Tag Archives: Obedience

The Effects of Grace

Posted on by under Bryan Chapell

Grace does not merely aid righteous conduct; it also aids in the apprehension of the never-diminishing and nondeterred love of God that makes human righteousness possible. If obedience were merely a defensive posture that [Christians] assume to avert divine wrath or to curry divine favor, then human holiness would be but a euphemism for selfishness. When self-protection and self-promotion become the primary motivations of Christian obedience or preaching, then we have inadvertently made self-satisfaction the Lord of our faith.

Brian Chapell, Christ-centered Preaching, p. 314.

Willing to Will as God Wills

Posted on by under Alexander Maclaren, Wilbur M. Smith

Practical conformity to God’s will cannot be attained by our own efforts. We cannot will to will as God wills, but we can turn ourselves to Him and ask Him to put the power within us to subdue the evil conqueror, the rebels, and make us masters of our own troubled spirits. There is only one power that can draw us out of the land of rebellious disobedience where the famine and the rags are, and that is the convicting Spirit of God which is given to all them that desire Him and will lead them in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. If He be my God… and therefore longing to have me obedient, He will not withhold what is needed to make me so.

Alexander Maclaren in Wilbur M. Smith, Peloubet’s Select Notes on the International Bible Lessons for Christian Teaching (Boston: W. A. Wilde Co., 1948), 287.

Blessing Is Conditioned on Christ’s Perfect Obedience

Posted on by under Jerry Bridges

To live by grace means we understand that God’s blessing on our lives is not conditioned by our obedience or disobedience but by the perfect obedience of Christ. It means that out of a grateful response to the grace of God, we seek to understand His will and to obey Him, not to be blessed, but because we have been blessed.

Jerry Bridges, Transforming Grace (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1991), 99-100.

If Obedience to God’s Law Is Optional…

Posted on by under Jerry Bridges

Ironically, the law of God, viewed as commands to be obeyed, should actually promote promote living by grace. When we view God’s commands as optional — or think that as God’s children we are no longer under the law as a moral requirement — we subtly slip into a works mentality. If obedience to God’s law is optional, then in our minds we begin to accumulate merit or extra points. “After all, we didn’t have to obey, so we must gain some voluntary obedience.”

But the person who knows that he is required to obey God’s commands, even as a child of God, will see more and more how far short he comes in obedience. And if that person understands the biblical concept of grace, he will be driven more and more into the arms of the Savior and His merit alone.

Jerry Bridges, Transforming Grace (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1991), 92.

No Dillydallying with Christ’s Commands

Posted on by under Robert E. Coleman

There can be no dillydallying around with the commands of Christ. We are engaged in warfare, the issues of which are life and death, and every day that we are indifferent to our responsibilities is a day lost to the cause of Christ. If we have learned even the most elemental truth of discipleship, we must know that we are called to be servants of our Lord and to obey his Word. It is not our duty to reason why he speaks as he does, but only to carry out his orders. Unless there is this dedication to all that we know he wants us to do now, however immature our understanding may be, it is doubtful if we will ever progress further in his life and mission. There is no place in the Kingdom for a slacker, for such an attitude not only precludes any growth in grace and knowledge but also destroys any usefulness on the world battlefield of evangelism.

Robert E. Coleman, The Master Plan of Evangelism (Grand Rapids: Baker Publishing Group, 2010), 58-59.