Is Your Obedience Driven by Fear or Love? [Eschatology Matters]

0:00Today, I want to talk about something that is essential to the Christian life, yet often misunderstood. So obedience. Now for some people, the word obedience just sounds heavy in and of itself. It's restrictive, maybe burdensome, and it can bring to mind legalism fear or a crushing feeling that you're never doing enough. Some of you probably grew up in households or in environments, maybe churches, where this was the reality. Take heart with Corey Wing, the world view with Alex Cokman, the magistrate with James Baird and Josh Howard, the based boomer podcast with Mike D. Virgilio, the millennial medic with Jacob Glass, down to earth theology with Matt Plett, shadows to substance with George Saor, five new episodes every week. We all, the E M network.

1:16Hello friends and welcome back to Take Heart, a pastoral podcast here on the EM network where we open the scriptures and seek to walk faithfully with Christ in the real world. I'm your host Corey Wing. Today I want to talk about something that is essential to the Christian life, yet often misunderstood. So obedience. Now for some people, the word obedience just sounds heavy in and of itself. It's restrictive, maybe burdensome, and it can bring to mind legalism fear or a crushing feeling that you're never doing enough. Some of you probably grew up in households or in environments, maybe churches, where this was the reality. But look, biblically understood, obedience is not a ladder that we climb to earn God's love. It is the loving response of a redeemed heart to the grace, mercy, and Lordship of Christ. So let me say very plainly right here at the outset, we are not saved by our obedience.

2:22But those who are saved will be marked by a growing obedience. That's the heart of the Christian life. And in light of that, I want us to think about three things basically today. Number one, why obedience matters. Number two, why disobedience is so serious. And number three, how Christ empowers the obedience that he commands. Let's begin with the foundation. Obedience does not earn grace. It flows from grace. One of the great truths of the gospel is that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. God says in Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, quote, for by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of your own doing, it's the gift of God. Not a result of works so that no man can boast in quote. That settles it forever. The question of whether we can earn salvation.

3:22We cannot. No amount of obedience can erase your sin debt. No spiritual effort can make us righteous before a holy God. We Christ can save us. His perfect life, his substitutionary death, his victorious resurrection, these are the grounds of our acceptance before God. But the passage doesn't stop there, verse 10 goes on to say, quote, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Do you see that? Good works are not the root of salvation, they're the fruit of true salvation. Obedience is not how you become a Christian. Obedience is what begins to grow because you are a Christian. Grace doesn't merely pardon you, grace transforms you.

4:23Obedience is the evidence of love. Listen to the words of Jesus in John 14, 15, where he says quote, if you love me, you will keep my commandments in quote. Now, that's simple, direct and honestly pretty soul searching. Jesus does not say, well, if you love me, you're going to feel warmly about me. He says, if you love me, you will obey me. This is not some kind of a cold moralism. It's covenant love. Think about any healthy relationship. Love will change our behavior. When you truly love someone, you care about what matters to them. You don't conform to become loved, you conform because love has already taken root and you desire to please the one you love. The same is true with Christ. A Christian is not someone who merely admires Jesus. A Christian is someone who bows the need to Jesus as Lord. That means obedience matters in your speech, your thought life, your sexuality, your finances,

5:28your marriage, your work ethic, your forgiveness, your integrity, even when no one else is watching. Christ is not Lord over part of your life. He is Lord over all of it. And where there is persistent, comfortable disobedience, Scripture tells us to take that very seriously. Look, disobedience is sin and sin is never a small thing. Now this is so important because we live in a culture and sometimes sadly, even within church culture, where sin is often minimized. We call it weakness, we call it personal choice, we call it freedom. We say things like, well, it's just how I am. This is how God made me. But Scripture calls it what it is, rebellion against a holy God.

6:29In 1 Samuel 15, 22, Samuel says, quote, to obey is better than sacrifice and to listen than the fat of rams in quote. In that passage, Saul, King Saul, the first king of Israel, tried to offer religious gestures while refusing full obedience unto God. And God, well, he was not impressed. Why? Because partial obedience is still full disobedience. That truth still matters today, maybe more than ever. Sometimes we can convince ourselves that because we go to church or we read our Bible, because we know theology or we serve in some ministry that we're doing fine. But look, if you're harboring secret sin, you're resisting conviction, you're refusing repentance by friend that matters and it matters deeply. obedience grieves the heart of God because sin always distorts what he made good. It's in a front against the very holiness of God himself.

7:32We become like what Isaiah talks about in chapter 6 of his own book when he says that he's unclean and from a people that is also unclean. Now, it's also true that disobedience harms us. Sin always promises freedom, but it produces bondage. Jesus himself says in John 834, quote, everyone who practices sin is slave to sin, end quote. And that is so important for us to see and always keep in the forefront of our mind. Sin is not freedom. Sin is slavery and Christ died to set us free from the slavery of sin. Whether that sin is lust or anger or pride or greed or envy or laziness or bitterness, self-righteousness, sin always chains you to something lesser than Christ. And many believers feel discouraged here because they hear this and they think, I know

8:33I should obey, but I keep failing. My friend, if that's you today, I want you to hear this clearly. The answer to your disobedience is not merely trying harder. I can tell you from personal experience as well as the word of God, the answer is a deeper connection and union with the living spirit of Christ Jesus. The indwelling spirit is the power we are given for accomplishing obedience. This is where the gospel becomes so beautiful in our everyday lives. God never commands his children to obey and then leaves them alone to figure it out. He gives us his spirit. Listen all the way back to Ezekiel, chapter 36, verses 26 and 27, which says, quote, and I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, in quote, cause you to walk

9:36in my statutes. That is a stunning promise. I want you to notice that God does not merely command obedience. He creates obedience by transforming our hearts, taking our old dead stone hearts out of our chest and giving us fleshly malleable hearts that can be molded and shaped by the spirit of the living God. The Holy Spirit then takes, like I said, that dead heart out and makes it alive. He changes what we love. He changes what we desire. He makes holiness beautiful in our eyes and he makes sin less and less and less attractive. Now it takes a lifetime. That's what progressive sanctification means. It progressively happens over the rest of your life and it will never cease to happen until you either die or Christ returns. And that doesn't mean that the Christian life becomes effortless far from it actually.

