If someone starts to believe in Jesus, it means that they can be the people who can be obedient to God’s commandments. Before we believed in Jesus, we did not have any heart to obey God’s commandments or even have the ability to obey Him. However, we became people who can obey God’s commandments after we believed in Jesus and were saved. The reason why we obey commandments is not because we are afraid of judgment. Jesus was crucified and paid for our sins. We already know this and we are obeying His commandments. It is because we cannot abandon His great grace and we love Him.
Obedience comes naturally from those who were saved. Many people say that speaking in new tongues is the external evidence of salvation. Of course, it is important, but the essential evidence is that those who were saved come to obey God’s commandment. In fact, not all of us can be confident that we are obeying the commandments perfectly, because judgment will follow if we disobey at least one among lots of commandments. However, what God examines is the attitude of our hearts to obey God’s commandments, not our behavior itself.
The devil interrupts the people not to receive salvation and uses all kinds of ways so that the people who already received salvation cannot keep their faith to the end. In this situation, believers should overcome the devil’s schemes and keep their salvation to the end. Obedience can enable all of these. If the person who has already received salvation has the attitude of obedience, God does not consider them to be the target of judgment, even if they commit sins against their will. Like this, obedience is the best device so that God protects the people who are saved to the end.
Some people say that if they were born in the time of Jesus and listened to His words directly, they would obey His commandments thoroughly. However, it might be more difficult to obey Him if they listened to His words directly in the time of Jesus. This is because it is never easy to consider Jesus equal to God, who is greater than all, while people look at ordinary appearances of the Lord with their own eyes. It was perhaps quite natural that Jews neglected Him as they saw Jesus in person and listened to His words. However, they should have feared Jesus. Because He is the One who God the Father sent.
The Lord said, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words. I have spoken will condemn them at the last day.” The Lord is still working near us as then. People say that they respect the Lord, but they do not believe in the person who God sent to us. Rather they say that they love the Lord, but they ignore the church, which the Lord builds and governs. For a while, everything is permitted. However, the day of judgment will absolutely come. And then, the Lord, who people disregard, will not be neglected anymore. The Lord’s words will judge everything on the day.
(Lord’s Day Service on November 13, 2022)
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