I have heard of obedience school... usually for our dog friends. In Matthew 28, Jesus calls on His disciples to teach new disciples obedience to His commands. He tells them (and us) that in order to make true disciples, they must be taught His commands and that obedience to those commands is necessary. I know, I know... you are already thinking that I am teaching a works based salvation, but I am not! Let's read His words and see if we can make sense of all of this...
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and
on earth has been given to me.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, and teaching
them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you
always, to the very end of the age.”
(Matthew 28:18ff)
As I stated in my last blog, ( http://www.dalesdailybible.blogspot.com/2013/05/obey.html) our teaching must be Biblical. When we begin to teach others and make them disciples of Jesus, time must be spent in the four Gospels and the 21 Letters learning what Jesus had to say. A friend of mine told me this week that he had been going through the four Gospels and underlining all the commands of Jesus. I commend him for that... what better way to get fully acquainted with His commands than to read and study His Word with that as your goal?
Once we begin to understand His commands, I believe the natural response is to begin to place those commands in our lives. This is a very personal thing. My response to His command may well look different than your response. How I choose to live out my obedience is between me and God. How I choose to live it out today might well be different than how I do it at another time in my life. For example... I might chose to "love my neighbor as myself" by baby sitting for them so that they can have a date night. You might choose to bring them soup when they are sick. I might choose to live out "acknowledge Me before men" by wearing a shirt that says "I believe in Jesus", you might choose to stand on a street corner and preach. You get the idea. God gives us that ability to respond to His commands based on our gifts, but as His disciples our response must be obedience.
Our best example of how to teach obedience is through examining how Jesus did it. He did it perfectly, so if we use His way it will be the best and right way. For three years, he walked with His disciples and taught them His commands. As He taught verbally, He also lived out that command in front of them. When He told His disciples that they were to be His witnesses throughout the world, they had seen Him reach out to the woman at the well. When Peter asked Him how many times he should forgive his brother who sins against him, Jesus told him seventy times seven. And then, when Peter denied Him three times, he got to see His forgiveness in action. Jesus taught His disciples His commands, then He lived the commands out in front of them and then He sent them out to live them. That was His way of doing it and that should be our way.
In closing let me say that I fully understand that our hope of salvation is not because of our works, but because of what Jesus did for us. However, He requires that we are to be obedient if we are to be His disciples. Can we stray so far from obedience to Him that we are no longer His disciples? Common sense and Bible teaching would indicate that not only is that a possibility, but that it is a reality. How can someone say they are His disciples and not do what He commands? Jesus put it this way... "If you love me, you will keep my commands" (John 14:15) and "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?" (Luke 6:46). Our obedience to His commands is a clear indication of our love for Him and whether His is Lord of our lives or not.
What about it... are you His disciple? Is He Lord of your life? Do you love Him? How you live your life is the real indication of who or what is in control. Who or what you submit to is Lord of your life. Making obedient disciples takes time and effort. Being His disciple takes obedience to His will. Anything else is a poor substitute for His perfect plan.
No comments:
Post a Comment