we gotta talk about obedience

If you’re reading this right now, chances are you either read through the slides and now you’re mad orrrrrr you read the slides and need more context.

Either way, please stick around. Don’t go running to the comments to start an argument without the whole picture.

I’ve been studying my way through the book of Philippians (which, if you’re new around here, I love studying theology and digging more deeply into how it applies to our lives bc YES the Bible does still apply to our lives in this day & age).

A bit of background - Philippians is a letter to the church at Philippi (a Roman colony) written by Paul, that teaches how the joy of the Gospel should rule our lives, regardless of circumstance, AND how we should imitate the humility and obedience of Jesus, who willingly obeyed the Father - even to the point of dying on the cross.

Now, with that frame of reference, I was studying Philippians 2:12-18. Paul literally kicks off by inviting the Philippians to continue being obedient in their walks with Christ just as they did when Paul was with them - and especially so now that he was not. Right off the bat, we are reminded to continue being obedient, just as Jesus was obedient. He showed us how to be obedient (v.12a).

Here’s where a lot of people usually get hung up: “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (v 12b). When you don’t understand what Paul is actually saying in this verse, it sounds a LOT like he’s saying that we have to work & earn our salvation, right? That’s NOT what he’s saying though. In this context, “work out” doesn’t mean “work for it,” it actually means “exercise it, work it out.” You’ve experienced salvation, so let it works its way into every part of your life and be evident that you’ve experienced it. Totally different, right?

The other half of this is the “with fear and trembling” bit. Have you ever traveled somewhere or gone to an art museum and just been plain dumbstruck by how incredible what you’re witnessing is? Like you just can’t speak because it’s so awe-inspiring and you just have so much reverence for the whole experience? That’s what fear and trembling means here. This trembling is a result of joy from encountering Jesus.

If you fast forward to verse 16, Paul tells the Philippians to “hold fast to the Word of Life.” In other words: Cling to what is True.

Our world is full of deceit and lies. So much “share your truth.” If everyone has truth, how do we know what is *actually* true?

We cling to Jesus.

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.“

John‬ ‭14‬:‭6‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Jesus is THE Truth. He is the one who brings justification and redemption. And we get to experience this redemption because He was obedient to the Father - even to the point of death on a cross (Phil 4:8).

If you read the last slide, you saw this quote:

“Your obedience and mine only occur because God initiated a redemptive process that resulted in our forgiveness and transformation. We don’t obey to get His favor; we obey because His favor has fallen on us and transformed our hearts, giving us the willingness and power to obey” (Paul David Tripp, New Morning Mercies).

People have a problem with the word “obedience”. They get caught up that it should only be for animals or that obedience is only a result of fear for consequences or punishment. When that’s the perspective you hold, it’s understandable why that would be a hangup for you when you hear Jesus followers speak about obeying God - and honestly, this is still something that challenges *many* Believers.

But that’s not the context we have - that’s not the context *I* have - when we are walking closely with Jesus.

For those of us who are actively pursuing relationships with Jesus- and I mean moment-by-moment, there is fruit in our lives that makes it evident we are walking with God - obedience is a result of the transformation that has occurred in our hearts. Sometimes being obedient feels easy, and other times it can be one of the greatest challenges we encounter.

But here’s the deal. We don’t obey Jesus out of fear that He’ll smite us or that our salvation would be retracted if our sin is great enough. Literally no, that’s not it in any way, shape or form.

I’m gonna make an analogy with dogs here for a minute and I need ya to bear with me. I’m not using this illustration to compare humans to dogs.

When we trained our dog, Loess, she was a puppy. She didn’t know how to sit, stay or wait. We’d open our front door and she’d bolt. It would take literal hours to get her back sometimes (why do pups have to be so dang fast?). Eventually, she learned that if we told her to sit or to wait, something good was coming. Maybe it was a treat, maybe it was time for a meal. Maybe we were grabbing her leash so we could go on an adventure. Regardless of what it was, she learned to trust us when we gave her commands bc she knew something good was coming. We know what’s best for her.

When we, as Believers, choose to be obedient to Jesus, it’s because we know that He knows best. He has a plan to get us where we need to be. He is good & wants His good for us. We have to learn to listen to His leading and trust that He (as the literal Creator of the universe) actually knows what He’s doing. It isn’t always easy to follow when our own brains & feels get in the way, when we have our own agendas of what we *want* rather than what God knows we *need*.

BUT.

When we continue to trust His leadership for our lives, we can trust even when it’s hard. Even when things don’t make any sense, we can still be obedient because He can see the big picture. He’s the only one with all the authority, power and resources to carry us through any circumstance.

So we choose to obey.

We choose to stand in the Truth of who Jesus is and what He’s done on the cross because:

“His love for you is never a result of your character; it is a clear demonstration of His” (Paul David Tripp, New Morning Mercies).

#Lemon8Diary #christian #biblestudy