Obedience to God

Readings

Reading 1

Psa 119:1-8

Walk in the way of the Lord

1 [Aleph] Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD! 2 Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, 3 who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways! 4 You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently. 5 Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes! 6 Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments. 7 I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous rules. 8 I will keep your statutes; do not utterly forsake me!

Reading 2

Mat 5:21-37 ESV

21 "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire.

23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

Reading 3

Deu 30:15-20 ESV

15 "See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. 16 If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you today, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.
17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess.
19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them."

Sermon

Introduction

The passages we have before us today are hard passages. Not hard to understand, but hard to put into practice.

They are all about obeying God – and not just obeying the letter of the law – don’t steal, don’t covert, but it seems we need to obey with our whole being – mind, body and spirit; indeed Jesus seems to be saying obey before you are tempted.

Obedience is not something we do naturally or even instinctively.

These passages lead to a couple of questions:

• Do we need to obey God?
• And I’m not a Jew, so does the Deuteronomy passage apply or does it not?

If and if we do, then what rules should we be obeying? And if we don’t obey what will happen to us?

We live in a day where Christianity no longer provides the core moral or ethical ground on which we base society – the attempts to deal with injustice and inequity, and pure evil without dealing with the root cause which only the gospel can resolve. Indeed, when it comes to God’s rules the world has utterly and totally rejected His commands.

Today’s passages are all about obedience towards God – we have only read three of the four recommended readings for today.

The Old Testament passage speaks of the law – the Law of Moses, which God gave him on Mt Sinai just after they had escaped the persecutions of the Egyptians.

The Deuteronomy passage is confusing to many, especially Christians. Should a Christian obey the law? What about the Ten Commandments (Deut 5; Exodus 20), and if the Ten Commandments, what about other rules from the Old Testament?

In Psalm 119, the Psalmist exalts the action of keeping the commands of God – a person is blessed if they walk in the law of the Lord. While we often will not consider Deuteronomy as being ‘Christian’ except perhaps the 10 commandments, Psalm 119 has been used numerous times to stir Christians to keep God’s commands.

But, the man who put together the Uniting Church Lectionary (Rev Lindsay Cullen[1]), did not stop at Psalm 119 – he could have; there is plenty in those stanzas for more than one sermon – but in a usual pattern, he picks up the theme in the gospel – the Gospel of Matthew, where Jesus is teaching the Jews why their legalism – that is their attempt to hedge in the law, so no one could possibly break any of the 613 ordinances God had given Moses. And yet – they had totally and utterly failed – indeed the rules laid down by the scribes and Pharisees that ruled Jerusalem at the time of Jesus opposed God and Jesus calls this hypocrisy out.

And then finally a passage by Paul to the Christian Church – in this case in Corinth. The Corinthians had seen the freedom of not being yoked by the Law of Moses – this law could not save them; indeed, the Law of Moses was given for one purpose – to demonstrate how sinful sin was. Indeed it is the Law of Moses that demonstrates humans cannot keep the law and remain holy. The Apostle Paul sums this up in Romans:

For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.  Romans 3:20

But the Corinthians had gone the other way – taking their liberty[2] in the grace of God to depart from the ways of God. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians:

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife. 1 Corinthians 5:1-2

So what is the problem?

God created men and women to obey Him

The theme of the Bible is clear: God created men and women to obey Him, and obeying him is what allows any human to be a useful workman for Him – as Paul states:

For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. (1 Cor 3:9)

Christians are fellow workers of God.

Indeed if we go back to the very beginning where God created Adam and Eve in Genesis chapter two (2), the very first words God spoke to a human – that is Adam - was a statement of fact, followed by a command followed by a statement of consequence.

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." (Gen 2:16-17)

1. The statement of fact: “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat”
2. The command or imperative: “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat”
3. The consequence: “in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

These verses also mean that the Law of Moses (e.g. see Matthew 5:17) were not the sole commands that humans must obey. We only need to turn over a few pages from Genesis chapter 2 to chapter 4.

In chapter 4 of Genesis we see Cain very angry, and in verse 6 God asks “Why are you angry?” God does not wait for an answer, but immediately continues with a warning:

If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it." (Genesis 4:7)

This forms part of the answer to two main questions the passages before us today raises

1. Why do we need to obey God? and the corollary
2. How do we obey God (or what rules do we need to obey)?

In the case of Cain, God highlights what the Jews forgot when Jesus spoke in Matthew – in the Sermon of the Mount. Sin starts in the heart – Cain was angry – and angry to the point of hatred. This indicates, but not articulated here, hatred is a sin – hatred for a brother is indeed a sin (Leviticus 19:17).

We all know the ending of the story; Cain kills his brother Abel, for which God meets out an everlasting punishment. Yet between chapter 1 and chapter 4 of Genesis there was no written law – something Paul points out.

There was however written in the hearts of all people, the fundamental principles of the law, which provided the basis on which God could righteously punish Cain - – killing was sin because it contravened the fundamental law of loving your neighbor or more broadly loving God.

Paul writes in Galatians that “the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbour as yourself."’

Why obey God?

One fundamental question we need to ask – why obey God?

The Apostle John wrote:

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.
By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.
1 John 5:1-3

Jesus says:

If you love me, you will keep my commandments. (John 14:15)

The Jews needed to obey God in order to live in peace – Moses writing God’s words:

If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you today, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.
(Deuteronomy 30:16-17)

God gives both the command to obey and the reason why they should obey – they will have material blessing; the fulfilment of the promises to Abraham – land, seed and prosperity.

God goes on and gives the outcome of not obeying –

But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. (Deuteronomy 30:16-18)

Note here, the one and only law out of 613 which Moses recorded, God focuses on is worshiping other gods. Why?

