08/11/2021
Can the heads of churches that are all around here please read these few scriptures to find out
“WE OUGHT TO OBEY GOD RATHER THAN MEN”
The above caption is taken from Acts 5:29. These are the words of Peter who spoke as the Spirit instructed him (Acts 2:1-4).
The words obey and obedience are words frequently used throughout the Bible. Some treat these words as if they were bad words; words to be ridiculed and second. The “faith only” people and the “grace only” people tend to ignore and to make fun of Bible obedience.
Denominational peoples thought obedience is something to be rejected. Such people think that God does everything for the sinner, and that the sinner can do nothing to be saved (Acts 2:36-38, 40, 1 Timothy 4:12-16).
We shall permit the Bible to speak. At marriage feast in Cana, Mary said of Jesus, “Whatever He saith unto you” (John 2:1-11). After his disciples fished all night without catching any fish, Jesus told them to “Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught” Peter tried to explain to Jesus why they had failed, but then said “…Nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net” (Luke 5:1-11). Other passages which illustrate the principle which we are discussing are; “Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21-23). Hence, the only way to obey Jesus Christ is to hear and obey His commandments (Cf. Luke 6:46).
We shall now notice a few areas in which obedience is absolutely necessary.
Acts 5:29 says, “We ought to obey God rather than men” to obey men is to abandon God. Men speak with many voices, but God speaks with only one voice. The doctrines and commandments of men make the commandments of God void (Mark 7:6-13).
We ought to obey Jesus Christ. “Thought he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered, and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him” (Hebrews 5:8-9). How does one go about obeying Jesus? Well, one hears what Jesus has said (John 6:44-45), believes what Jesus teaches (Mark 16:16), repents of all sins (Luke 13:3), confesses Jesus` name 9Matthew 10:32-33), and is baptized into Christ “for the remission of sins” (Mark 16:16, Acts 2:36-38; Romans 6:3-4).Anything less than what Jesus has commanded is not obedience, in the Bible sense. We read, “… Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hast rejected thee from being king” said Samuel ( 1 Samuel 15:22-23).
Another way of starting this matter is that one must obey the truth of God. “But unto them that are contentions, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness and wrath…” (Romans 2:8). It is a sin to refuse to obey the truth (James 4:17). Hear the apostle Peter. “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently, being born again, not of corruptible, by the word of God, which lives and abides forever” (1 Peter 1:22-23).
Furthermore, it is necessary for one`s faith to express itself in obedience, “…And a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith” (Acts 6:7). “By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name” (Romans 1:5, Cf. 16:26). The only way one can show his faith is through acts of obedience (James 2:14-19). A faith that will not obey is a dead faith (James 2:24-26).
The “gospel of Christ” (which encompasses all the demands of the gospel), must be obeyed. “….What shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God”? (1 Peter 4:17). The answer to the question just quoted is found in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). It reads, “…The Lord Jesus Christ be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power” (Acts 2:36-38, 41-42, 47). Furnishes a wonderful example of what it means to obey the gospel. Read and be wise.
One must obey the word of truth. “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:30-32). “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures” (James 1:18). “Receive with meekness the en grafted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21). Where salvation of sinners is concerned, nothing is more powerful than the word of God. “For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
Hence, read the word, learn what the Master`s commands are, believe and obey them, and you soul will be saved.
