12/05/2008

One Man’s Obedience and One Man’s Disobedience(5)


World evangelism fulfilled through obedience

God does not command us to obey Him to exert absolute authority over us. Every-thing that God has taught us is given for our salvation―for the safety of our souls.

Isa 48:17-19 『This is what the LORD says―your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea. Your descendants would have been like the sand, your children like its numberless grains; their name would never be cut off nor destroyed from before me."』

In the days of the prophet Isaiah, the Israelites disobeyed God's command and their disobedience brought calamity upon themselves. Biblical history shows us every calamity is the result of disobedience to God's word, while all blessing is the result of obedience. God teaches everything for our own good and commands us the things that we ought to do and sets examples for us, so that He may bring us to the everlasting kingdom of heaven where we can live forever. For our own benefit, God has taught us to keep His commandments, preach the gospel, love one another, resist the devil, etc.

2 Co 10:6 『And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.』

It is unfair for God to punish only others for their disobedience while even His children are disobeying. Obedience is a necessary qualification to enter heaven. God, who is righteous and just, is ready to fulfill the gospel work when our obedience is complete.
Now we need to examine ourselves whether we fully obey all the teachings of our heavenly Father and Mother or we only obey what we like and disobey what we don't. We must obey everything that God has commanded us, even the least thing.God told us, "Be joyful always", and "Be united in love for one another." We have to obey these words, too. If one says, "I can do all things except this kind of thing," that's a mere excuse to replace God's will with his own. He is just like Adam and Eve who ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that God forbade them to eat, seeing that the forbidden fruit was good for food and pleasing to the eye and also desirable for gaining wisdom. When we forsake our own thoughts and submit joyfully to God's will, we can complete our salvation.

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