John 14:15 “If you love me, keep my commands.
Someone once asked me, “What will be the benefit of a child being raised in your home versus being raised in a Jewish home? They think they should train a child up in the way he should go, and when he is old he won’t depart from it. They think that they should talk about God’s word when they rise up, when they lie down, and when they walk along the way. They also think that they should hide God’s word in their heart that they might not sin against Him. So what’s the benefit of being raised in your house as a Christian?” And I’ll be honest, I was genuinely stumped. It was true: Jews, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, they all had at least some of the Bible, so how would my home be better? That person finally said to me, “Jake. It’s Jesus. Christ is the difference.” That statement was simple and profound.
What makes something distinctly “Christian”? More specifically, what makes a Christian’s obedience distinctly “Christian”?
Christians Obey
Before I answer that, I must state the obvious: Christians should obey the commands of God and Christ. It’s all too common for someone to start consistently reading their Bible, routinely taking time to pray, and begin to take sin seriously, and the very first thing someone tells them is, “Woah man. You need to stop being a Pharisee.” Obeying God is not being a Pharisee. Christians love Jesus and keep his commandments (John 14:15).
Christians are those who go to the nations to teach them to observe all of the things that Jesus commanded (Matt 28:19-20). We are doers of the word and not hearers only (James 1:22). It is not Pharisaical to obey God. BUT, is there a wrong way to do the right thing?
Christ-less Obedience
Jesus rebukes the church in Ephesus in Revelation 2:2-4. He begins by praising them for their endurance, their labor, their ability to discern false apostles, and their ability to even bear up under trials. Then He says these devastating words, “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first” (Rev 2:4). Heartbreaking. There was labor for the Lord, but no love. And they earned a rebuke from Jesus. Consider also the Pharisees, who, as I understand it, had Genesis to Deuteronomy memorized by the age of 12. And despite all this Jesus says to them, “you do not have His word abiding in you” (John 5:38). How can Jesus say this? He goes on to say, “FOR you do not believe the one whom He has sent. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about Me, yet you refuse to come to Me that you may have life” (John 5:38-40). What was the problem? Not that they had memorized the Scripture. That was a good thing! It was that they were hoping in their Scripture memory for eternal life, instead of letting the Scripture lead them to Christ.
So what is it that makes a Pharisee? Christ-less, loveless obedience. This kind of obedience does not please God. Obedience in order to obtain righteousness is not Christian obedience. What, then, makes obedience distinctly Christian?
Christian Obedience
Christians obey FROM salvation, not FOR salvation. As I’ve heard before, “Don’t put the ‘Do’s’ before the ‘Dont's.'” We start with what Christ has DONE, before we ever begin to DO. Paul encourages the Corinthians like this: “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that One has died for all, therefore all have died; and He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Cor 5:14-15). It’s the love of Christ that controls us. The gospel is the gas in the tank for the Christian life to be totally devoted to Him. The writer of Hebrews says that we are to lay aside sins and weights and, “run the race with endurance” (Heb 12:1). Yet how are we to do it? “Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith” (Heb 12:2). So how do Christians run this race? We run, not looking at ourselves or others, but with our eyes locked on our seated Savior. He has founded our faith, and He will perfect our faith. Praise God!
There are so many other verses to consider (and I’ll list some at the end for further reading), but obedience that is distinctly Christian has everything to do with Christ. Christ-less obedience does not please God. Obedience that is fueled by the gospel and filled with love truly pleases Him. Let our understanding of what Christ has done, drive us to live in extreme devotion to Him. Let us obey like Christians.
Verses to consider:
Eph 1-3 (DONE) vs. 4-6 (DO)
Rom 1-11 (DONE) vs. 12-16 (DO)
Titus 3:1-8
Rom 6:5-6, 11
2 Peter 1:5-9
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