"Through Him we have
received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith
among all nations for His name, among whom you also are the
called of Jesus Christ;"
Romans 1:5-6
For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also
by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous."
Romans 5:19
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under
grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present
yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you
obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading
to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were
slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of
doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free
from sin, you became slaves of righteousness."
Romans
6:15-18
"For the
weapons of our warfare are not carnal
but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down
arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the
knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to
the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all
disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled."
2 Corinthians
10:4-6
"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be
equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the
form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself
and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of
the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given
Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of
Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on
earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father."
Philippians
2:5-11
"So also Christ did not glorify Himself ... who, in the days of
His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications,
with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him
from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He
was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He
suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of
eternal salvation to all who obey Him,"
Hebrews 5:5-9
"...be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to
be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as
obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former
lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy,
you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, 'Be
holy, for I am holy.'"
1 Peter 1:13-16
"For to this end I
also wrote, that I might put you to the test, whether you are
obedient in all things." 2 Corinthians 2:9
Remember
the Old Testament Truths
"Moreover, brethren,
I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers ... ate the
same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For
they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that
Rock was Christ. But with most of them God was not well pleased,
for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
"Now these things became our examples, to the intent that
we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted.
And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it
is written, 'The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up
to play.' Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of
them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; nor let us
tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed
by serpents; nor complain, as some of them also
complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all
these things happened to them as examples, and they were
written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages
have come.
"Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest
he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is
common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be
tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will
also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."
1
Corinthians 10:1-13
Don't
ignore the Creator's wise guidelines
"When you have eaten
and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the
good land which He has given you. Beware that you do not
forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments,
His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today,
lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful
houses and dwell in them... your heart is lifted up, and you
forget the Lord your God.... then you say in your heart, ‘My
power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’...
"... if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and
follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I
testify against you this day that you shall surely perish.
As the nations which the Lord destroys before you, so you shall
perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the
Lord your God."
Deuteronomy
8:10-29
Heed His
warnings to Israel
“...it shall come to
pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to
observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes
which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon
you and overtake you:
"Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be
in the country.
"Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of
your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your
flocks.
"Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you
be when you go out. The Lord will send on you cursing,
confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until
you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the
wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me.
"The Lord will
make the plague cling to you until He has consumed you from the
land which you are going to possess. The Lord will strike you
with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with severe
burning fever, with the sword, with scorching, and with mildew;
they shall pursue you until you perish. And your heavens which
are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under
you shall be iron. The Lord will change the rain of your land
to powder and dust; from the heaven it shall come down on
you until you are destroyed.
"The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your
enemies; you shall go out one way against them and flee seven
ways before them; and you shall become troublesome to all the
kingdoms of the earth. ....
"A nation whom you have not known shall eat the fruit of
your land and the produce of your labor, and you shall be only
oppressed and crushed continually. So you shall be driven mad
because of the sight which your eyes see. ...
"You shall carry much seed out to the field but gather
little in, for the locust shall consume it....
"The alien who is among you shall rise higher and
higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower.
He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall
be the head, and you shall be the tail.
"Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue
and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you did not
obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments
and His statutes which He commanded you. And they shall be upon
you for a sign and a wonder, and on your descendants forever.
"Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and
gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, therefore
you shall serve your enemies, whom the Lord will send against
you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of
everything....
"....the Lord will bring upon you and your descendants
extraordinary plagues—great and prolonged plagues—and
serious and prolonged sicknesses....
"...the Lord will scatter you among all peoples,
from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall
serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have
known—wood and stone. And among those nations you shall find no
rest,.... the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing
eyes, and anguish of soul. Your life shall hang in doubt before
you; you shall fear day and night, and have no assurance of
life. In the morning you shall say, ‘Oh, that it were evening!’
And at evening you shall say, ‘Oh, that it were morning!’
because of the fear which terrifies your heart, and because of
the sight which your eyes see."
Deuteronomy
28:15-67
"Who gave Jacob for
plunder, and Israel to the robbers?
Was it not the Lord, He against whom we have sinned?
For they would not walk in His ways, nor were they obedient to
His law.
Therefore He has poured on him the fury of His anger."
Isaiah 42:24-25
Accept
correction and humbly repent
"Like an earring of
gold and an ornament of fine gold is a wise rebuker to an
obedient ear."
Proverbs
25:12
"When I shut up
heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour
the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who
are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek
My face, and turn from their wicked ways, wthen I will hear from
heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
2 Chronicles 7:13-14
Victory
in Christ
"Thanks
be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast,
immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing
that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." 1
Corinthians 15:56
See
Salvation,
What it means to be a Christian,
God's eternal, unchanging Word
and
Don't conform to the ways of the world
Oswald Chambers: Moral
problems are only solved by obedience... Intellectually things
can be worked out, but morally the solution is only reached by
obedience. One step in obedience is worth years of study, and
will take us into the center of God's will for us. (The
Shadow of an Agony, 1934)
"No one can tell us where the
shadow of the Almighty is, we have to find it out for
ourselves. When by obedience we have discovered where it is, we
must abide there--'no evil shall befall you, nor shall any
plague come near your dwelling.' That is the life that is more
than conquerors because the joy of the Lord has become its
strength, and that soul is on the way to entering ultimately
into the joy of the Lord (Bringing Sons unto Glory, 1943)