The principle purpose of mankind is to have communion with God – which Adam and Eve enjoyed until they sinned, and in doing so, glorifying the Lord God Most High (Leviticus 10:3).

• If we go after other gods – whether stone or rock or wealth or sport, or fame, or influence – we cannot possibly have a relationship with God. We end up substituting our need for God for our need for the idol.
• Without a relationship with God we become useless workman. An employee turning up on someone else’s farm cannot possibly aid the farmer in doing the work that should be done.

Israel should have been the light of the world – it did not even notice that the Light – when Jesus who was the light, had come, and had to quickly consult the Scriptures which were no longer read, to find when and in what manner he would come. Hosea, says they had become like a useless vessel – no good for any purpose, because they had chased other gods (Hosea 7).

Thus one reason a Christian wants to obey the commands of God, is because, they desire to be a useful vessel or workman for Him.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.  Ephesians 2:10

How should we obey God?

The Old Testament Jews obeyed God in order they were not cursed, and to receive a blessing.

The New Testament saints obey in a very different manner – and this is what Jesus is coming to in the Matthew passage. The sermon is refuting the ways of the Pharisees – noting this passage is to Jews, not the Church.

Looking at the Matthew passage: you’re a typical Jew in Jesus’ day – set out to please God, observing the Law according to the instructions of the Pharisees

• You know you are the chosen people – chosen by God
• You believe the Kingdom of Heaven has been promised to you and so you’re probably feeling pretty good about yourself
• The Pharisees tell you that if you follow their instructions and their example, you’ll be well-received in the Kingdom
• Now the bomb-shell – you are not good enough; not even the Pharisees are good enough!

Let’s look at verses 21 & 22 (Matthew 5:21, 22)

"You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.'  But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire.

We have heard plenty of people say:

• I haven’t murdered anyone
• I go to church on Sundays and furthermore, I tithe weekly
• I don’t drink or smoke
• This make me good – in fact, good enough to enter the Kingdom.

But Jesus says, none of this will make you right for heaven.

• What Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount is even tougher than living perfectly – you must think perfectly and your heart attitude must be perfect all the time
• God’s Law requires that we obey perfectly in heart, mind, soul and strength  (verse 37)
• Our words, thoughts, motives and attitudes must agree perfectly with God

If I were to ask you, “Have you ever committed murder?” all would say No!

• Nevertheless, according to Jesus, every person in this room is guilty of violating that commandment by being angry without just cause.
• Because we violate the spirit of the law – the seat of sin is the heart – being angry without just cause (hating) is a sin. If this has never applied to you, Jesus pulls out many more examples

• Lust (27)
• Divorce (31)
• Swearing of oaths (33) – which also includes saying you will do something, but in your heart you do not want to
• Retaliation (38)

• Jesus finishes this section with
  • Love Your Enemies (43)

So how do I get right with God?

The question then is, how do I get right with God if it’s not obeying commands?

The answer is so simple, because God made it simple for us, because He knew we couldn’t obtain sufficient righteousness on our own – we are made righteous through the blood of Christ.

Paul, using the words of Moses writes

But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. (Rom 10:8-10)

What is Paul saying?

There is only one way in getting right with God –

• Accepting that Jesus is Lord and Saviour – this means relinquishing control of your life to Jesus.
• Believing that God raised Jesus Christ who died, and that you will be saved.

Two things

1. Accept Jesus Christ as Lord (the work of the mouth)
2. Believe in the work of God (the work of the heart)

Note these two go together believing and confessing – one cannot work without the other – a Believer is called a believer because he or she believes in something and that some is what we confess. It would be illogical to say we believe in nothing – this is not belief at all.

And this is what Paul makes this abundantly clear – the something a person must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Through these actions we are made righteous before God. Thus our obedience is a yielding process, commencing with yielding to God. Paul writes:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

And furthermore, our obedience is not on our own – we obey through the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:16).

Because it is our heart attitude that needs to be controlled – as Jesus say in Matthew – it’s not that actual murder or the adultery, but rather the fact the heart is what set the person on the path of evil desire, and it is the heart that needs to be dealt with.  We do this by submitting to the Holy Spirit.

That is, our obedience requires we follow the leading of the Spirit rather than giving in to the temptations of our flesh. Jesus sets out the principle of salvation:

Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'  John 3:5-7

The late Steve Armstrong writes

• This is the moment of our salvation, the moment faith comes and we are born again
• At the moment the Holy Spirit baptises a believer and something dies (the old) and something is brought to life (the new)
  • First, our old spirit is put to death
    • The spirit we inherited from Adam, the spirit that was fallen, ceases to exist
  • In its place, we receive the Holy spirit

What rules should we obey?

Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 1 John 3:7

Note this is not about keeping a list of rules like the Old Testament Jews were required to do – a Christian is led by the Spirit to practice righteousness.  The starting point is our love for God. Jesus sums this all up thus. Sticking to Matthew, Jesus says:

"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?"
And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.
And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."  Matthew 22:36-40

What is loving God?

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.  (1 John 5:3)

Note obedience is not sacrifice – indeed God does not want sacrifice – he wants obedience:

[Jesus said] In burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, 'Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.'" Hebrews 10:6-7

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.
Romans 6:22

Conclusion

• We must allow the Holy Spirit to transform us from within and in doing so we grow in holiness. (2 Thess 2:13)
• Although we have been made right before God (we have been saved from the penalty of death by the person of Jesus Christ), we must grow spiritually – this is sanctification[3] – which is the power of being saved from sin in our mortal bodies.
• The more we read God's Word, spend time with in communion with the Father, and allow the Holy Spirit to change us from within, the more we grow in obedience and holiness as Christians.

Doxology (Trust and Obey)