Power to Obey & What to Obey

Power to Obey
What to Obey

As we learn about the freedom we have in Christ we often feel incredible lightness. Our spirits soar in the grace and goodness of our wonderful Father God. We read scripture with new eyes and see in it beauty that had gone unnoticed or misinterpreted before.

Then one day, when some of the initial sparkle has dimmed enough for us to get down to the business of really understanding the pure Gospel of grace in its fullness, we encounter passages that speak to us of obedience.

The idea of dutiful obedience can raise doubts in our hearts about all we have learned about the finished work of the Lord Jesus on our behalf. It can bring into question how we are to understand the commands and imperatives in the New Testament writings.

One great place for us to begin unraveling this seeming mystery is in the promise God made through the Prophet Ezekiel. Let’s have a look at that.

Ezekiel 36:25–27 (NIV)

“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”

First, let’s observe that in verse 27 God says He will move us to follow His decrees and be careful to keep His laws. Let’s examine the way the translators of a few other versions have rendered that phrase.

The King James and English Standard Versions (KJV/ESV) render it this way.

“And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.” Note the use of “cause” and “shall” in these translations.

Next, let’s look at the New English Translation (NET). Here the translators provide, “I will put my Spirit within you; I will take the initiative and you will obey my statutes and carefully observe my regulations.” God takes the initiative, so we “will obey” and we will “carefully observe.

The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) is similarly direct about this. It reads, “I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances.” God will “make” us follow and be careful to observe.

Finally, let’s read this verse in Young’s Literal Translation (YLT).

“And My Spirit I give in your midst, And I have done this, so that in My statutes ye walk, And My judgments ye keep, and have done them.” As anyone familiar with Young’s Literal would expect, this is a bit uncomfortable to read. It’s oddly rendered. An artifact of it being translated in an extremely literal way. But as can often be the case, this rendering brings out some nuance that the others portray at a lower resolution.

“I have done this, so that in My statutes ye walk, And My judgments ye keep, and have done them.”

Pay close attention to the verb tenses here. Father says that He has put His Spirit in us “so that in [His] statutes [we] walk.” That’s in the present tense. He goes on to say that “[His] judgments [we] keep.” Present tense again. We do this. This is what we do.

Now here’s the part I love the most. After telling us that we walk in His statutes and keep His judgements, a very interesting shift takes place. Young switches, mid-sentence, to past tense. We “have done them!” This shift to past tense is seen in the Greek Old Testament called the Septuagint (or LXX) as well.

I think here we get a glimpse into the eternal timelessness in which God exists. Being born again seems to us like something that happens at a specific point in time, and for us it certainly is that. But the new creation of our spirits and their union with the Spirit of God is eternally true. This is the reason scripture tells us things like, we “have been crucified with Christ.” It’s also the reason Paul could say that Abraham’s faith never wavered, though we read in Genesis of several times when Abraham acted faithlessly. The same is true of King David being called “a man after God’s own heart” though he was an adulterous conspiratorial murderer.

All that to say that the promise God make includes something that is easily missed. God is the source of our obedience. It isn’t our hard work or our moral strength or our will power that must provide the energy or power for us to obey God. God does that.

This is consistent with what the Bible teaches in the New Testament in places like Philippians 2:13 which tells us He works in us to desire and do godly things, as well as Titus 2 :11-12 that says He teaches us to deny ungodliness and live upright and godly lives in this world. It’s consistent with what Jesus said in John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (NIV) He didn’t say we can bear much fruit, or we may bear much fruit. He said we will bear much fruit.

Knowing this we can now turn our attention to the question at hand. What laws, ordinances, judgments, statutes, or regulations are we responsible to keep? Jesus fulfilled the Law, so we know this can’t mean that we are going to be keeping the Law handed down by Moses.

Instead, it’s what James calls the law of freedom or liberty and the royal law (James 1:25 & 2:8) and Paul calls the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.

Here’s what Jesus said about the law we are to obey, “Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” (John 6:29 NIV). He also said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34 NIV).

Paul put it this way, “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.” (Romans 13:8 NIV). He also said, “For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”” (Galatians 5:14 NIV).

So as those in whom Christ dwells and who dwell in Him, we are to live out the law of love. Galatians 5:6 says that circumcision or uncircumcision (religious rites and observances or anything else you do in your own power) has no value. It goes on, “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” (NIV)

Jesus told us that His yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matthew 11:30), and John agreed saying that “His commands are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3)

It can seem daunting however to live out the love of God. We all know that we are to love those close to us, but the going gets tougher when we contemplate loving those who disagree with our basic values, shun our belief system, or are outright hostile toward us.

What then are we to make of this? The answer lies in the promise of God that He is the dynamo, the engine, the energizer, the power source for our obedience. 2 Peter 1:3 tells us that “His divine power (Greek: dunamis from which we get dynamo) has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” (NIV)

That squares quite nicely with Father’s gracious promise in Ezekiel, doesn’t it? He is at work in us taking the initiative, moving us, causing us, making us, live godly lives.

The life to which we are called is a life of love because God is love and it is His presence within us that drives us to love. No other outcome is possible in Christ because as we read in Romans 5:5, “God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (NIV).

So, be at rest. Jesus has finished all the work, and you are seated with Him at the right hand of God the Father, blessed with every spiritual blessing in Him. Your life is safely kept in God with Christ, sealed there by the Holy Spirit.

Trusting that He is working in and through you is obedience. The obedience of living by faith.

Obedience is the product of faith in God. Here's how Paul put it, "Now to him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from faith—" (Romans 16:25-26 NIV)

When we have obeyed God by agreeing with Him through faith about our sin and the work of the Lord Jesus, the product of that is righteousness. Being made righteous, we share in the divine nature, according to the scriptures (2 Peter 1:4). Consequently, Holy Spirit within us produces godly fruit. That fruit looks like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. It looks like the description of love in 1 Corinthians 13:4–8 “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. (NIV)”

When we bear such fruit, we are manifesting God to the world. But it is not our doing, stiving, working that produces it. This all happens by living by faith depending upon Him as the dynamo. The source and empowerment for all of it. We may well be working. We may be working very hard, but we are working out of desire, out of sincere love, out of heartfelt joy that we get to participate in what Father is doing.