Obedience to God

1. OBEYING GOD:

A. Obedience to God is our duty:

Deuteronomy 13:4   Walk after the Lord … and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him

Deuteronomy 27:9–10 Thou art become the people of the Lord … therefore obey the voice of the Lord

Ecclesiastes 12:13   Keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man

Jeremiah 11:7   I earnestly protested … saying, Obey my voice

John 2:5   Whatsoever [Jesus] saith unto you, do it

  (See also Luke 17:10.)

B. Obey wholeheartedly:

Deuteronomy 26:16   The Lord … hath commanded thee to do these statutes … keep and do them with all thine heart, and with all thy soul

Psalm 119:34   I shall keep thy law … with my whole heart

Romans 6:17   Ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine

  (See also Psalm 119:69.)

C. Obey in all things:

Deuteronomy 5:32   Observe to do therefore as the Lord … commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left

2 Kings 22:2   And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord … and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left

  (See also 2 Corinthians 2:9.)

2. IF WE LOVE AND KNOW GOD, WE WILL OBEY HIM:

John 14:15,21   If ye love me, keep my commandments (See also 14:23.)

1 John 2:3–4  We know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar

1 John 3:24   He that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him

2 John 1:6   This is love, that we walk after his commandments

3. BLESSINGS FOR OBEYING GOD:

Deuteronomy 11:26–27   I set before you this day a blessing … if ye obey the commandments of the Lord

Joshua 1:8   Meditate therein [the Word] … observe to do according to all that is written therein … then thou shalt have  good success

A. Souls are saved:

Romans 5:19   By the obedience of one shall many be made righteous

1 Timothy 4:16   Heed … the doctrine … in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee

B. Spiritual blessings:

Exodus 19:5   If ye will obey my voice … ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people

Jeremiah 7:23   Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people

John 13:17   If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them

John 15:10   If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love

John 15:14   Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you

Acts 5:32   Holy Ghost … given to them that obey [God]

1 Peter 1:22   Ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth

  (See also James 1:25.)

C. Material blessings:

Deuteronomy 28:2   All these blessing shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the Lord

Deuteronomy 32:46–47   Set your hearts unto all the words … and through this ye shall prolong your days in the land

Job 36:11   If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures

Isaiah 1:19   If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land

Jeremiah 38:20   Obey … voice of the Lord: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live

Hebrews 11:8   Abraham, when he was called to go into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed

  (See also Deuteronomy 28:1–14; Jeremiah 35:18–19.)

D. Protection:

Exodus 23:22   If thou shall obey and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies

Leviticus 25:18   Do my statutes … and shall dwell in the land in safety

4. JESUS’ EXAMPLE OF OBEDIENCE:

Luke 22:42   Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. (See also Matthew 26:39,42.)

John 5:30   I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father

John 14:31   As the Father gave me commandment, even so I do

Philippians 2:7–8   [Jesus] took upon him the form of a servant … and became obedient unto death

Hebrews 5:8   Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience

5. YIELDEDNESS TO GOD:

A. Let God have His way in your life:

Job 1:21   Lord gave, and … hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord

Isaiah 64:8   Lord … we are the clay, and thou our potter

Matthew 6:10   Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done

John 3:30   He must increase, but I must decrease.

Romans 12:1   Present your bodies a living sacrifice … unto God

James 4:7   Submit yourselves therefore to God

  (See also Matthew 26:39; Luke 1:38; Romans 6:13,16.)

B. Submit your plans to God:

Hebrews 6:3   This will we do, if God permit

James 4:15   Ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall … do this

C. Obeying God even when it hurts:

Genesis 22:2,12   Take now thy … only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and … offer him there for a burnt offering (See also Hebrews 11:17–19.)

Jeremiah 42:6   Whether it be good, or whether it be evil [hard to do], we will obey the voice of the Lord our God

Matthew 26:38–54   [Jesus agonised in prayer, knowing the cost, but then yielded to God’s will] (See also Luke 22:44; John 18:11.)

D. Yield to God and pray for His leading:

Psalm 27:11   Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path

Psalm 139:23–24  Search me, O God, and know my heart … know my thoughts … lead me in the way everlasting

Psalm 143:10   Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God … lead me

6. OBEYING GOD RATHER THAN UNGODLY MEN:

Acts 4:13–20   Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye

Acts 5:29   We ought to obey God rather than men

  (See also 1 Samuel 22:17; 1 Kings 18:3,13; Ezra 4:21; 5:1–5; Daniel 3:1–25; 6:1–13; Hebrews 11:23.)

7. DISOBEDIENCE TO GOD—HOW HE VIEWS IT:

Jeremiah 18:10   If [they] obey not … then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them

Matthew 7:26–27   Heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not … a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand 

James 1:23–24   A hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face … and straightway forgetteth

8. VARIOUS CATEGORIES OF DISOBEDIENCE:

A. Merely “agreeing” is not enough:

Ezekiel 33:30–33   They sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them

Matthew 21:28–31   He answered and said, I go, sir: and went not

Matthew 23:2–3   Do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not

Luke 6:46   Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things I say?

Titus 1:16   They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being … disobedient

  (See also Jeremiah 42:1–22; 43:1–4.)

B. “Good works” not a substitute for obedience:

1 Samuel 15:22   Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying … to obey is better than sacrifice

Luke 11:42   Ye tithe … and pass over judgement and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone

C. Halfhearted obedience:

2 Chronicles 25:2   And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a perfect heart

Jeremiah 3:10   Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly

Acts 5:1–11   [Ananias and Sapphira pretended to give all, but kept back part of the money from the sale of their land]