Obedience Is The Answer

By the first Adam disobedience to God brought sin and death.

By the last Adam, Christ Jesus, obedience to the Father brought forth righteousness and life.

We obey one or the other. The law of sin and death? Or the law of righteousness?

Though tempted in all things, Jesus obeyed righteousness, doing only the will of His Father, completely led of the Spirit. By obedience to the Father and completely led of the Spirit, we, as sons, will do the same. Thus conquering the last enemy: DEATH.

Forensics~

As my wife and I discussed how the root of sin was removed, some questions began to surface: the root of righteousness; what does it grow into? Another mystery. There must be something deeper to this. All the clues we have gathered, all the evidence we’ve uncovered – everything seems to point to obedience.

Will it hold up to close examination?

~Obedience is the Answer~

Questions

How do we nurture the righteous seed that begins to take root in us when we accept Jesus Christ into our lives?
OBEDIENCE IS THE ANSWER

Once the root of sin is removed, how do we become perfect?
OBEDIENCE IS THE ANSWER

How does one completely overcome sin and walk in the Spirit freely bearing only the pure and holy fruits of the Spirit, thereby fulfilling the calling set by the Father?
OBEDIENCE IS THE ANSWER

Obedience is the act of doing what one is told.
It is submission to authority or law.

Obedience has been the answer from the beginning. Adam had absolute freedom in the Garden of Eden, with only one restriction; Ye shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…lest ye DIE.

All Adam had to do was obey. If he had obeyed the commandment, we would all be walking in the Garden with both Adam and the Lord.

Unfortunately, neither Adam nor Eve obeyed.  Satan planted doubt in the mind of Eve.  Seeing that the tree was pleasant to the eyes and believing it would make one wise, she disobeyed God and ate. Convincing Adam of the same, he also disobeyed and ate. Having no other choice but to keep his word, God cursed mankind with death.

Disobedience brought death.

Instead of internal peace there was spiritual war; instead of pure love there was cancerous hate; instead of God given freedom there was bondage wrought by man; and the saddest of all, instead of life everlasting there was death engulfed in iniquity.

Who can reverse this eternal servitude to sin?

Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, by his absolute obedience to the Father, destroyed this curse of death. He is our example. Christ knew who he was and the excruciating events set before him, evident through the agony recorded in the Garden of Gethsemene. Having no will of his own, he obeyed the Lord in all things saying, “Nevertheless not my will but thine be done.”

Jesus showed us the way.
We must follow him to life. We must lay down our wills and our lives as he did.

The Will is the power of the mind to decide and do;
Our deliberate control over thought and action;
Our desires, preferences and wishes.

Purify

Jesus, a flesh man, learned obedience by the things that he suffered, and overcame all things. He showed us that we can be perfect as he was.

If we desire to become like him –a perfect Son– then we must purify, or cleanse, ourselves from sin and its effects.

Purity is a state of total devotion and complete submission of thought,
feeling and action subject to the Spirit of God at all times.

This is more than just a commitment not to break the commandments; it is a complete dedication to the will of the Father, having no will of our own. Such a commitment loudly proclaims

“Not my will but thine be done, O Lord.”
We are not our own.

Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

God’s Will

In the past, our wills have been under the control of sin and our selves.  But when the root of sin is removed from its stronghold in our hearts and minds, we must yield our wills completely to God.  In this denial of self, this losing of our own lives for Christ’s sake, we become like Christ, totally led by the Spirit of God, as Sons.

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God,
they are the sons of God.
Romans 8:14

Perfect
Read his word . Minister . Learn his voice
Seek his face . Understand . Fulfill . Grow

The hardest thing for man to do is submit the flesh to the will of God. In his mercy and love, God sets a hedge about those who follow him in order to keep us on the path to his kingdom: all of life. That hedge consists of not only the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, in the purest sense, but it evolves into the Body of Christ, the Church. The Body of Christ is meant to take care of itself and will do so as the Lord speaks through its members. There are Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers moved on by the Spirit, who guide the people of God. God speaks through his people to instruct others. We must obey those who have the rule over us. They watch over our souls.

If we submit ourselves to the instruction of the Spirit,
as he speaks to us through individuals that are moved on by the Holy Ghost,
we shall grow into that perfect man.

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.

Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

All who do the will of the Father
shall become Perfect Sons.

Discover what the Bible says about becoming Perfect Even as The Father in section 5