The Critical Link Between Belief and Obedience

[John Zain]

[SIZE=9pt]Let’s begin with Matthew 7 (Amp)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]21 Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]22 Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]and driven out demons in Your name and done many mighty works in Your name?[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]23 And then I will say to them openly (publicly), I never knew you; [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]depart from Me, you who act wickedly [disregarding My commands].[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]24 So everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts upon them [obeying them] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]will be like a sensible (prudent, practical, wise) man who built his house upon the rock.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]25 And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house; [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]yet it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]26 And everyone who hears these words of Mine and does NOT do them [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]will be like a stupid (foolish) man who built his house upon the sand.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]27 And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house, [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]and it fell—and great and complete was the fall of it.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]So, those who do the will of Father God will enter the kingdom of heaven.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]And those who are wise will obey the words of Jesus, and their lives will not end in destruction.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Yes, this Matthew 7 passage teaches that eternal life is CONDITIONAL.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]It is the will of God that you keep (obey) His commandments[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Matthew 19:17 • “But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Hebrews 5:9 • “He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.”[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]1 John 2:3-5 [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]• “[/SIZE]Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
[SIZE=9pt]He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word … By this we know that we are in Him.”[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]1 John 3:10 • “[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Scripture has several famous verses like this one[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]John 3:16 (Amp) • “For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.”[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]It has been pointed out that the Greek word for “believes” here is in the continuous tense![/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]So, this continuous believing agrees with about 10 NT passages that affirm [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]… one must endure in his faith until the end of his life to be given eternal life![/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Yes, John 3:16 agrees with Matthew 7 that eternal life is CONDITIONAL.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Do all “believers” inherit eternal life?[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Only true believers belong in God’s special “elect” group.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]A true believer really appreciates what Jesus has done for him/her.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]And the truly appreciative believer truly loves Jesus.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]The one who truly loves Jesus has a personal relationship with Him.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]John 10:27-28 • “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish”[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]John 17:3 • “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]and (know) Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]These verses obviously agree with the “I never knew you” in Matthew 7:23.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Is anything hindering you from experiencing this? … pride? stubbornness?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]True believers have enormous appreciation and love for Jesus, resulting in obedience[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]The one who truly loves Jesus will really try to keep (obey) His commandments.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Matthew 22:37-38 • “You shall love the [/SIZE]Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment.”
[SIZE=9pt]John 14:15 • “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
John 14:21 • “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.”
John 14:23 • “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word”
John 15:14 • “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.”[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]1 John 5:2-3 • “… [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.”[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]2 John 1:6 [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]• “[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]This is love, that we walk according to His commandments.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Obedient believers practice righteousness, which leads them to holiness[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Romans 6:16-19 • “you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]whether (slaves) of sin leading to death, or (slaves) of obedience leading to righteousness[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]… so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.”[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Acts 10:35 • “whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.” [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Ephesians 5:8-10 [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]• “Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.”
1 Timothy 6:11 [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]• “But you, O man of God, flee these things (sins) and pursue righteousness”
2 Timothy 3:16 [/SIZE]• “All Scripture… is profitable for … instruction in righteousness”
1 Peter 2:24 • “we, having died to sins, might live for (the practicing of) righteousness”
1 John 2:29 • “you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.”
1 John 3:7 • “let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous”
[SIZE=9pt]1 John 3:10 • “I[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]n this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]True love for Jesus is the critical link between belief and obedience.[/SIZE]

 

[Born_Again]

WOW!!!! That was refreshing!! Thank you very much for posting that. That was educational and inspirational. And it showed the common theme some of us have been trying to tell people... LOVE! Whenever I read the passages from Matthew or John, I really feel the loving and gentle being Jesus is. To often we get caught up in the debates on here and we have destroyed what the true meaning of the scripture really is. This post, you have here, is a good way to really lay it out there for the community to see and understand. It's the whole thing, not just peices that someone chopped up to fit their agenda.

