What does it mean to obey Christ in the New Testament?
It simply means to believe the Gospel! To add to the Gospel is to disobey Christ. Unbelief in the finished work of Christ is disobedience. To add to Christ is to obey a different gospel that is contrary to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Faith in Christ is what true obedience is!
When we do things for God out of faith those actions are not obedience they are the fruit of obedience, they are the fruit of our faith in Christ! Those who live "disobedient" to Christ are simply those who live without faith in Christ!
In other words, don't preach obedience, preach Christ and let faith arise in people's hearts that leads them into the actions of Christ!
Jesus said, "If you love me you will obey my commands". We need to be careful we don't turn that into "If you obey my commands then I will love you" as some seem to do. We love because he first loved us. We obey him because we've received and walk in his love. Our focus shouldn't be to obey commands but to walk in His love. If you walk in His love you will obey any of His commands.
It simply means to believe the Gospel! To add to the Gospel is to disobey Christ. Unbelief in the finished work of Christ is disobedience. To add to Christ is to obey a different gospel that is contrary to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Faith in Christ is what true obedience is!
When we do things for God out of faith those actions are not obedience they are the fruit of obedience, they are the fruit of our faith in Christ! Those who live "disobedient" to Christ are simply those who live without faith in Christ!
In other words, don't preach obedience, preach Christ and let faith arise in people's hearts that leads them into the actions of Christ!
Jesus said, "If you love me you will obey my commands". We need to be careful we don't turn that into "If you obey my commands then I will love you" as some seem to do. We love because he first loved us. We obey him because we've received and walk in his love. Our focus shouldn't be to obey commands but to walk in His love. If you walk in His love you will obey any of His commands.
(The above post may be found at its original location here: http://ccihk.com/what-does-it-mean-to-obey-christ-in-the-new-testament)
Grace=Peace,
Jeremy
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