Is anyone fully obedient to all of the commands of the Bible?
Are you fully obedient to all of the commands of the Bible?
I think the answer to both questions is no.
If perfect obedience is required we're in trouble. No one would ever be justified because no one is ever perfectly obedient.
Romans 3:10-12
10 as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
The trouble is that no one, not even the best, most obedient, Christian is perfect and/or sinless. At one point or another our obedience fails to meet His standard. What happens then? Do we lose the Holy Ghost every time we fail God? Every time we make a mistake? Are we justified one moment, and Hell-bound the next, over, and over, and over, to infinity?
What a strange and dysfunctional relationship with Jesus that would be!
So sinless perfection is not the answer, because we aren't, and can't ever be, sinlessly perfect.
The answer to both of my opening questions is that obedience to the gospel (death, burial & resurrection of Jesus) appropriates the purpose of the gospel (salvation), when it is accompanied by faith in the God of the gospel. But obedience apart from the gospel, and detached from faith in the work of Christ, does not accomplish justification AT ALL.
In other words, Christ does not need our help to save. He is not weak. His work on the cross accomplished everything essential to the salvation of the world. We lay hold of that work, and it is counted to us as if we had accomplished the work, simply by fully trusting that He is who He says He is, and will do what He says He will do. This is called "faith."
In scripture-speak it's stated this way...
"And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him"
Hebrews 11:6
We are justified (declared right) based upon a "faithful" relationship with Jesus Christ. "People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood (
Romans 3:25)." And the very moment we trust ourselves instead of Christ, or lose faith in His work on the cross, we are in spiritual danger.
Our holiness is dependent upon His work, not ours. Our righteousness is not really ours at all, it's His. The Holy Ghost is not ours. We do not possess "it." We don't own "it." We simply allow "it" access to our hearts.
Everything that we are as Christians, and our entire identity, is based upon what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross.
What saves us from sin? Jesus.
What saves us from death? Jesus.
What saves us from Hell? Jesus.
What makes us holy? Jesus.
What makes us righteous? Jesus.
What makes us perfect? Jesus.
And He does this when we stop efforting, and start trusting.
Ephesians 2: 8,9
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."
Hybrid Mode
