Old Testament saints (5)

We are looking at salvation with particular reference to Old Testament saints. In the fifth part of this study I'd like us to look at the subject of obedience.

Obedience that comes from faith

To God's elect… who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father… for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood. (1 Peter 1:1–2)

Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. (Romans 1:5)

At the beginning of the study I chose not to list obedience as a separate requirement for salvation, because obedience is part of righteousness. Paul tells us that obedience leads to righteousness, righteousness to holiness, and holiness to eternal life (Romans 6:16,19,22). So righteousness—indeed eternal life itself—is rooted in obedience (Romans 5:19).

By faith Abraham believed what God had said to him and it was credited to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:4–6): that was the righteousness that comes by faith. He then obeyed God by preparing to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on an altar (Genesis 22:1–18). His act of obedience was also credited to him as righteousness (James 2:21): that was the righteousness that comes from what we do (James 2:25), and it made his faith complete (James 2:22).

Abraham is presented in Scripture as the father of all who are saved through faith (Romans 4:16), so what was true for Abraham, in this matter, is also true for us. Faith must be accompanied by righteous acts if it's to be found complete in the sight of God, and those righteous acts come from our obedience to him.

Jesus said: 'Why do you call me, "Lord, Lord," and do not do what I say (Luke 6:46)?' The Greek word translated 'Lord' in the New Testament (kyrios), means 'master'. If Jesus is our Lord and our master then we should obey him.

Not everyone who calls him Lord

Jesus said that not everyone who calls him Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of his Father in heaven—i.e. those who obey God (Matthew 7:21).

He also said that many will say to him on that day (the day of judgement): 'Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' But he will say to them: 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers (Matthew 7:22–23).'

Man is not saved through faith in Christ, plus the operation of spiritual gifts; man is saved through faith in Christ, plus the life of obedience that comes from his faith. As someone has said: 'It's not how high we jump in meetings that matters, it's how straight we walk when we hit the ground.'

Are we walking straight with God, or are there areas in our lives that we'd rather not talk about; sins in our lives that we haven't yet renounced? We can hide those things from man, perhaps, but not from God (Jeremiah 17:10).

God is not interested in how excited we become in meetings, as much as in how we allow his Spirit to change our lives. Faith in God must result in a changed life otherwise it's a mere corpse, an empty shell that cannot save us (James 2:17).

The people Jesus spoke about had never made him Lord of their lives; they'd never obeyed him as their master. They'd allowed his Spirit to perform miracles through them (so had Judas Iscariot), but they'd not allowed his Spirit to change them; they were more interested in spiritual gifts than in holiness. Consequently he denied all knowledge of them (Hebrews 12:14).

Obedience of the prophets

Apart from Abraham, were there any others in the Old Testament who obeyed God? Yes, there were many. With the odd exception, the prophets showed exceptional obedience to God.

Isaiah walked around barefoot and naked for three years in obedience to God (Isaiah 20:2–4), Ezekiel lay on his side for 430 days in obedience to God (Ezekiel 4:4–8), and Hosea married an adulterous wife in obedience to God (Hosea 1:2–3). All of these men understood what obedience means.

Even our Lord learned obedience from what he suffered (Hebrews 5:8). That doesn't mean he learned how to obey his Father—he'd always obeyed—it means he learned the full meaning of obedience, and what it can cost man.

Elijah was fed by ravens

We've all thrilled at the way Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel—taunting them to call upon their god, and then praying and seeing the fire of God fall and consume his sacrifice (1 Kings 18:19–39). But how many of us know what came before Carmel? It was the Kerith Ravine.

The biblical account of Elijah begins with obedience. God told him to hide himself in the Kerith Ravine. There he would drink from the brook and be brought bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening. It would be a basic existence, and what would make matters worse was that he would be fed by ravens (1 Kings 17:2–6).

Those who are familiar with God's law will know that ravens were unclean birds. Every Israelite was to avoid them. They couldn't eat them; they couldn't touch them; they were detestable (Leviticus 11:13–15,24). And here was this holy man of God, sitting on a rock, eating food out of the beaks of these creatures.

Do you think he enjoyed that? Why didn't God send doves (clean birds) to feed him, or cause manna to come down from heaven? He could have done that easily. But God was testing him to see if he would obey him.

God tests our obedience to him by telling us to do things we don't want to do. He tested Abraham by telling him to offer his son, Isaac, on an altar; he tested Elijah by sending him to the Kerith Ravine; and he tested his own Son by sending him to Calvary.

Do you think our Lord wanted to be crucified? The Bible says:

During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death… (Hebrews 5:7)

Jesus was a man. He didn't want to be crucified any more than you or I do. However…

…being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:8)

Jesus knows what it means to obey God.

Where are the Elijahs?

Many years ago I read of a brother who, grieving at the lack of power in the Church, gave himself to prayer and fasting. He resolved not to stop until he'd received a word from the Lord. After many days in prayer he cried out: 'Where is the God of Elijah (2 Kings 2:13–14)?' And God said: 'Where are the Elijahs?'.

We may think it's easy to bring God's blessings to mankind, but there's a cost involved. Our Lord will verify that.

James tells us that Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed and it didn't rain; again he prayed and it did rain (James 5:17–18). And we say: 'Lord, I want that power!'

It's true that Elijah was a man just like us—he was a man indwelt by the Spirit of God—but how many of us are like Elijah? Are we prepared to obey God as he did, no matter what; to go where he wants us to go; to do what he wants us to do? Elijah wasn't perfect, he had his failings, but he obeyed God, and God moved through him and used him.

Service in the Church begins with complete and total surrender to God. 'What is your will for my life Lord? Whatever it is, I want to do it!' It then continues with a daily walk of obedience. And every time we obey God it's credited to us as righteousness. And, as James tells us, the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective (James 5:16b).

Power in prayer comes from righteousness, and righteousness comes from obedience.

Michael Graham
December 2009

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