Biblical obedience means following God’s commandments and teachings. It has a component where the believer needs to understand it’s not an option if a believer seeks to keep their joy and walk with God. Are children required to obey their parents? Why then not us? It is not an option if the believer wants to keep the victory over sin continuing in their life. This boils it down to the following fact: obedience is a choice. Role of Grace: Introducing the concept that God’s grace empowers believers to live obedient lives. Faith vs. Works: Establish in your heart, that while obedience is important, it is faith in God’s grace that saves, not works alone. The topic of obedience can be controversial these days. Understanding this key Biblical concept is monumental for faithful and proper Christian living. Look around you, we live in a country where God has been removed from our schools and institutions. The Word of God has been traded in for something man says, reviled, and doubted. Textual criticism has replaced “Thus saith the Lord.” The divinity of Jesus Christ has been harangued by intellectuals and “churches.” The mainstream American church, evangelicals, and fundamentalists both, have surrendered a pilgrim lifestyle for Bitcoin, TikTok, and a humanistic lifestyle. Immorality has become the new morality. Christians are not separated from the world they were called out of. When the world looks at the church, in large part, they see the world. The church has decided to do what they think is right in their own eyes as did the Israelites in the times of the Judges. It’s not a large shock then that there is…confusion. We are fortunate that God always has a remnant. We are fortunate that God has preserved His Word. We are fortunate that God is eternal, immutable, and merciful.
Grace and Obedience
The nations of the world are blessed, or not, because of obedience to God. God is the one who blesses. People are blessed, or not, because of obedience to God. When a Christian (a born-again and baptized believer living a separated, pilgrim lifestyle) walks into the room, there is always a reaction).
People stiffen up because of obedience, but not as much as they used to. I’ve been in a room when a pastor walks in. I’ve seen people shift in their seats, straighten their collars, and quit using the immoral language they were just talking about. God’s grace effects (and affects) us all.
I want to show you that obedience doesn’t overshadow grace. But that obedience is only possible because of grace.
Point 1: Obedience Through God’s Grace
See Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Explanation
Emphasize that obedience is a response to God’s grace and not a means to earn it.
H.A. Ironsides said it in “We are saved by grace, not by works, but having been saved, we are called to a life of good works in response to His grace.” Knowing you are saved, if God came to your house and knocked on the door, would you open it? We all must make choices.
Point 2: The Necessity of Obedience
See John 14:15: “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
Explanation
Obedience is a demonstration of love and commitment to God.
H.A. Ironsides said in “We need to realize that in all things our first duty and responsibility is to God Himself.” As the Word of God says in Romans 12:1: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
Point 3: Grace Does Not Eliminate the Need for Obedience
See Romans 6:1-2: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”
Explanation
God’s grace encourages righteous living, not continued sin.
H.A. Ironsides said in “The greatest mistake any Christian can make is to substitute his own will for the will of God.” God does not want us to stay in our sin, but to come out of Babylon. Sin is an affront to God; God is holy and God judges sin. You are free from the law of sin and death, you are dead to sin, raised in the newness of life. Naturally, you should want to obey God to please Him because of His grace and mercy to you.
Point 4: Faith as the Foundation
See Hebrews 11:6: “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
Explanation
Faith is the cornerstone that leads to obedient actions.
H.A. Ironsides said in “It is not only that sin consists in doing evil, but in not doing the good that we know.” Doing something you know is wrong is a sin. Christ died once for sin (as in all sin), so there is no more sacrifice for it. That being the case, living in it as a born-again Christian is an affront to God. God will judge that sin because He must for, he is holy.
Point 5: The Relationship Between Faith and Works
James 2:17: “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”
Explanation
Genuine faith naturally produces good works, but the works are an outcome of faith, not a replacement.
H.A. Ironsides said in “The Gospel is not good advice to be obeyed, it is good news to be believed.”
Point 6: Obedience as an Act of Worship
See Romans 12:1: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
Explanation
True obedience is an act of worship, where believers offer their lives as a living sacrifice to God, demonstrating their love and devotion through their actions.
H.A. Ironsides said in “The Christian is called out from the world. His life is not to be as the lives of those about him.”
Point 7: The Holy Spirit’s Role in Obedience
See John 16:13: “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”
Explanation
The Holy Spirit empowers and guides believers in their journey of obedience, providing wisdom, strength, and discernment to follow God’s commandments. In John 16:13, you can see the 2nd person of the Godhead (Jesus) describing the 3rd (He the Holy Spirit). The 3rd will be speaking and teaching the wisdom of the 2nd to the Glory of the 1st; God the Father.
H.A. Ironsides said in “If we would prevail with men in public, we must prevail with God in secret.”
God’s grace, His unmerited favor, is the fuel to the spark of the believer’s faith. If you are not in your secret place of prayer, confessing/repenting of sin daily, regularly attending church as a baptized member, being disciplined, and reading your Bible daily then you are not prevailing according to God’s instructions for obedience. Be the same Christian at God’s house that you are in your house or anywhere else.
Conclusion
Summary
Real Biblical obedience is possible through God’s grace, obedience does not overshadow grace, and faith is greater than works. A works-based mentality does not save and it assuredly will not sanctify. Obedience is a choice. The choice for obedience is made by faith. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. Editor’s note: Amen!
The victory in your life (peace, providence, proclaimed prayer, protection) because of obedience is fueled by God’s Grace and sparked by your faith.
Encouragement
Believers are to seek God’s grace, live obediently, and prioritize faith, knowing that their efforts are expressions of their faith and gratitude, not a means to earn salvation. The mere choice, at any given moment, for one of God’s children to make Him increase and themselves decrease is the start of being obedient again.
God’s grace, His unmerited favor, is limitless. You can start new right now. You can keep the victory God has given you, you don’t have to live in sin. Confess and repent of your sin to God through earnest and humble prayer and He will answer you.
There is no Biblical obedience, no entry into heaven, and no sanctification, without salvation first. If we could be saved or obedient by works, there would have been no need for Jesus to die at Calvary. As we are saved by grace, through faith, our faith without works is dead, as dead as any who dies in their sin without knowing Jesus.
Real works are not possible without salvation. It is faith in God’s grace that saves, not works alone. See Romans 10:10: “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
Obedience doesn’t overshadow grace. It’s not a matter of works; it’s a matter of faith. Obedience is only possible because of God’s grace.
See Romans 16:19: “For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.
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- On Grace and Obedience: Obedience in the Shadow of Grace - February 8, 2025
- On Resisting God’s Grace with Key Bible Scriptures & Commentary - October 5, 2024
