Webster defines the word as "following the commands or guidance of; to conform to or comply with."
*Becoming a Born-Again Christian requires obedience. It is the key condition of your relationship with God, whose Lordship demands obedience. Through obedience, you fulfill His commands and statutes. By accepting Him as Savior, you are acknowledging that He is the Creator of the universe and your Creator; consequently, you must submit to Him as Lord. You are a child of obedience and should habitually obey and do those things that “belong to salvation” because you are a “good tree” (Hebrews 6:9; Luke 6:43-45; Matthew 7:18-23).
*The word "Lord" means master. The correlative word is slave or bondservant.
Our modern understanding of slavery is that a slave is one who is held against their will and has to do what they are told or suffer the consequences. However, during Jesus’ time, slavery was similar to being an indentured servant. People would sell themselves to others in order to provide food for their families and a roof over their heads. A slave had but one compulsion, and that was to please and obey their master. As a love slave of Jesus, you should desire to do His will and obey His commands.
Jesus must be first in every phase of your life. He must be before business, family, friends—even life itself. His Lordship over you must take precedence over your wants, desires, and needs. To say that Jesus is your Lord and not obey Him is hypocritical. It was by obedience to God’s call that you became a Christian, and it is through obedience that you enter into the kingdom of Heaven.
*The Greek word for obedience is 'peitho,' and it means "to persuade, to win over."
The obedience suggested is not by submission to authority, but resulting from persuasion. The Greek word 'pisterio' (to trust) is closely related. Obedience and trust go hand in hand.
If you recall the beloved hymn, 'Trust and Obey,' the words are coupled together, with insistence on the two being intertwined. Verse 4 reminds us:
"But we never can prove
The delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay,
For the favor He shows
And the joy he bestows
Are for them who will trust and obey."
The difference in meaning is that the former implies obedience that is produced by the latter. The obedience that the Scriptures talk about is obedience produced by trust. It is much easier to be obedient and trust someone when they have proven they are trustworthy.
*When you say you love God, you are saying that you trust Him and that you will be obedient to Him.
*Obedience is purely an act of the will.
It is a natural result of your trusting Him in every aspect of your life. If you are having a difficult time trusting God, then you will not be as readily obedient to His commands.
By trusting Him, it becomes easier to obey, and, in turn, by obeying, you will find yourself trusting Him more..
The Bible tells us the lack of obedience of the Israelites was the evidence of their unbelief.
"And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief." (Hebrews 3:18-19)
Faith is of the heart, invisible to people. It is that element of trust that is invisible. Your outward conduct proves your obedience.
Because it is observed, it is the outward sign of the Holy Spirit's inward work. Obedience proves your trust in God. It is the persuasion of the truth that results in faith.
For you to learn obedience, your life must first have been won over and been persuaded to live in truth. By your obedience to Jesus, you are made partakers of His salvation "and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him" (Hebrews 5:9). The bond of your union with Jesus is obedience through faith. You cannot be identified as a follower of His unless you are obedient.
*The dominant principle of Jesus’ life was His obedience to the Father, both in Heaven and on Earth. Your attitude should be the same as that of your Lord
"Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness." (Philippians 5:6)
Jesus "humbled himself and became obedient to death" on the Cross!
*It was because of obedience that Jesus was exalted "to the highest place." Because of His obedience, God the Father gave Jesus the "name that is above every name." Through Jesus’ obedience, God has decreed that ultimately "every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:9-11).
*Humility is the attitude that should pervade your life.
It is only through humility that you become obedient. Jesus chose to be humble. He made Himself nothing and humbled Himself. Just as Jesus made the conscious decision to be obedient, so must you make a conscious decision to do the same. Obedience was the law of His life, and so it must be with yours. In everything He did, he was obedient.
Jesus said that the "one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him" (John 8:28-29). Jesus understood that "by himself" He could "do nothing." Jesus will "judge only" as He hears. And when He judges, His "judgment is just," because He does not seek to please himself "but him who sent me" (John 5:30).
*It was His obedience that gave Jesus strength and satisfied all His needs.
"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work." (John 4:34)
The Hebrews couldn’t enter into the rest of God because of their disobedience. When you become obedient, you then enter into His res,t and He provides you all the nourishment and satisfaction your life needs.
As 100% God and 100% human, Jesus had to meet the test of voluntary choice under all conditions, the climax of which was to go beyond the normal limits of human endurance by being obedient to the Father’s will so that His perfection would be revealed through His experiences. Learning obedience didn’t lead Him from error to truth but from the basic level of obedience to obedience of even higher cost. The process was necessary for Him to complete His humanity.
Even though Jesus was made perfect, He was made complete by suffering. His suffering was also necessary to serve as an example to us because, as our sympathetic High Priest, He must fight the human battle under human conditions. By His suffering, specifically on the cross, Jesus is able to lead us as obedient children through every possible trial.
*We suffer because of our sin. Jesus suffered for our sin.
If we are going to "demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, [we must] take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5). Obedience is an act of the will brought out by trust in His control and sovereign rule of our lives.
*Obedience begins with the attitude of your heart.
Jesus must be in every thought. As you surrender all aspects of your life and entrust them to Jesus, you will find that it becomes easier to obey His commands - not because you have to but because you want to. You learn obedience by recognizing and performing the role that God has given you, whether it be father, husband, priest of the home, wife, mother, helper, friend, employer, employee, and so on.
You have to allow yourself to be brought to the Cross in order to be crucified with Christ, thereby putting to death your selfish ways, thoughts, and ambitions.
In other words, as Jesus taught us, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13).
This verse doesn’t speak of physically dying. What Jesus was referring to is dying to self, placing the needs of others over our own needs.
By allowing the Father access to our heart, exposing ourselves completely to His love and, in turn, His will, we allow Him to create a new heart in us. It is through our dying to self that we will be able to forgive as He has forgiven us.
*Finally, your actions are based upon your persuasion of who you are and what you have in your relationship with Him.
Remember - Obedience to God that is required in the Scriptures is obedience that is produced by trust.
Obedience is proof of your relationship with God.
