Devotion 10 – Saving Faith & Obedience

 
Devotion 10 – Saving Faith & Obedience
 
Jas.2:20-24 – “Do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?  Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?  Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.”
 
The work in this context is not referring to just any good works but works related to obedience. Authentic faith in God is not just the verbal expression of one’s belief; it is measured through our obedience. Obedience is the visible expression of our invisible faith. God initially declared Abraham righteous based on his faith (Gen.15:5-6). However, the apostle James leads us to a deeper understanding of how Abraham was fundamentally justified.
 
Yes, God initially justifies the ungodly who do nothing to merit salvation. But whom God justifies, He also REGENERATES. He makes them a new creation; He changes the fundamental disposition of our heart and gives us a new life by His Spirit.
 
Eze.36:26 – “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”
 
Heb.8:10 – “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”
 
The Old Covenant Laws were written in stone. However, in the New Testament, God’s laws are now a part of us, but they are written by the Spirit of God on the inside of us. Since they are now written on the inside of us, they are a part of our new nature. That is, the obedience rendered will not be external. When we are truly saved, we get a new heart, all our affections, passions and appetites shall be purified and filled with the holiness and love of God so that we will desire to obey and please God.
 
 
Saving Faith Leads to Obedience

Rom.16:25-27 – “Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.”

Let us be clear, our obedience is not the ground or the basis of our justification, Christ alone is the ground and the basis of our justification. Grace and faith unite us to Christ and Christ alone is the ground of our justification. However, our obedience is the fruit of that faith. If our faith in Christ leaves us unchanged, we should examine our faith.

2 Cor.13:5 – “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? - unless indeed you are disqualified.”

A Christian is not simply one who joins a Christian church, tithes, adheres to a certain moral standard, or even prays and reads the Bible consistently. The scribes and Pharisees went to the Temple regularly, tithed, fasted, and prayed constantly, but Christ was not impressed with their religious performance. A true Christian is someone in whom Christ dwells and this person will naturally manifest certain inescapable evidence in his/her life. This inner change will produce an outward transformation. If we are truly in the faith, our worship and our walk will express what is truly in our heart. Faith alone justifies, but the faith that justifies is never alone. It is always accompanied by “newness of life”

Rom.6:4 – “Therefore, we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

Obedience is not about perfection, but a new mindset, a new direction of thought and behaviour. It is the fruit that shows that our faith is genuine, authentic and alive. The Bible makes it clear that those who are genuinely saved are righteous and holy. We might still sin, but with decreasing frequency. A true saving faith is characterized by obedience, we will have an overwhelming desire to please God. Paul hungered to obey God's Word, even though sin was always tugging at him (Rom.7:15-25). A true believer hates his sin and repents of it, hungering and thirsting for what is right. No one can be a Christian and continue living the way he did before he knew Christ. Our profession of Christ means nothing apart from obedience and holiness.

Faith is Perfected by Obedience
 
Jesus learned obedience from what He suffered and was made perfect. Without obedience, our faith cannot be made perfect. Faith and obedience are inseparable.
 
Heb.5:8-9 – “He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.  And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him”
 
The night before Jesus was crucified, He went to the Mount of Olives to pray. Jesus knew He would suffer on the cross, which caused Him tremendous anguish. The Bible says His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. How earnestly and mournfully He must have prayed! Even in such great agony, He prayed, “Not my will, but yours be done,” and obediently accepted pain, humiliation, and even death to save mankind. (Lk.22:42-46).
 
Through this episode, Jesus’ obedience should engrave deeply in our hearts. The four Gospels show that everything Jesus did was a series of obedience. From the moment of His birth until the day of His death, He yielded to God’s will in everything and ended His ministry by saying, “It is finished”, implying that He fulfilled everything the Father had told Him to do. Jesus lived in such perfect obedience to the Father. Likewise, our genuine saving faith should lead to our obedient faith. True faith is validated by obedience!