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It's no joke! Why Christians Obey
11 years ago
Happy April First! While you're out enjoying the joy and laughter today, don't forget that God is the Source of all real joy and all true laughter. So take some time today to sit back and reflect that the jokes and smiles and camaraderie you experience today is points to Someone greater who wishes to smile on you and have you with Him now and for all eternity in mutual love and companionship.
Here is a good post from Dan Doriani of the Gospel Coalition about why Christians actually do what God tells us to do. Originally posted here.
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When I was a new Christian, I learned that I owed the Lord obedience in every sphere of life. Yet I was a bit muddled as to why I obeyed. If asked to explain, I answered three ways, which we can call the way of wisdom, the way of trust, and the way of gratitude.
The way of wisdom says it is only reasonable to obey God's law. He created all things, so he knows how they work. Therefore, we expect his commands to be effective, to bring us good. As Moses said, God gave Israel his commands "for your own good" (Deut. 10:13).
The way of trust says God loves us and would never mislead us. We should behave as he directs and trust him to make it work. If we do what is right for him, he will do right for us.
The way of gratitude judges that it is fitting for us to obey God without reserve because God first gave himself without reserve to us when he redeemed us. Because he has done so much for us, we should be willing to do much for him.
These perspectives contain profound truth. They are certainly superior to the way of merit, where people obey God in order to earn or retain his favor. And they surpass the way of servile or craven fear, where people obey God to avert punishment (there is, of course, a proper fear of God, the awe of our great Father and King). It is always good to obey God's law, yet he cannot be pleased with anyone who obeys him strictly to merit rewards or avoid penalties. Such obedience can be selfish, even manipulative.
Noblest Motive
Yet, if we pause, we see that even in the ways of wisdom, trust, and gratitude we obey both for God's sake and also for self-seeking reasons. There is trust and gratitude toward the Lord, but there is also desire to gain benefits and to relieve debts. Thus they fall short of the noblest motive for obedience, the desire to obey God for his sake, out of love for him.
Bernard of Clairvaux said we cajole the unwilling, not the willing, with promises and rewards. Who, he asked, offers men rewards for doing what they want to do? Do we pay hungry men to eat? Do we pay thirsty men to drink? So, Bernard says, if we demand a reward to obey God, we love the reward rather than God. In his words, "The soul that loves God seeks no other reward than that God whom it loves. Were the soul to demand anything else, then it would certainly love that other thing and not God."
Let's put this teaching in contemporary terms. Suppose that three men go running five days each week. Suppose, further, that we ask each one why he dedicates himself to running.
* The first answers, "I run because my father died of a heart attack at 54, and I want to live long enough to retire and to see my grandchildren grow up."
* The second replies, "I run because I can eat anything I want when I run and I still don't gain weight. Running also makes me nice and tired, so I sleep soundly at night."
* The third says, "When I run, my legs soar over the ground, the wind brushes my face, my heart beats like slow, heavy thunder in my chest and I feel alive."
The first man runs out of fear; he worries about the consequences if he stops. The second runs for its benefits; he eats and sleeps better when he runs. But for the third man, running is its own reward. The first and second men love health, food, and sleep. Running is an instrument they use to gain what they desire. Only the third man loves running, as an end in itself.
Our obedience commonly resembles the motives of the first two runners. We obey to avoid what we fear or to get what we want. How many serve God and seek no reward other than God himself? Ideally, believers love and obey the Lord for his sake. We heed the command, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might" (Deut. 6:5). We love God as he reveals himself in history and Scripture. We love him for his grace and his gospel.
We may wonder if any sinful human can love God with perfect purity, but that's a topic for another day. For now let's admit that the idea of loving God for his own sake is daunting. But he does not leave us to "work up" love for him. Rather, he draws us to himself through the gospel of his Son and the work of his Spirit.
Here is a good post from Dan Doriani of the Gospel Coalition about why Christians actually do what God tells us to do. Originally posted here.
---
When I was a new Christian, I learned that I owed the Lord obedience in every sphere of life. Yet I was a bit muddled as to why I obeyed. If asked to explain, I answered three ways, which we can call the way of wisdom, the way of trust, and the way of gratitude.