Thank you sooo much for posting that!!!

God Bless, Brother!!

Born_Again

 

[John Zain]

Thank you sooo much for posting that!!!

I'm very happy that you enjoyed it so much.
Of course, loving Jesus is not worth much, if there is no obedience following.
Do you agree?

 

[Born_Again]

I absolutely agree. There is no point, I feel, in saying you love Jesus unless you are willing to have ovedience in following Him. Its quid-pro-quo kind of deal. Jesus says that if you love him, you will follow him! Through this, you learn to love like Him and have the Love for humanity that He does. If you truly walk with Him, you will feel it. I will testify to that!

 

[John Zain]

Loving Jesus is not worth much, if there is no obedience following.

I absolutely agree.
There is no point, I feel, in saying you love Jesus unless you are willing to have ovedience in following Him.
Its a quid-pro-quo kind of deal. Jesus says that if you love him, you will follow him!
Through this, you learn to love like Him and have the Love for humanity that He does.
If you truly walk with Him, you will feel it. I will testify to that!

Great testimony, B_A!

 

[Born_Again]

Thank you!! I have a new love for the sinner and believer that I have never had before. I wish everyone would see that!!! HIS love is amazing!!!!!

 

[John Zain]

The churches are not teaching this to anyone ...

1 John 3:10
“In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest:
whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God”

Ever notice how really tough some of the warnings are at the end of The Book?

 

[williemac]

Lets look at the critical issue from Jesus' perspective.

Math.25:
31“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
37“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these, My brethren, you did it to Me.’

Paul said that love is the fulfilment of the law. Jesus said " a new commandment I give you. " This was mentioned by John in 1John 3:23: " And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ (for salvation) and love one another, as He gave commandment.

Even James in his letter, responded to the poor showing of love that his readers were demonstrating, which was the basis of his argument that faith without works is dead. Love is the royal law.

Paul in speaking of the fruit of the spirit, told of how through love, joy, and peace, we ought to treat each other with patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control. "against such there is no law".

The key is not in obeying out of one's own nature, but rather in putting on the new man and simply bearing fruit. How can we tell the difference? Simply by examining our motives. Anyone can behave. But why?

If a person shows kindness toward another with the motive of saving his own skin, he has missed the point and is not bearing fruit of the new man, but rather his old man. Love does not seek its own. The only way that one's work can pass the test is if he is bearing fruit with no thought to his own survival, but rather out of the security of the promise given to him and received by him by grace through faith.

We are not trying to save ourselves, brothers. There is only One savior.

 

[Axehead]

Great post, Evangelist. It demonstrates how critical the whole counsel of God is.

 

[haz]

Just to clarify the points evangelist-7 referred to, see scriptures below for details.

What is God's will that Matt 7 claims is required to enter into Heaven?
John 6:40
And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day

The thief on the cross who called Jesus "Lord" obeyed God's will (and that without any obedience to the law as part of his salvation).

And what are his commandments that Christians keep?
1John 3:22,23
we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.

The gospel is simple and specific. To go beyond this is to potentially stray from the simplicity that is in Christ, and be led back under the law for righteousness by works (thus making oneself a sinner, Gal 2:18).
2Cor 11:3
But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

 

[John Zain]

The gospel is simple and specific.
To go beyond this is to potentially stray from the simplicity that is in Christ ...

Many here have been trying to reveal to you that ...
you must NOT take one Scripture and make a doctrine out of it.

At the very least, several verses are required.

At the very best, the whole of Scripture is required.

 

[Axehead]

Many here have been trying to reveal to you that ...
you must NOT take one Scripture and make a doctrine out of it.

At the very least, several verses are required.

At the very best, the whole of Scripture is required.

Amen! We need the "whole counsel of God", otherwise He would have only given us a few verses.

