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Fact: God Has Always Required Obedience!. Old Testament: Deut. 8:1; 10:12-13; I Sam. 15:22-23; Eccl. 12:13; Hebrews 2:2. New Testament: Matt. 7:21; Luke 6:46; Heb. 5:9; James 1:22-25; I Peter 1:22; I John 5:3; Rev. 22:14. Important Fact: Mere Outward Obedience is not Sufficient!.
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Fact: God Has AlwaysRequired Obedience! • Old Testament: • Deut. 8:1; 10:12-13; I Sam. 15:22-23; Eccl. 12:13; Hebrews 2:2. • New Testament: • Matt. 7:21; Luke 6:46; Heb. 5:9; James 1:22-25; I Peter 1:22; I John 5:3; Rev. 22:14.
Important Fact: Mere Outward Obedience is not Sufficient! • Matt. 15:8-9: “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” • Micah 6:7-8: “Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”
Obedience from the Heart • Rom. 6:16: “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness.” • Rom. 6:17: “But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. • Rom. 6:18: “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”
Examine the Text: • One is a “servant” of what he obeys, Rom. 6:16. • A servant “of sin,” or: • “A servant of righteousness.” • Note the Before and After Condition of the saints at Rome. • They were “the servants of sin,” v. 17. • They “became the servants of righteousness,” v. 18
Examine the Text (con’t) • The Point of Change: • When they “obeyed from the heart” • They obeyed “that form of doctrine which was delivered.” • The Result: • They were made “free from sin.” • They “became the servants of righteousness.”
The Bible “Heart” is not the Muscle that pumps Blood! • Jer. 17:9: “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.. • Luke 12:34: “Where your treasure is, there you heart will be also.” • 2 Sam. 18:14. Joab thrust three darts “through the heart of Absalom.” • The physical heart is the seat of physical life; when it stops beating the body dies.
The BibleHeart is The Seat of Moral and Spiritual Life! • Includes the intellect. Prov. 23:7; Matt. 15:19; Luke 2:51; Rom. 10:10; Heb. 4:12. Mt. 13:15. • Why we must guard the heart. Prov. 4:23. • Includes the will. Col. 3:15; Acts 11:23; 2 Cor. 9:7; Ezra 7:10. • Includes the Emotions. Acts 21:13; Mt. 22:37; I John 5:3; Prov. 15:13. • Includes the Conscience. Acts 2:37; I Tim. 1:5; John 8:9; Rom. 2:15; I Peter 3:21.
God Wants Us to Serve Him with the Whole Heart! • 2 Chronicles 25:2; Psalm 9:1; 86:12; 111:1; Psalm 119:10. • Sometimes people outwardly go through the motions of worship, but the heart is not in it, thereby making the worship vain! Matt. 15:8-9; John 4:24; Ephesians 5:19; I Cor. 11:27-28.
Obedience Must Be“From the Heart” • This involves the mind, Prov. 23:7. • Why gospel preaching must precede gospel obedience! Mk 16:15-16 When the purpose of a command is stated obedi-ence involves understanding the purpose! • And the Will, Acts 11:23 • And the Emotions, Matt. 22:37; John 14 • And the Conscience. It sits in judgment on our actions. I Pet. 3:21.
One Must Obey thatForm of Doctrine, Rom. 6:17 • Form (tupos) denoted a mold into which melted metal were poured to receive the form of the mold. • In their obedience the saints at Rome did that which followed the form or pattern of the gospel. • The Cardinal Facts of the Gospel are the Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, I Corinthians 15:1-4!
What had the Saints atRome Done? • Rom. 6:3: “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death. • Rom. 6:4: “Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
Important Facts to Note: • Baptism (immersion in water) is the only command in the Bible which depicts the “form” of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ! • Note their before and after condition: • They were “servants of sin,” Rom. 6:17. • They “became the servants of righteousness,” Rom. 6:18.
Final Thoughts on Obedience from the Heart: Must be directed by the correct information, Matthew 7:21-26. Spring from the right motive, John 14:15,21. Involve the “whole” heart, Psalm 86:10. Gives a clear conscience, I John 3:21-22. It should be complete! Matt. 23:23; 2 Cor. 2:9. It should be Immediate, once one has learned what God wants us to do! Jas. 4:13-14.
Conclusion: • A Refusal to obey God reduces a person to the worst form of slavery, Romans 6:16! • Obedience to God is the gateway to true Freedom! Rom. 6:17-18; John 8:32; Romans 8:1-2. • Joshua 24:15: Choose this day whom ye will serve! Tomorrow may be eternally too late!