless, those laws are in violation of God’s laws. THEN, we are to be obedient to God and not man. Look at what Peter said in Acts 5:29.
Acts 5:29 KJV 29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
With all that we have seen that Jesus said and Peter said, etc., why then would Peter make such a statement as the above verse? Let me give you the 34
scenario. The church at Jerusalem had grown by the thousands. Many of the leadership and the priests had also believed. This caused the High Priest and his minions great concern. They caught Peter and the apostles and threw them into prison.
That night, an angel released them from prison and told them to go back to their preaching. The next morning, a check was made of the prison and the prisoners were missing. While they were trying to figure that out, someone came in and told them that their prisoners were in the temple preaching again. Well, you know what happened. They were again hauled away to stand before the High Priest and his cohorts. The question was thrown at Peter and the apostles, “You were told not
to preach this anymore. Why have you disobeyed?” To that, Peter replied with his answer that we have in verse 29. I believe this incident gives us a clear example of how and when we are to disobey the laws of the land.
Obedience to Spiritual Leaders
Obedience to God includes obedience to spiritual leaders. This is primarily speaking of pastors of churches. Some church members take offense to this particular Bible teaching, but it is the truth nonetheless.
Dictatorial type pastors have done great harm to the commands of God. The teachings of God place the burden on the church members to submit to pastoral leadership. The burden is not on pastors to force God’s people to follow. The pastor is to lead. If the people do not follow, he cannot make them do so. I must say that a church member who has a problem with his or her pastor should examine themselves first and make sure they are not the problem. Yes, there have been many pastors that have not been the pastor that God would have them to be and the church would have to get rid of the pastor. Be careful in that because you must make sure, completely sure, that the pastor is really not doing God’s will in preaching the truth of His Word. There is a procedure that a church should follow, but I don’t want to pursue that in this writing. Nevertheless, unless it is established beyond a shadow of a doubt that the pastor is clearly wrong, don’t go and stir up trouble. Many church members who resent being obedient to their pastor are usually people that have trouble with other authorities as well. This type of person ordinarily has problems in other areas of life also.
It is a biblical fact that pastors are to be followed. In I Timothy 5:17, Paul spoke of elders who “ruled” well. They are to rule, guide, lead, or oversee the church where they pastor. Church members should never take lightly the suggestions and recommendations made by their pastor. They should obey, or submit to, the authority of their pastor within the bounds of the Scriptures. Paul instructed people to follow him as he followed the Lord.
Naturally, they should not blindly follow him into heresy or other areas that 35
Consider the following reasoning:
➢ God shows His confidence in a man by calling him into the ministry.
➢ A church demonstrates its confidence in a man by calling him to be its pastor.
➢ Should not this man be allowed to lead and direct that church?
Conclusion
Are you being obedient? Have you been obedient to God by asking Jesus to save you? Have you been obedient to God by following His commandment of scriptural baptism? Have you been obedient to God by serving Him in a scriptural church? Have you been obedient to God by faithfully serving Him? If you haven’t been obedient in any or all of these and other areas, you need to start right now.
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