 

[IanLC]

Great Post! We must have "worshipful obedience"! We worship our Savior but we obey our Lord! Jesus Christ is both Savior (to be worshiped) and Lord (to be obeyed)! And as I always tell people "possess what you profess!". If you profess Jesus; possess Him as well!

 

[haz]

Many here have been trying to reveal to you that ...
you must NOT take one Scripture and make a doctrine out of it.

At the very least, several verses are required.

At the very best, the whole of Scripture is required.

Hmm...interesting response.

If you look back at my posts you'll see I've been quoting many scriptures (with scripture confirming other scriptures).
But you have been offering little to no scripture to support your claims.
I realize it can be very difficult to see beyond our current mindset, but I suggest you try to consider what the whole of scripture is saying.

 

[williemac]

The churches are not teaching this to anyone ...

1 John 3:10
“In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest:
whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God”

Ever notice how really tough some of the warnings are at the end of The Book?

Paul practiced righteousness, but also admitted there was still sin in his life. You seem to think that this is not possible. If that were the case then the same one you are quoting...John...was a little confused in 1John 2:1 where he stated that even though we ought not to sin, if we do sin we have an advocate with the Father..Jesus. In a subtle way, you are preaching moral perfection as a requirement to prove one is of God.

You tell us that Jesus came to destroy sin. But the believer can still sin. Did He fail? Or is the process still incomplete? The latter of course.

You also quote that the believer does not sin. But John added "nor can he". If we cannot sin then why go around warning people not to sin? No, my friend, 1John 3:10 is not a warning. It is just a fact..nothing more. And certainly not to be taken as a requirement for everlasting life. Jesus said that there would be various degrees of fruit...some 100, some 60, some 30. The tragedy in the body of Christ is when one of those degrees compares themself with another...with inuendo of condemnation.

You are adding to the text with your opinions. You ignore the contradictions that your conclusions produce...contradictions from the same author you are quoting in most cases. The bible is not errant. Your conclusions drawn from your reading of scripture are. I suspect in all fairness that you are simply repeating what you are being taught.

 

[justaname]

Lets look at the critical issue from Jesus' perspective.

Math.25:
31“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
37“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these, My brethren, you did it to Me.’

Paul said that love is the fulfilment of the law. Jesus said " a new commandment I give you. " This was mentioned by John in 1John 3:23: " And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ (for salvation) and love one another, as He gave commandment.

Even James in his letter, responded to the poor showing of love that his readers were demonstrating, which was the basis of his argument that faith without works is dead. Love is the royal law.

Paul in speaking of the fruit of the spirit, told of how through love, joy, and peace, we ought to treat each other with patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control. "against such there is no law".

The key is not in obeying out of one's own nature, but rather in putting on the new man and simply bearing fruit. How can we tell the difference? Simply by examining our motives. Anyone can behave. But why?

If a person shows kindness toward another with the motive of saving his own skin, he has missed the point and is not bearing fruit of the new man, but rather his old man. Love does not seek its own. The only way that one's work can pass the test is if he is bearing fruit with no thought to his own survival, but rather out of the security of the promise given to him and received by him by grace through faith.

We are not trying to save ourselves, brothers. There is only One savior.

I agree motive is the key respect regarding our response to salvation. Rigorous practice of rule keeping is something the Jews became very good at and still to this day uphold, yet their hearts are and were hard. It is through the Spirit we can come to the depths of God's moral objectivity and come into compliance with it, which exceeds living by the letter and attempting to circumvent laws through crafty compliance. Love is the measure or standard and love always seeks the highest good possible for God and others. To put personal righteousness before God is blasphemy and is apostate sin, here I think all can agree that all fall short the glory of God. Yet by looking to be morally perfect to maintain God's salvation through upholding rules and not accepting God's salvation equates to the same blasphemy as unbelief. It is saying Jesus' propitiation is good enough for God but not for me because I still must work for my salvation.

