"And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers…My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." [Jn 10:4-5, 27]
In John, Jesus says, “if ye love me, keep my commandments.” [Jn 14:15] In the Christian life, obedience is not just an expectation but a necessity. However, contrary to the law, “which was contrary to us,” and which Jesus “took…out of the way, nailing it to His cross,” [Col 2:14] in the New Covenant, obedience does not secure any form of righteousness for us who are in Christ, either greater or lesser. No, for our righteousness is totally encapsulated in what Jesus Christ has done for us, and our continued and simple faith in it. For Jesus Christ, “of God, is made unto us…righteousness,” [1 Cor 1:30] and He is “The LORD our righteousness.” [Jer 23:6] It is through Jesus alone a man is declared righteous, as it is written, “in The LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory;” [Isa 45:25] and, “now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested…even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe.” [Rom 3:21, 22]
But though our righteousness is not obtained through obedience, yet obedience is nonetheless expected and required; as Jesus says, “if ye love me, keep my commandments.” And again, Jesus says, “if a man love me, he will keep my words…he that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but The Father’s which sent me.” [Jn 14:21, 23] To this, John agrees also, writing, “for this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous.” [1 Jn 5:3] We mustn’t conclude that obedience is in any form attributing to our salvation or righteousness or favor and acceptance from God; rather, we conclude that obedience is a natural fruit of salvation. That if The Holy Spirit truly dwells in us, He will be provoking us to and helping us to obey those words of scripture which He brings to our attention. For again, John tells us by The Spirit’s inspiration,
“He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him. He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked.” [1 Jn 2:4-6]
Turning again our minds to Jesus’ words in John, we may find some encouragement – for surely we have all felt that sullenness which comes from disobedience, as if we have not pleased our master well enough, or that surely we have lost His good graces. But as the Psalmist said, (who thought, “hath God forgotten to be gracious? Hath He in anger shut up His tender mercies?”), “this is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of The Most High.” [Psa 77:9-10] The true sheep of God, who is saved of Christ, whether currently obedient or not, is always loved of His Lord, always graciously looked over by His Shepherd. For it is not our obedience which secures us, but Christ’s – as Romans exhorts us, “the free gift is of many offences unto justification.” [Rom 5:16] And so, may we sweetly remember Jesus’ words and get fresh encouragement, who has said, “my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” [Jn 10:27] Those who are Jesus’ do hear Jesus’ voice, and they do follow Him. The LORD will see to it, for it is promised to us in The New Covenant of The LORD, “and I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.” [Ezek 36:27] And so, let us rejoice in this. If we have fallen and been disobedient today, fear not, for there is “no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,” [Rom 8:1] and if we have fallen we shall soon arise, for, “a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again.” [Prov 24:16]
Let us now take these truths and see them through a picture. Imagine a man who works for a certain boss. When the man is home, or with friends, or talking with others, he often claims to work for the boss. He talks of the building, of his coworkers, of how well he enjoys working there. However, if one were to peer into the building on a workday and see the man there, they would find him disobedient in all cases. He hardly ever obeys a command from the boss, unless it pleases him well. He thinks upon each request, doing and not doing according to his own will, not respecting the boss nor the agreement set forth. In addition to this, the man often obeys other bosses. The head of several opposing corporations, rivals, the man quite likes to obey; in fact, he often spends time in their offices, doing their tasks and obeying their orders.
Given the facts about the man, we may say the man works for his boss only in name. In practice, he obeys all others and hardly ever his own boss. He would love to have people think he works for such that man, but more often than not, he is working hard for the rivals of his own boss. Now, what of the Christian? Do we see a man who hardly ever obeys Christ? And in lieu of allegiance to Jesus and His word, do we see a man who obeys the enemies of his so-called Lord? Of the flesh, the world, and even satan? What of that man? What of the man, the professing Christian, who though he says He loves Christ, yet listens and is led on by entertainers, newspapers, advertisements, men, women, devils, lusts, desires, and all such like things?
My brethren, this man described is no Christian at all, and may we remember the words of our Lord Jesus, “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” [Lk 6:46] As Jesus said, “wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them,” [Mt 7:20] and going on to explain that very statement and preceding remarks, Jesus says,
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven…therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon the rock: and the rains descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon the rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” [Mt 7:21, 24-27]
There are some who will think to themselves on that great day that they have done some good, and that because of those good things, or because of their association with Jesus or others who knew Jesus, they shall be accepted. They will say, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?” and other like things. However, Jesus says, “and then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” [Mt 7:23] In reality, though they may have thought themselves good, Jesus calls them those who practice lawlessness, that is, “ye that work iniquity.” When the floods and winds of judgment come upon that house, (for let us not fail to see Jesus speaks of judgment, noticing the word “therefore” in verse twenty-four, which connects it to verse twenty-three, wherein Jesus said, “depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”), that man shall not stand; no, but as Jesus says, “the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” [Mt 7:27] But the man who is saved, who shall not be crushed to pieces by God’s judgment, is the man who as Jesus describes, “heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them.” The man who is obedient. That man who has been transformed, made into “a new creature,” [2 Cor 5:17] who has been given “a new heart…and a new spirit,” [Ezek 36:26] and who because of such things is continually prodded unto the obedience of God’s word – that man shall be saved. And not because he was obedient, but because his lifestyle of obedience has thus been evidence to the fact that His heart has been truly changed by Jesus.
What of you, dear reader? Who is your master? Is it Christ? If it is, do you obey Him? Does The Spirit dwelling within you manifest itself through you in obedience to Jesus, as Jesus said He would? [Jn 14:15-24] But let us remember too that those who are saved are not flawless. And so, if we have been disobedient of late, let us be encouraged, for though a man’s master may be such and such, yet sometimes he fails him. But does he, in those cases, altogether cease from being his employee? In no case, and so it is with Christ also. Though we may fail from time-to-time, yet we are saved, yet Christ remains our master, if so be that our lifestyle at large evidences these things.