Do I Really Want to Obey God?

Every Christian knows we should obey God. Much church teaching is focused on guiding Christians in what they should do, what they should not to do, and how to live on the whole. These teachings can be difficult (it’s basically living like Jesus after all!) and that difficulty has led some to suppose their obedience must merit some reward from God. The thinking goes: do enough good works, say no to all the bad things, and you’ll get eternal life. The logic is appealing but breaks against the reality of our circumstances.

 When we do something good, we are only doing what is right – we are doing what we are supposed to do. The only reward one has for braking at a stop sign or for paying taxes is that you are not punished by the law. Again, anything good we should do is simply what we are supposed to do. So, when we fail to do those things we should do, our obedience at other times does not make up for our failure – on those other occasions, we were only doing what we should have been doing.

With this in mind, we can see why it would be impossible for our good works to outweigh our bad works; the good earns us no extra credit and we still must answer for the bad we have done. The teaching of the Gospel is that God’s Kingdom is coming upon us and that God has made a way for us to be citizens of that Kingdom if we unite ourselves to Jesus by faith. Jesus reckons with our guilt and sinfulness by his death and resurrection and so our hopeless efforts to justify ourselves can be laid aside. Perhaps the most instructive passage on this is Ephesians 2:8-10,

[8] For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9] not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [10] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Good works don’t save us, Jesus does. Jesus saves us for good works. Salvation isn’t merely being spared destruction; salvation is Jesus transforming you into the person you were always supposed to be. He salvages us from the scrap heap so that we can really live again.

This is the frame in which we should consider obedience. Obedience is about getting your life back. We often dwell on what we give up when we submit ourselves to God and obey – this only means that we are not seeing things clearly. As long as you disobey God, as long you as seek your will instead of his, you are holding back your life. You will only reach your fullest potential in this age and the age to come if you become who God created you to be.

If you don’t want to obey, then you don’t want your best life. Your best life does not exclude suffering and hardship - look at Jesus, look at the disciples, look at the martyrs. Your life could be like theirs; it would be a glorious thing if it was. Your life may also include many pleasant things – God’s Law is divine wisdom given so that we can live in harmony with the design he has inscribed upon the natural world and our natures as human being. Obey his commands and good things can happen even today.

Even so, sin and the material brokenness of our world prevents perfect happiness today – we don’t despair because a new age is coming that will bring complete restoration. All of creation will be renovated and we will live with God. If you want some of that world today, to glimpse some of it in the mirror, then you should passionately desire to live in complete obedience to God. You’ll come up short, but that’s no cause for despair. Just read Ephesians 2:8-10 again.

Teach me that if I do not live a life that satisfies thee,
I shall not live a life that will satisfy myself.
–  Valley of Vision (Happiness, p. 168]

Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Rev. Tom Loghry

Tom Loghry is the senior pastor of Rockland Community Church in North, Scituate, RI. He is a graduate of the Berkshire Institute for Christian Studies, Toccoa Falls College (B.S. Pastoral Ministry), and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (M.A. Theology). He is continuing his graduate studies in the area of “Ethics & Society” at GCTS.