Call to Obedience

The Church of our modern day America has lost all sight and consciousness of true obedience to Christ. We live in a society indoctrinated with the "law" of the bible as the ultimate authority. The Church is filled with rebels, the leaders being the worst of all.

True obedience is characterized by waiting on the Lord for a definitive answer. It means the person does not act or speak unless the Lord has given the command and the means. So few realize this truth.

Instead, the Church of our modern day turns to the bible making it the authority by which to rule all life. It is sad, but the Church can go no where on that basis. They have lost all sight of Christ and depend on logic and reasoning to guide them.

You cannot turn the teachings of Christ and the testimony of prophets into absolute law to be obeyed at every turn. True obedience comes by obeying Christ Himself specifically in the moment He commands. If Christ commands you to sit and do nothing, then sit and do nothing. If Christ commands you to witness, then witness. And if Christ commands you to sing, then sing. But do not do anything until He commands.

Do not say that we are to act in every moment, witness at every turn, and sing at every service. Do you not realize that God who is soveriegn and knows all things has an appointed time for fulfillment of His good will? There is a time for everything under the sun, and we need to wait on God to act.

Obey the Lord with fear and trembling. This means be fearful of what you say and do. Be aware of the day of judgment. You will be held accountable for every word and action. For everything that is not done by God's command will be judged. If you speak when God does not tell you to speak, you will be judged. If you act when God has not told you to act, you will be judged. You will not be judged on success. Indeed, you have fed a starving man. You volunteered to help the red cross. You shared the gospel with an athiest. But did you do this because God commanded or because of what you wanted? How do you know that God wasn't trying to humble that starving man? How do you know if it was the right time to share the gospel?

You don't know God's ways for His ways are greater than yours. Be fearful of your words and actions. Wait on the Lord to lead and guide you. Pray continually seeking the Lord in all you do. Great harm is done when Christians act apart from the Lord.

So many people in the Church pray for the sick and elderly. Is this God's will? How do you know that God does not intend to use that person for His glory? If He should heal them, then how can they be glorified? It is through their weakness that He is made strong. We should not pray for healing, we should pray for obedience. We should pray that the Lord's will be done. We should pray that the person who suffers does so for Christ, and many will come to see the light shine in that person.

Stop throwing out your opinions like they are pearls. Your opinions count for nothing. Truth only comes from Christ, and if you speak outside of Christ, then you are lying. Let the Spirit lead you and control every area of your life. This can only come by complete submission unto Christ. Take up your cross. Awake in the morning, and surrender everything to the living God in Heaven. Give your day to Him. And when things go wrong that day, realize that God is in control. He is the author of your life. God's ways are not your ways. This day you may be in pain and suffering. Blessed are you if this is God's Will for your life.

Those of you who God has delegated as leaders in authority, be afraid. For God will judge you with a higher standard. Moses made one wrong error and because of it, He could not enter the promised land. If you are a teacher, preacher, or shepherd, be very afraid of the Lord. If you dare speak or act without His command, you will be judged and rewarded accordingly.

Those of you who are under authority, submit. Do as the authority tells you. God will judge you for your obedience. The Lord most desires obedience and if you cannot obey those who have authority over you on earth, then how should you ever obey the Lord? Remember, those who have authority over you will be judged for their actions. You will be judged on how well you obey. If they should lead you astray, you will not be held accountable. You will only be held accountable as to whether you were obedient or not. Remember, Christ is supreme over all things. He will redeem those who are His. Trust in Him that He will keep you from sin. Do not depend on your own judgment or understanding.

Obedience is most important in the Church. Unless we obey, Christ cannot work in us. We must submit entirely to Him in all areas of our life.

Pray and wait on the Lord. Do not act or speak until you are absolutely sure it is what the Lord so desires. Otherwise, you are endangering the Church and the lives of billions on earth. Do this for Christ, that God's Will might be done. God's Will is God's love. May the love of God truly reign over earth.

In the name of Christ,
Blake

beenblake wrote:
The Church is filled with rebels, the leaders being the worst of all.
In the name of Christ,
Blake

Sorry you feel rebels are all bad I don't, because You might also characterize rebels in Church as those like me that are rebelling against the way the Church is today. Rebels can be good and bad you have to read the definition of a rebel to really understand. I consider myself a rebel, but I am a rebel for Christ and a rebel to be Christ like and to rebel against the way my Church is and get it back on the narrow path. I am beginning to get some positive feedback on this from some of the Church members, so my rebel ways just might get my Church back on track one day this is what I am believing.

I shouldn't really reply to this post, Christ hasn't commanded me too...

Praise Jesus!!! Lion of Judah!!!

Obedience is optional----only for those going to hell.

Hisservant rich

Stop throwing out your opinions like they are pearls. Your opinions count for nothing.

Do you recognize how much of this is the same?

We live in a society indoctrinated with the "law" of the bible as the ultimate authority.

Instead, the Church of our modern day turns to the bible making it the authority by which to rule all life. It is sad, but the Church can go no where on that basis. They have lost all sight of Christ and depend on logic and reasoning to guide them.

You have made obedience to feel mandated, forced and cold, not free, loving and willing. A great deal of this has no scriptural nor spiritual warrant behind it, you are in your own great danger speaking God's words in Gods stead if that is what you suppose and if you were applying much of these mandates to your own self they would therefore have to be considered as so ... otherwise it is just your opinion.

If Christ commands you to sit and do nothing, then sit and do nothing. If Christ commands you to witness, then witness. And if Christ commands you to sing, then sing. But do not do anything until He commands.

Remember, those who have authority over you will be judged for their actions. You will be judged on how well you obey. If they should lead you astray, you will not be held accountable. You will only be held accountable as to whether you were obedient or not.

