The Secret To Successful Obedience

Now that we know what grace does for us...
Now that we know the difference between walking in the spirit and walking in the flesh...
Now that we know we can only serve God by grace...
...Let's take a practical look at how to successfully obey God.

If you're like me, knowing the commands isn't the problem when you disobey. The vast majority of disobedient acts committed by Christians are committed after they know what they should be doing. We all know the rules...we just haven't figured out how to live by them. We keep getting our attempted obedience confused with true obedience.

Components of Genuine Obedience

Here's the scriptural formula for real, true, and effective obedience:
Obedience = Faith + Action

Remember this: if you want the result on the left side of this equation, you must have both factors on the right side.

Obviously, if you remove the action, you don't end up with obedience. Why? Because nothing gets done! Belief alone will not produce any results. This is why James 2:17 says that faith without works is dead.

But we must also realize that we can't remove the faith component either. Actions alone do not equal obedience! This is why Hebrews 6:1 tells us that works without faith are dead. This is true even if you're trying to do right. Romans 14:23 tells us that everything is sin unless faith is involved.

If you're going to obey God, it takes faith. Why?
Because the grace that empowers you to serve God can only be accessed through faith in God's Word!

Obedience to the Faith

Listen carefully to what I'm about to say...because it may sound vaguely heretical to some religious minds:

God doesn't really care about what you do....He cares about what you believe.

This is tough for some Christians to grasp, because they're convinced that there are strict rules that we must conform to. They'd never admit this, but way too many Christians honestly believe that they can conform their actions by their own willpower. But this can never be the case!

Think of it...if you could change the way you behaved on your own, wouldn't you have done it already? No, my friends...God's plan is the complete opposite of conformed actions. Romans 12:2 tells us, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..." The change you're looking for isn't external (in your actions); it's internal.

God's after your faith. If He can change what you believe, then His grace will come along and bring your actions in line. This is what is called "obedience to the faith." Putting your faith in God's Word will bring obedience...every time.

Faith in What?

This is when we get practical about using God's grace. If faith activates grace, then the obvious question is: faith in what? What is it that we must believe to obey God?

Psalm 119:66 - "Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe Your commandments."

Believing God's commands? This is a new idea for most Christians. We're familiar with believing God's promises... but what what does it mean to believe His commands?

To see this how this works, look at how it was put into practice in Acts 14:8-10.
"And in Lystra a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother's womb, who had never walked. This man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, said with a loud voice, 'Stand up straight on your feet!'"

What an audacious command for Paul to give this man! This was a guy that had never walked before in his life! There was no strength in his feet - no power at all to obey! Why would a preacher give someone a command like that?

Have you ever felt like you were in the same situation? You know God's command, but lack the strength to obey it? If so, learn from this man, notice how he was hearing Paul speak. He was listening by faith, not in the flesh. So when Paul yelled out the command to "get up!" - the man didn't hear it as a rule he had to obey somehow. He heard it for what it really was, a promise of healing power!

He believed the command - and acted in faith. The final sentence of verse 10 tells us what he did: "And he leaped and walked." This wasn't someone trying to obey on their own effort. This was someone who heard a command by faith, and then put that faith into action. And as soon as he took a step of faith, the grace (power) to obey came on the scene!

This is how it always works. God never gives a command without the grace to obey inside it! From now on, when you hear a command from the word, don't grit your teeth and wonder if you can obey Him or not. No, let grace turn that command into a promise - and then receive that promise by faith!

Don't say: "OK God. I know I'm normally a liar, but I'll try my hardest to tell the truth now!"

Say it like this: "Thank you, God! I was a liar, but You made me into a new person! I believe that I won't lie again!"

Another Practical Example:

Two men sitting in a church service hear the same command, "You shall not commit adultery."

Both of these men have been bound in pornography up until that very day.

The first man hears the command as a rule to follow. He grits his teeth and says to himself, "I haven't been able to obey this up till now - but maybe I'm just not trying hard enough! I'll do better from this point forward." 

But inside his heart, this man knows that he's going to fail again. And so, when he walks away, he hangs his head and feels waves of condemnation sweep over him. He knows he's going right back to the sin that holds him prisoner.

In case you didn't already know, this was the wrong way to hear the command! This is listening in the flesh - and it depends on your own strength to obey. This man would have just as much strength to obey God's command as a cripple has the strength to walk...none!

The second man hears the command differently - he hears it by faith. He suddenly understands that God would never give him a command without also providing the power to obey. He believes the command applies to him, and then receives it like a promise.

By faith, this man declares: "God, you will give me the strength to obey this! I declare that I will not ever go back to that sin! I will not commit adultery - not with my eyes, and not with my heart!"

Do you see the difference?

As long as this man stays in faith...he'll continue in grace! Sin will not have any more dominion over a person like that!

"For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace." (Romans 6:14)

I'll say it again: This is the only way we can obey God - by grace through faith!

This is walking in the spirit - and this is how we serve God.
",,,let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably..." - Hebrews 12:28