The way of wisdom says it is only reasonable to obey God's law. He created all things, so he knows how they work. Therefore, we expect his commands to be effective, to bring us good. As Moses said, God gave Israel his commands "for your own good" (Deut. 10:13).
The way of trust says God loves us and would never mislead us. We should behave as he directs and trust him to make it work. If we do what is right for him, he will do right for us.
The way of gratitude judges that it is fitting for us to obey God without reserve because God first gave himself without reserve to us when he redeemed us. Because he has done so much for us, we should be willing to do much for him.
These perspectives contain profound truth. They are certainly superior to the way of merit, where people obey God in order to earn or retain his favor. And they surpass the way of servile or craven fear, where people obey God to avert punishment (there is, of course, a proper fear of God, the awe of our great Father and King). It is always good to obey God's law, yet he cannot be pleased with anyone who obeys him strictly to merit rewards or avoid penalties. Such obedience can be selfish, even manipulative.
Noblest Motive
Yet, if we pause, we see that even in the ways of wisdom, trust, and gratitude we obey both for God's sake and also for self-seeking reasons. There is trust and gratitude toward the Lord, but there is also desire to gain benefits and to relieve debts. Thus they fall short of the noblest motive for obedience, the desire to obey God for his sake, out of love for him.
Bernard of Clairvaux said we cajole the unwilling, not the willing, with promises and rewards. Who, he asked, offers men rewards for doing what they want to do? Do we pay hungry men to eat? Do we pay thirsty men to drink? So, Bernard says, if we demand a reward to obey God, we love the reward rather than God. In his words, "The soul that loves God seeks no other reward than that God whom it loves. Were the soul to demand anything else, then it would certainly love that other thing and not God."
Let's put this teaching in contemporary terms. Suppose that three men go running five days each week. Suppose, further, that we ask each one why he dedicates himself to running.
* The first answers, "I run because my father died of a heart attack at 54, and I want to live long enough to retire and to see my grandchildren grow up."
* The second replies, "I run because I can eat anything I want when I run and I still don't gain weight. Running also makes me nice and tired, so I sleep soundly at night."
* The third says, "When I run, my legs soar over the ground, the wind brushes my face, my heart beats like slow, heavy thunder in my chest and I feel alive."
The first man runs out of fear; he worries about the consequences if he stops. The second runs for its benefits; he eats and sleeps better when he runs. But for the third man, running is its own reward. The first and second men love health, food, and sleep. Running is an instrument they use to gain what they desire. Only the third man loves running, as an end in itself.
Our obedience commonly resembles the motives of the first two runners. We obey to avoid what we fear or to get what we want. How many serve God and seek no reward other than God himself? Ideally, believers love and obey the Lord for his sake. We heed the command, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might" (Deut. 6:5). We love God as he reveals himself in history and Scripture. We love him for his grace and his gospel.
We may wonder if any sinful human can love God with perfect purity, but that's a topic for another day. For now let's admit that the idea of loving God for his own sake is daunting. But he does not leave us to "work up" love for him. Rather, he draws us to himself through the gospel of his Son and the work of his Spirit.
Still, it's also a sign of the power of divine love that God not only loves but would die fer such mixed up critters, aye? :)
I understand that God doesn't owe me anything. I understand that I owe God everything even unto suffering. I can't accept that Jesus would love to see me suffer for the purpose of gaining His love. It's by Grace I've been saved through faith, not of myself; not by works, lest Iboast. Faith without works is dead, but grace never required suffering.
I serve God because He loved me first, because I love Him back, because I love to love Him loving me, to love love loving with love hahaha. I'm not sure if that was the author's original intent, but it certainly came off as sadistic, not graceful.
Now, God's love has a goal for us - making us more like His Son, Jesus. Sometimes that means that he will allow things in our lives that don't make us comfortable and sometimes even feel like punishment because we suffer so. But that's different from seeking out pain and misery in some sort of hope that it will make you more spiritual.
It's like the soreness you feel after a good workout versus the pain you feel if you're cutting yourself. Both are pain, but one speaks of growth while the other is just self-harm. Unfortunately we live in a world, and our sight is often obscured enough where it's not always easy to see the difference.