How to Obey Jesus Christ
It sounds ridiculous, but millions of professing Christians do not know how to obey Jesus Christ. Many believe that being a good person means going to church and being faithful to your tithes, and that this is how to obey Christ. Is this true, or is obedience to Christ something entirely different?
First Peter 1:2 says that we must obey Jesus Christ to have our sins forgiven and be sprinkled with His blood. So, we see that obedience precedes forgiveness.
How, then, do you obey Christ? You obey Christ by keeping His words (John 8:51). You live the life that He came to show you how to live. If you say you believe in Jesus Christ, then you must obey Him and do what He says (Luke 6:46; Matt. 7:24). The very definition of believe means “obey.” The word of God says that Jesus overcame evil (Rev. 3:21). We do this now by keeping Christ’s works by living to please Him in all respects (Rev. 2:26; Col. 1:10). Obeying Christ, then, is doing what is right daily in His sight and being pleasing to Him in everything we do.
Jesus explained to His disciples everything that was pleasing to the Father in heaven. That is why we are to keep Jesus’ words and sayings. They represent how God the Father lives in heaven. God’s Ways represent God’s works, and these are the works that Jesus did when He was on this earth. This is how Jesus overcame the world (John 16:33). Remember, Jesus was tempted by Satan, but He overcame worldliness by keeping the Father’s works or Ways. The Father’s works are all righteous, says God’s word in Psalm 145:17. We are to overcome evil also, like Jesus did, by keeping His works and endure keeping them so we can reign with Him when He returns (Rev. 2:26; John 14:12).
Jesus’ works, then, are what we are to do daily to please the Father in heaven. This is how the Father in heaven is glorified. This is how the Father in heaven is worshiped, which is the definition of “glorify” in Matthew 5:16. This is our new spiritual service of worship—using our bodies as instruments of righteousness to God (Rom. 12:1; 6:13). This is how to do God’s Will on earth as it is being done in heaven by God (Matt. 6:10).
Being wholly-committed to God, then, is being zealous for good works for God as Jesus was. He is our example of perfect righteousness. No wonder God’s word says: “And who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good [for doing good]?” (1 Peter 3:13). Jesus was zealous for good works and so were His apostles and all of Jesus’ true disciples, including Dorcas. She was continually doing deeds of kindness and charity (Acts 9:36). This is what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ. This is what it means to live the life of Christ in our bodies each day as we walk His holy, precious, righteous Way. All of this is done when we practice righteousness towards others continually.
Jesus warned His followers to only live to do good with the right attitude by practicing righteousness. He told them not to do good to be noticed by others, but rather, to do good in secret to be noticed by God (Matt. 6:1; Eph. 6:6-7).
So, obedience to the Lord is putting His words and His sayings into action in our daily life. This is how we worship God in heaven today. This is how we become a doer of God’s word (James 1:22). We do the practicing; God does the perfecting and causes the spiritual growth in us (1 Cor. 3:7). We are then taught by God to love one another from the heart—as He commanded us to do from the beginning (1 Thess. 4:9).
This is the truth:
•that will set you free from your old nature and your old ways that are not pleasing to God;
•on how to live a spiritual life before God each day;
•on how to keep God’s Ways;
•on how to do God’s Will on earth as it is being done in heaven by God daily;
•on how to obey Jesus Christ;
The truth must be practiced if one is to understand God’s word (John 3:21)!
Obeying Jesus Christ is the truth!