Not everyone who says to me Lord Lord shalt enter into the kingdom of heaven. So why would someone call him lord and yet not obey him. Jesus clearly stated that he came not to do his will but the will of the one that sent him which showed that Jesus did have his own will and desires that in some occasions did not align with his fathers will. Having an independent will is not a sin. By choosing ours over Gods can be if they are not in alignment. But lets examine the relationship between Grace and obedience because it’s true that salvation at all is the gift of God to humanity. His undeserved kindness to the world. The cross, the way of salvation and Jesus paid the price for salvation. But was it and is it enough? Jesus said than not all who say Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven but they that do the will of his father in heaven,
So then are we saved or not? In the end, even after we receive salvation by grace are we still at risk of failure due to not obeying the will of the father? This would appear to be what Jesus is saying here. Mathew 7:22,27 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
So Jesus would seem to be saying here that simply believing was not enough. that there had to be practical application as well. they had to put what he taught into practice. So doing was just as important as hearing. But what of salvation then? is it now dependent upon works to endure? I don’t believe that’s what he is saying. Because he calls those who call him Lord yet who do not obey as workers of inequity. So they weren’t just not doing the good that Jesus taught but were instead actively doing the bad. (Someone who habitually practices lawlessness, sin and evil while outwardly claiming to follow God) Clearly the wrath of God is coming upon all who continue in sin, even professing Christians who do not obey the truth but hide the truth in the way that they live. One of the lyrics i love for its honesty comes from a song by Barry Maguire, which says “I cant call you lord and then not obey you, i cant pretend to love you that way. 1 john 2:3-7 By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments. If anyone says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone keeps His word, the love of God has been truly perfected in him. So believing is not enough on it’s own. There must also be evidence of change by corresponding action. 1 John 5:2-4 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
In what way do his commands become burdensome? This is important to understand because if they are a burden to bare then you have not yet been saved by or understand Gods love or his grace. 1 john 6.3 says “Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. So what makes them not so? The old way was in following the letter of the law, yet the letter kills and its the Spirit that brings life. In Mathew 11:30 Jesus said ” my yolk is easy and my burden light. The only way this can be a possibility is if we are not carrying the entirety of the burden. Luke 10:26 Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”.
Remember in John 15:5 Jesus said “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. So herein lies the key to obeying. It’s in abiding. So Christianity is very much a living and abiding thing that brings about obedience to the will of the father through relationship with the indwelling Spirit. These are no longer external commandments that we follow but internal directives as we are lead by the Holy Spirit to obey in the areas that the Holy spirit directs and as God the father instructs. 2 Corinthians 3:6 He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life.
In summery in effect what Jesus is saying is this. Children, if you live in me and let me live in you i will help you carry any burden and the Holy Spirit will work out my will in your life. When i say if you love me you will obey my commands, what i am saying is that obeying my commands is the outworking of love. If you truly love me then you will do what pleases me. remember that this is my command. That you love one another and love is the fulfilment of the law. So we must be born again and be filled with the Holy Spirit if we are to have any hope of ever obeying his commands. As Jesus said in john 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
In essence we could say that if the motivation we have to follow and obey Jesus is not coming out of love and if God indeed is love then we are likely obeying out of fear. 1 John 4:18. “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. So are we obeying out of the fear of punishment and if we are doing so does that take away from salvation? To be clear there is a place for fear. For example the fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom so it says in proverbs. It can also be the reason we try to do what’s right in general terms because we are taught that to break the law has consequences that we do not like so it helps us stay within certain boundaries and perhaps to a large extent keeps law and order in society. Laws according to the Apostle Paul were good but because we are not good they cause us a lot of anxiety and an internal struggle to obey them. It doesn’t matter weather we obey them from fear of consequences either as long as we obey them but as Paul points out no one can obey them perfectly and if you break one then you have broken them all.
1 John 4:7 “Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. Yet again we return to love as the only genuine motivator for obeying his commands. Again Love is the fulfilment of the law and how do we get this love then? 1 John 3:18-19 We love because He first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. So here we have both the answer to how we obtain this love and what it would be like if we didn’t have it. If we have it then we will love our brothers and sister in Christ and if we don’t love them then we don’t have it and if we don’t have it we don’t have Christ. So perhaps this leads into the next piece of the equation after grace and perhaps because of grace as we return to the beginning. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son so that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. So there is the knowledge of Gods demonstration of love but what is the way of getting it inside our hearts rather than just head knowledge? Romans 5.5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. The answer my dear friend is that you need to have the Spirit of God in order to really understand the Love of God and only then will you have the ability to love as he loves and from that the desire to obey his commands.
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Personal story: I recall a couple of years ago determining to seek the lord early every day in prayer because i got sick of not hearing anything and complaining about all the things i didn’t have. This was quite a journey and much came from this time but to start with the first 3 days basically sucked. On the third day as i was being all spiritual talking to the lord in church speech i get a sense that he was barely listening to me. It was like he had his arms folded and was bored. It was then i realized that God wasn’t interested in perfect prayers. I said what do you want then? He simply said how do you feel? So immediately i answered we don’t go by feelings but faith remember? After a little silence i began to pour out my heart to him and my complaints. Now i felt like he was listening. I wanted to do things for the lord but after a while i said and perhaps realized that i really just didn’t love him. I tried too by being obedient but i just didn’t and i couldn’t fake till i made it like people had said to me in the past. So that night as i lay in bed i simply said, “I’m sorry lord i know your deserving of love after what you did on the cross and everything but I just don’t love you and i cant make myself love you. I was disappointed because i really wanted that first love experience and feeling back but it just wasn’t there. Perhaps that was the most honest id been with the lord for quite awhile because as i lay there in my empty heartedness the Holy Spirit replace my lack of love for his love for me and i remembered again that we love because he first loved us. Afterwards i couldn’t wait to wake up early and go spend time with the lord praying for stuff and people. it was nothing to go out there in the cold morning at 3 am and get back as the sun came up and then go about my day energized. It really felt like i wasn’t carrying the burden. Anyway out of this experience and out of this i ministered to people that came my way. i hope that this helps you to understand why apart from him we really can do nothing.