OBEYING GOD
The way to obey God is not to submit to some human list of rules and regulations (Mark 7:7; Colossians 2:22). It is not to pledge your faith to some creed, no matter how old the creed is (Matthew 15:3-9). The only way to obey God is to do what you believe God wants you to do. Most of the time that will be a simple matter of deciding to do what’s right. Everyone knows the difference between right and wrong, and doing right is always the will of God.
You know it’s wrong to steal. You know God doesn’t want you to be mean. You know it’s wrong to sleep around and use people for sex. You know it’s wrong to hurt people in any way. You know it’s wrong to get drunk. On and on we could go with examples of things we all know God does not want us doing. Those things will be the overwhelming majority of matters that pertain to obeying God. We know what’s right, so let’s do it.
But there are some things that the Bible is not clear on. Paul, in Romans 14, calls these “disputable matters.” People do have to follow their own conscience on some things. Whether to drink at all. Whether to esteem certain days higher than other days. What foods you should eat. Those are the issues Paul was dealing with, and there would be many issues today that would fall into the same category. Smoking, celebrating Christmas, going to a formal religious assembly on Sunday, who to marry—those are issues that each individual must decide for themselves what to do about. And there are many like that. In fact, we face issues like that practically every day.
If you don’t believe the Lord would want you to get a tattoo, then obey Him by not getting a tattoo. But do not judge or look down in any way, shape or form on someone who comes to a different conclusion, and gets one—or fifty. The point of Romans 14 is that each believer has the right to answer to God according to his or her own conscience. We do not have the right to judge our brothers and sisters who come to different conclusions on these matters. It is your responsibility and mine to ask ourselves what we truly believe God wants us to do. Obedience to God means doing what you believe God wants you to do.
Most people do not care what God thinks. They’re going to do what they want to do regardless. Religious and church people are among the worst offenders in this area. Many are going to keep on being hypocrites and nothing in the Bible is going to change anything that they do.
But there are also people who are not Christians who refuse to give up living in sin in order to follow Jesus. You cannot do that. You don’t have to obey the rules of men, but you do have to do what God wants you to do. Jesus said plainly, “If you love me, do what I command you” (John 14:15).
The good news is your relationship with God is a personal relationship. And as long as your heart is set on pleasing Him, you will please Him. If what you believe God wants is what matters to you and is the deciding factor in whether you do something or not, then you are living a life of obedience to God. The problem is not that you might make a mistake and do something wrong. The problem is if you don’t care. Pleasing Him is what matters. And He is pleased when you care about pleasing Him.
Block out all human interference and human doctrines and pray and seek the face of God. Ask Him what He would have you to do. That is the way the Christian life is supposed to be lived and that is true obedience. So believe in Jesus and try to do what He says. And when it comes to things He has not spoken about, do what you believe He wants you to do. Always strive to keep an honest heart before Him. Always make it your goal to please Him (2 Corinthians 5:9).
Dewayne Dunaway