What I must add is anyone who loves God does not sin, for every sin is against God. To truly agape God and others is to be in obedience with His moral standard that far exceeds the Law handed down through Moses. Loving perfectly consumes every facet of our being; mind, body, soul, spirit. Here is the great Christian calling that is a process. Here all the admonishments are coming to bear. Here the so called warning passages are made evident, because even though God has created us anew, we still are yet to view it fully. We are yet to be changed in the blinking of an eye matching the outward with the inward, matching the seen with the unseen. Here I make the call to every Christian to allow God's redeeming love to permeate your entire being so your faith is alive and well, vibrant and contagious. Loving is an easy burden and its yoke is light yet loving perfectly is an extremely difficult task. I only know of One who did it. I want to be like Him.

 

[John Zain]

You tell us that Jesus came to destroy sin.
You also quote that the believer does not sin.
You are adding to the text with your opinions.
I suspect in all fairness that you are simply repeating what you are being taught.

You tell us that Jesus came to destroy sin.
Never said that (but He did so only in the lives of BACs who choose to be obedient).

You also quote that the believer does not sin.
Never said that.

You are adding to the text with your opinions.

Everyone does that to some extent because ...
Spirit-filled BACs receive spiritual revelations from the Spirit and from Scripture!

I suspect in all fairness that you are simply repeating what you are being taught.
I am not being taught by anyone ... other than by the Spirit and by Scripture!
Just who is teachin' thou?

Congratulations on your post ... keep up the good work!

 

[Axehead]

Again, if we only take 1 or 2 scriptures while ignoring the rest, we come to an unbalanced view of God and man.

Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

 

[pom2014]

Obedience is well and fine, it justfies you.

But let's take it from milk fed to meat fed.

If a father says to his two sons, you are to clean your rooms, and the first one does it out of obedience, he has done well.

But if the second son does it because he sees the profit in having a clean room, like his father's, then he's learned the real lesson here.

 

[haz]

Again, if we only take 1 or 2 scriptures while ignoring the rest, we come to an unbalanced view of God and man.

Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Very true.

Take Heb 12:1 for example. What sin is it referring to?

What sin is the world convicted of?
It's the sin of unbelief in Jesus, John 16:9.

This is confirmed in the very same chapter.
Heb 12:15-17
looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.

How does one fall short of the grace of God?
Gal 5:4
You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace

Christians are not under the law (Rom 8:2, Rom 10:4, Gal 3:25, Gal 5:18, 1Tim 1:9).

Whatever the law says, it says to those under it, Rom 3:19. Hence we Christians cannot be charged with sin/transgression of the law (Rom 8:33) as we're not under the law..

Fortunately, as Christians, we know that the law is not of faith, Gal 3:12.

But if any true Christian who knows the truth (Heb 6:4-6) turns back to the law to determine righteousness by their works, they only succeed in making themselves a sinner/transgressor of the law, and an unbeliever.

Gal 2:18
if I build again those things which I destroyed (righteousness by works of the law), I make myself a transgressor/Sinner

Thus we see confirmed in scripture that the sin that so easily besets us, which Heb 12:1 refers to, is the sin of unbelief which applies should one who really knew the truth in Christ (Heb 6:4-6) turns back to righteousness by works of the law. Scriptures give us many warnings against turning back to the law for righteousness by works.

Christians are fighting the good fight of faith.
1Tim 6:12-14
Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life (John 3:16), to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession (confessed Jesus with our mouth, Rom 10:9) in the presence of many witnesses. I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment (to believe on Jesus, John 3:16) without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing

We are to continue to keep the commandment to believe on Jesus, without spot, blameless.

The sin that can beset us though (Heb 12:1), is if we turn back to the law for righteousness by works. The law is not of faith (Gal 3:12) and under it (Rom 3:19) we only succeed in making ourselves a sinner (Gal 2:18), which is unbelief in Jesus (the sin the world is convicted of, John 16:9).

Scripture confirms scripture.