Obedience To
Christ
John 2:5
The best measure of a
spiritual life is not its ecstasies, but its obedience. Spirituality cannot be
measured by "mountain-top" experiences, religious feelings, and
spurts of great emotion. Spiritual life must be measured by faithfulness and
obedience to Christ. I denounce with every fibre of my renewed soul every
thought of gaining or improving God's favor by personal obedience. We are saved
by grace alone! However, I fear every notion of men that there is such a thing
as salvation without obedience to Christ. It is both our responsibility and our
privilege to obey our Lord in all things. THE CAUSE OF OBEDIENCE is the grace
of God. If anyone has a heart inclined toward obedience to Christ, that heart
is the gift of God's grace. THE CHARACTER OF OBEDIENCE is essentially two-fold.
First, there must be the preparation of the heart. Our Lord will not accept any
service but that which arises from a willing heart. That which is done in the
name of Christ, by constraint of law, for fear of punishment or hope of reward,
is a mockery of Christ's name. Our Lord requires heart obedience. Secondly, our
obedience must be universal. If we obey our Lord with sincerity, we seek to
obey him in all things. It is not the servant's perogative to choose which of
his master's commands he will obey. We, if we love Christ, would obey our
Master in all things perfectly. That is our hearts' desire. THE COST OF
OBEDIENCE must be carefully counted. And it will often be very high. But the cost
must never interfere with our obedience to our Master's will. THE CONDITION OF
OBEDIENCE is faith. Precisely to the degree that we trust Christ, we will obey
Christ. The root and essence of disobedience is unbelief. And THE CONSEQUENCE
OF OBEDIENCE is satisfaction. Obedience to Christ has no bearing upon our
relationship with Christ, though our relationship with Christ does have a great
bearing upon our obedience. However, the believing heart does find great
satisfaction by obedience to Christ. I want to so obey Christ that upon my
dying bed I can honestly say, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished
my course, I have kept the faith." God, give us
that kind of obedience.
Don Fortner