Obedience and Faith

FAITH AND BELIEVING IN THE LAST DAYS

Chapter 4

Obedience and Faith

What was it about the fruit that caused the first man and woman to disobey God?

Understand that the serpent tempted Eve by saying that they would be like God, knowing good and evil and that that power would come from eating the fruit.

The fruit in turn had its own appeal…Genesis 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

John puts that threefold temptation into perspective for us.

Like a magic trick which is the art of deception, John reveals to us the truth behind the lie.

1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world-the world is not eternal

The lust of the flesh,-the fruit was good for food

The lust of the eyes,-the fruit was pleasant to the eyes

And the pride of life-the fruit was desirable to make one wise

is not of the Father but is of the world.-you are slaves to whom you obey.

Peter puts obedience in this perspective.

1 Peter 1:20 He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you

21 who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,

23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,

Peter says that obedience is

Believing God and His power to forgive sin, and to give eternal life.

Obedience comes from faith and hope in God.

Obedience is a sign of purity.

Obedience is knowledge of the truth.

Obedience is accomplished through the work of the Holy Spirit.

Obedience is a demonstration of sincere love for one another.

Obedience is a sign of salvation.

Obedience is inspired through knowing the power of Gods word.

Jesus intended to please the Father and He demonstrated and fulfilled that by His obedience to the Father.

 We should intend to please Jesus though our faith in Jesus and we demonstrate that faith in Jesus by our obedience to Jesus.

Jesus Himself says that even He came not on His own initiative.

John 8:28 So Jesus said, When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.

29 And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.

30 As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him.

31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, if you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;

32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.

Let me ask you, did Jesus need to have faith in God in order to believe? It’s a difficult question to answer. We can only suppose we understand it, but think of things this way.

Was Jesus fully God and fully man when He lived on the earth?

We can answer that one, yes. If Jesus was fully flesh, then what did He need? We can only answer that by listening to the words of Jesus and observing how Jesus lived His life. If we look at the above passage in scripture, we find that Jesus demonstrated a dependence on the Father by His obedience to the Father. I do not think that Jesus needed faith. He did possess faith, because frankly, Jesus is faith and the source of faith. We do know that Jesus needed obedience. Hebrews 5:8 tells us, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.

Can we agree that obedience is an exercise of faith?

Can we agree that our faith grows through our obedience?

Can we agree that first comes faith and grace which leads to salvation, and then comes obedience the proof of our faith and gratefulness for the grace of God?

Its only when you truly lift up Jesus,

When you look to Jesus,

When you turn to Jesus,

When you trust in Jesus,

When you rely on Jesus,

When you lean on Jesus,

When Jesus becomes your source of strength,

When Jesus becomes your refuge in time of need,

that you begin to discover not only who Jesus truly is,

but you also begin to discover who the Father truly is.

Jesus came to be our source of life and our sustainer in life and to reveal the love of the Father.

1 John 4:9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.

10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Jesus is the propitiation, meaning to render favorable.

It’s hard to pronounce, but even harder to grasp.

Even the disciples wrestled with this truth.

John 14:8 Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us."

9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?

10 "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.

11 "Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.

Do you believe that Jesus is in the Father?

Do you believe that the Father is in Jesus?

Do you believe that Jesus speaks by the authority of God?

Do you believe that the works that Jesus performs were and are all performed by the Father who dwells within Jesus?

Jesus says in Verse 11 that you should believe that He and the Father are within one another.

Jesus also says that you should believe simply because of the works that Jesus performs.

In other words, those works should be recognizable as coming from the Father.

In other words, we can all know who God is by watching Jesus.

Now pause for a moment and take a deep breath, in the next chapter comes what I will call 

“the big question.”