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Obey God’s Word

Obedience is the foundation for every follower of Christ. Knowledge has its place, but a
priority is placed on obedience. A disciple of Christ is simply a follower of Jesus that seeks
to live by the teachings of Jesus.

When asked which is the greatest commandment Jesus responds with the greatest and the
second greatest:
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the
Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This
is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your
neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two
commandments.” Matthew 22:36-40

Jesus also explains how to love God. The simple answer is obedience. We demonstrate our
love to God when we obey Jesus’ teachings.
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love
them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. John 14:23

In many Christian circles, discipleship has become synonymous with teaching and knowing
the Bible. Most Bible study or discipleship materials focus on biblical knowledge rather
than how to obey what the Bible is teaching. The difference is not difficult to grasp; but
making the mental shift may be hard for those with a long history of knowledge focused
Bible study and discipleship studies.

A follower of Jesus that seeks to live by the teachings of Jesus will sooner or later come face
to face with what is called “The Great Commission.” Matthew recorded these final words of
Jesus. This commission, given to his followers by Jesus himself, serves as the guide to
everyone who seeks to become a faithful follower Jesus.
“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 28:19-20

Jesus clearly states how we are to make disciples. He tells his followers to focus on
“teaching them to obey” everything he has commanded. The Great Commission is about
reaching the peoples of the world with the gospel message. It is a commission to baptize
them, which is an important first step of obedience. However, many well intention
Christians have focused on making disciples by baptizing them and have failed to teach
them to obey.

Obedience must be a passionate pursuit

Learning to obey is not a casual pursuit. It should be the motive that drives our every
encounter with the Bible. There is no place for a casual approach to the Bible in the life of

A Guide to Obedience 1
one who desires to obey every teaching of Jesus. Obedience must be a passionate pursuit
that defines our actions in response to the teachings of Jesus recorded in the Bible. Through
obedience we live with Jesus as the master of our lives. The Bible becomes the guide that
focuses our actions on obedience to his teachings.

David is an example to every one with a passion for obedience. He expresses his hearts
desire to know and obey the commands of God. He wrote the 176 verses of Psalm 119 as a
beautiful expression of this pursuit. Psalm 119:33-34 is an excerpt from this poem and
expresses this desire:
“Teach me, LORD, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it to the end. Give me
understanding, so that I may keep your law and obey it with all my heart.”

A deep desire to obey God runs contrary to the dominant theme of our western culture.
Instead, our society is defined be the pursuit of individual rights. It is expressed in music as
“I did it my way.” It is evident when a woman faces the nightmare of seeing another woman
wearing the very same dress at a party. A long running advertisement for fast food
promises that each customer can “have it your way.” This component of our worldview
subconsciously drives our resistance to conformity and ultimately drives us away from
willing obedience.

This focus on the individual and their individual rights stands in stark contrast to the
submission to obey the teachings of Jesus. The result is often an attitude that the rules
apply to everyone else. Individual rights and privilege become an enemy of obedience.

Many Christians follow the norms of our society and obey traffic laws, such as speed limits,
only when and where they are enforced. This is a coerced obedience and does not
demonstrate the type of willing obedience Jesus refers to in the Great Commission.

David expressed his desire to know God’s law, ways, word, commands, statutes, decrees,
teachings, and deeds in Psalm 119. He repeats this theme throughout this Psalm. It is
evident that obedience is pursued not imposed. The passionate pursuit to obey everything
Jesus has commanded is the goal of his faithful followers.

Obedience is a learning process

Jesus used the phrase “teaching them to obey everything” to describe the action of learning.
The idea is not something that is completed in a single step and not even in a few steps. It is
a lifetime pursuit.

Learning to obey “everything I [Jesus] have commanded” defines the scope of the task. It
represents an enormous body of information that is to be learned, and above all, obeyed. It
becomes an unattainable goal of perfection and little serious effort is given to a life of
steady advance in learning to obey all that Jesus commands.

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Some will rationalize that to live like Jesus, responding to every life situation as he would, is
unrealistic and miss the point. They fail to focus on the objective, to grow and mature in
obedience.
Obedience is not Bible study

Studying the Bible has been a part of every phase of my life. I began to study the Bible as a
child in Sunday School and I invested many hours as a seminary student. I have learned and
practiced the discipline of personal Bible study. However, an honest review of my life
reveals that much of my Bible study increased my knowledge about the Bible but seldom
resulted in my obedience to the things that Jesus has commanded me to do.

The Bible is very clear, even blunt, in stating that studying the Bible is not adequate and
that obedience is the aim. In James 1:22, the Bible says: “Do not merely listen to the word,
and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” Too often we listen to the Bible as it is taught,
even memorize it, without any thought as to how to live out the principles in our daily lives.

Dr. Robert Jolly, Senior Pastor at the First Baptist Church in Cumming, Georgia, illustrated
this concept as he preached a sermon series in late 2010 under the title: “FBC 1*3*5*1.”
These numbers are a shorthand way of stating
that FBC Cumming has one vision, three core FBC Cumming - 1*3*5*1
values, five purposes and one attitude. One Vision:
To be unified as a body to glorify God
This series formed part of the celebration of and reveal Jesus as God’s Son.
Three Core Values:
the church’s 175th anniversary. The pastor
1) The Sovereignty of God
challenged the church in all four areas. These
2) The Sanctity of Human Life
concepts were not new to the church. They
3) The Significance of the Church
were a recasting of the vision and a review of Five Purposes:
the values, purposes and attitude of the church. 1) Worship God
2) Reach people for Christ
As he reviewed the five purposes, he reminded 3) Obey God’s Word
the church that the original version stated the 4) Love one another
third of the five purposes as “Teach God’s 5) Serve others
Word.” He explained that the staff and leaders One Attitude:
of the church were convinced and convicted The church that gives itself away
that the purpose was not to teach the Bible; it is
to obey the Bible. Therefore, the third purpose is to “Obey God’s Word.” He was careful to
articulate that teaching and studying the Bible is not wrong; it is necessary. It is simply not
enough. Faithfulness to the Great Commission requires obedience and deserves priority
among the purposes of the church.

Obedience is faith in action

Obedience is faith in action. James 2:17 states; “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not
accompanied by action, is dead.” One might rightly say that it is impossible to really know
Jesus without obeying his teachings.

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The person who claims to have a relationship with Jesus and yet fails to strive to know and
obey his teachings has only an intellectual understanding of Jesus and does not have a faith
relationship with him. Just as faith without action is no good to us, knowing Jesus without
obeying his teachings is of little value. Obedience puts ones faith into action through
intentionally living life according to the teachings of Jesus.

Suggestion for learning to obey:

Be specific and be intentional:


Identify specific actions to obey what you are learning in personal Bible study, in
Sunday School or other classes you attend, and from sermons or other sources.
Be intentional by choosing a few specific things to do to obey.

Accountability partner:
Find a partner and make contact at least once a week to ask each other:
Review: What are you learning to obey?
Support: How can I pray for you?
Accountability: Is there anything you want or need to be accountable for? If
so, I’ll ask how it is going the next time we talk.
Outreach: Who have you talked to about spiritual things? (An easy first step
is to invite them to church).

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