10:39Paul describes the Christian life in both Romans chapter 7 and in Galatians chapter 5 as a real battle between flesh and spirit. And he'll go on in Galatians 5 verse 16 to say, quote, walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh in, quote, so how do we fight sin? Well, it's not merely with willpower though. You should try. You should resist the devil and he will flee from you. We're told, but we feed on scripture. We live in a spirit of prayer and supplication and we're told that numerous times throughout the New Testament. Pray always to make our request known under God. We walk in repentance. You don't wait. When the Holy Spirit convicts you of a sin, you repent of it then and there. You stay in Christian fellowship. Again, Hebrews is very clear that some people even back then were getting out of going to church and Christ was telling us through the writer of Hebrews, don't do that.

11:44That's dangerous. Be sure to be in Christian fellowship. You should be sitting under regular means of grace. You should be keeping close to Christ. So obedience grows as communion with Christ deepens and obedience is freedom. It's not oppression and that's probably the most countercultural truth of all of them. The world says freedom means doing whatever you want, but the Bible says true freedom is becoming what you were created to be. There's a good Westminsterian PCA Presbyterian guy, of course, the first question in the shorter catechism is, what is the chief end of man? Well, the chief end of man we are told in the answer is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. And we can only do that when we are in right relationship with Christ, walking faithfully

12:46with him. The Psalmist will put a different way in Psalm 19.45 when he says quote, I shall walk in a wide place for I have sought your precepts in quote. Now I don't know how you feel about that, but I find it remarkable. God's commands are not prison bars, they're pathways. The world says follow your heart, but Jeremiah reminds us that apart from grace, the heart is distorted and lies to us all the time. Christ says follow me. And his commands, my friends, they lead to peace and joy, stability and holiness, deeper communion with God, not because obedience earns those things, but because obedience keeps you near the one who gives them. And even when obedience is costly, it is always, always worth it. Jesus will tell us in Luke 923, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and

13:50take up his cross daily and follow me. Now, that's the call, daily surrender, daily trust, daily obedience, not perfectly, but sincerely. When you fail, run to Christ, not away from him. So let me close speaking to you weary Christians, maybe you've been struggling, maybe there's an area of disobedience that keeps resurfacing, even after weeks, even after months, sadly, for some of you, even after years, and you feel ashamed, you feel dirty. You feel like, look, there's no way I could be a Christian because if I were, I wouldn't act like this. Oh, brothers and sisters, I have been there. And here's the good news, your hope is not predicated upon flawless performance.

14:54Your hope is in a faithful savior. Yes, disobedience is and always will be sin. Yes, God has called you unto holiness and righteousness. And when you fail, the answer is not to fall into despair, which I can tell you from experience leads to further sin. The answer is repentance and renewed faith. First John 1.9 will tell us, quote, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, end quote. Do you hear that? Christ doesn't just forgive us. He cleanses us. Christ is not only your pardon. He is also your power. He's patient with weak saints.

15:57He's tender with those who struggle. Isaiah 42 verse 3 says, quote, a bruised read he will not break and a faintly burning wick he will not quench. He will faithfully bring forth justice, in quote, Matthew chapter 12 verse 20 says, that passage there in Isaiah was fulfilled in Christ Jesus. That's amazing. Jesus is committed to being patient with you. But he's equally committed to completing the work that he began in you. Paul tells us that in Philippians 1 verse 6 where he says, quote, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ, end quote. So take heart. Obedience is not a burden placed upon your shoulders to crush you. It is the spirit-born response of a heart that has been loved, forgiven and made anew.

17:02His grace that saves also sanctifies. And the Christ who calls you to obey is the Christ who walks with you in the struggle. Let's pray. Father, we come before you confessing that we are sinners, confessing, oh Lord, that left to our own devices, we are a wretch. We love sin. We chase it oftentimes. Paul says in Romans 7 that he continues to do the things he knows he shouldn't do and the things he knows he's supposed to be doing, he doesn't do them. And he says, who will save me from this body of death? Blessed be the Savior, Jesus Christ. Oh, Lord, forgive us, forgive us of our unrighteousness, forgive us of our sin, forgive us of chasing lesser loves, the things that would steal our souls and would cripple and rob us and

18:02enslave us when you offer love and mercy and grace and freedom. Oh, Lord, continue to empower us by your Holy Spirit, continue to wash us and sanctify us, bring us more rightly into view with your word. Help us to walk circumspectly of your truth. Help others to see the obedience born out in our lives and in so doing glorify the Father who is in heaven. Oh, Lord, we want to be more holy. Help us, Father, we pray in Christ's name. Amen. Thank you for listening to Take Heart. If this episode has encouraged you, please share it with someone who may need it. And until next time, walk closely with Christ, rest deeply in His grace, obey His loving commands and take heart. God bless.