What if Christ commands you to disobey the authority over you because they are ungodly? :-) Luther, Tyndale, etc come to mind.

I really do disagree with you that we are to blindly follow those in supposed "authority" over us and that we will not be held accountable for our own actions. Scripture teaches just the opposite. If we KNOW something is ungodly, we are NOT to follow along, but are instead called to follow the Lord's voice. Obedience to HIM trumps any obedience to man. If we follow a man in "blindness", that is an entirely different thing, but if we KNOW something is false/sin/etc, we WILL be held accountable. Just my two.

Blake,

This piece has bothered me because I, too, have struggled with this concept only to discover it is rooted more in idealizm then reality.

I want to only do what the LORD tells me to do at every turn. Do not do anything unless the HS tells me..absolutely nothing. But this does not square up with Scripture.

Gal. 5 deals with the works of the flesh vs the fruit of the SPirit. Paul concludes in v. 23 "against such there is no law." If our deeds, our motives flow out of the fruit of the Spirit, there is no rule made by God to prevent its operation in whatever forms it takes.

When we look into the lives of the Apostles in the book of Acts we see them making plans and not always did the LORD specifically tell them to go to such a city and there a house although He did this at times. They simply went about doing good,being bout the Master's business.

Walking in the Spirt does mean we listen to him and He will at times give specific instructions for life...I know where of I speak. But never will he speak anything contrary to the WOG.

Blake, it seems to me you are splitting hairs here in this article. There is a lot of truth here, but I am afraid it would serve more to intimidate people then encourage them. More harm has been done because people feared to act then act and do something stupid - not sin, understand. God can take our [apparently foolish] acts and even make it good.

And Blake, I agree with another poster: you cannot separate obedience to God's Word from obedience to the Spirit. They will be one and the same although the Bible may not give specifics, it will not tell the person to violate any laws it specifies. The best way to discern whether it is the Holy Spirit speaking is to see whether it agrees with the written word.

My opinion? Check it out...

ginnyrose

Blake,

"Instead, the Church of our modern day turns to the bible making it the authority by which to rule all life. It is sad, but the Church can go no where on that basis. They have lost all sight of Christ and depend on logic and reasoning to guide them. "

"In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
The King James Version...,Col 2:3"

The bible is the word of God, Jesus Christ lived by it,quoted it,obeyed it and told us to follow it.There are no new sins and there is no new wisdom.
Please refrain from making such statements about this most holy and beloved book.

If you can put one new revelation or crumb of wisdom on the table, not found in the bible, i would like to see it. I agree with the second part of your statement.

what a wonderful discussion...

Blake, you show yourself to be the kind of disciple that can't get enough of God. You can't get too much, you get get close enough, you can't do good enough... oops... I've been there :)

I am troubled that, possibly, your zeal for the perfect will of God has brought you into bondage to perfection. Perfect obedience would require perfect knowledge, perfect revelation, and perfect faith; as well as perfect self-denial. Yes, i know that we can have perfect obedience to our conscience, but you make it seem like we have to be perfect. And we can't be perfect until we put off this corruptible, and put away "childish things" and that which is perfect comes. Until then, we are only responsible to the "in part" that we know. I too have longed for such a "perfect" walk with God. But what i thought was my "better obedience" turned out to be my "better self." In other words, my pride.

Now i am not saying that you are me, but i am saying that, possibly, you might want to be careful.

I do agree that many people take the "Bible" as the law of the Lord when they should really take the "Living Word" as the law of the Lord. The Bible is nothing when it isn't translated to your heart by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God turns the letter written on tables of paper into Spirit on tables of flesh (your heart). The Bible into the Word of God. The Living Word Jesus Christ. Yes, there is to much dependency upon religion and tradition displayed by previous men and womens lives portrayed in the bible. Yes, too many people miss that fact that only the Holy Spirit can make the Bible give you Life and that more abundantly. I must say, too many people are preaching the Bible, and not the Living Word of God, because the Holy Spirit has never revealed the Truth to them, or they haven't allowed the Word to dwell in their hearts by faith. The Bible is nothing but bread. And bread doesn't help your body unless it is turned into energy. The Holy Spirit is the catalyst that turns the Bible into the Word. The bible is the letter and kills, but the Word is Spirit and gives life.

However, your "law" of obedience, looks to me, as a burden too heavy for anybody but Jesus to endure. I assure you, that in such a condition in my own life, I found NO PEACE!!! Only failure in my heart of hearts, because i couldn't fulfill the expectations I put upon myself. Never did Jesus say to panic myself with such a yoke. Yes he did say, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, but he also said, come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and i will give you rest, take my yoke upon you and learn of me for i am meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

Find the medium, find the balance. You might also find that your "hard-core" attitude towards God may encourage a few, but will more likely scare most and drive many young christians into the ground because they know they can't do what you have told them they must. Then you become the "law giver." A yoke far to heavy like this will send new converts screaming.

A wise pastor told me this once too... He told me how God wants us to know him well enough that we don't need to be told what to do every 5 seconds. How would an employer feel if the employee was always like, what now, what now, what now, what now. I think a good employee would learn his job better and act on his own. There is nothing wrong with asking if your confused or don't understand, but don't be so ignorant of your duty in this world. I almost always "check in" with "the boss" every morning before i start my day for about an hour. (I'm talking about prayer) I usually do way more listening than talking. And I usually don't make many decisions without at least checking my spirit to see if he is trying to lead me, but if he doesn't say anything, and often he doesn't, I have to walk by faith and do what I think he would do. I think its pleasing to the Master to see that, in his absence, we do what he would do. Then he may truly say, well done, thou good and faithful servant.

Just be careful you don't put a yoke upon anybody. And with statements like you made, grace seems more like works.

You have much insight Blake, but be careful. "Knowledge puffs up."