Obedience is Fundamental

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German theologian and author of the modern classic “The Cost of Discipleship.” He was also an anti-Nazi dissident.

When Hitler began interfering with churches and humiliating the German Jews, Bonhoeffer protested. He refused the fuehrer’s demands and would not participate with the state churches who compromised.

It’s said several of Bonhoeffer’s friends urged him to bend. They reasoned that they would lose the opportunity to preach altogether if they followed his example.

Bonhoeffer reputedly replied, “One act of obedience is better than one hundred sermons.”

Eventually Bonhoeffer was arrested and hanged on April 9, 1945, for holding that conviction.

Obedience is fundamental to our faith. In fact, Bonhoeffer was even more pointed when he wrote, “Faith is only real when there is obedience, never without it, and faith only becomes faith in the act of obedience.”

In his book, “The Keys to Spiritual Growth,” John MacArthur cites obedience as one of the important elements for growing spiritually. “A person may profess faith in Christ, yet live a life of disobedience.”

The word “obedience” in its various forms is found over 170 times in the Bible. From Patriarchal period to the Mosaic dispensation to the Christian age, God has always demanded obedience.

The Lord said He blessed Abraham “because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws” (Gen. 26:5).

King Saul was condemned because he disobeyed the Lord’s command even though he offered a sacrifice. In his rebuke, the prophet Samuel said:

“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams.
(1 Sam 15:22)

Think of the various commands in the New Testament regarding obedience.

When faced with the choice of following the orders of civil rulers or adhering to God’s Word, Peter replied, “We ought to obey God rather than men.”

However, that doesn’t give us license to willfully disobey laws that are not in conflict with the Bible. Romans 13:1 commands us to “be subject to governing authorities.”

Servants were commanded to “obey in all things your masters according to the flesh” (Col. 3:22).

Children are admonished to “obey your parents in the Lord for this is right” (Eph. 6:1).

Christians are instructed to “obey those who have the rule over you” in spiritual matters, which would include the Shepherds in a local church.

All Christians are commanded to bring “every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5).

Even Jesus, while on earth, “learned obedience by the things which he suffered” (Heb. 5:8).

“Who hindered you from obeying the Truth,” asked the apostle Paul of the Galatian Christians, who were in danger of accepting a counterfeit gospel. It is possible to initially obey the gospel when one becomes a Christian, but later on quit obeying.

Just like obedience is fundamental to our faith, surrender is fundamental to obedience. However, the word “surrender” has a negative conation to it in our culture. We think of giving up. Quitting. And waving the white flag. It’s in the American DNA to compete. To play hard. To keep fighting.

Spiritually speaking a surrendered life to the Lord is one of trust. Total commitment. And absolute allegiance. It is accepting Jesus’ challenge when He said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it” (Lk 9:23-24).

Finally, Bonhoeffer reminds us, “The life of discipleship is not the hero-worship we would pay to a good master, but obedience to the Son of God.” And somewhat ironically he writes, “You can only learn what obedience is by obeying.”

–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman