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"'. . . that He may teach us about His ways
And that we may walk in His paths.'
For from Zion will go forth the Law
Even the Word of God from Jerusalem."
Micah 4:2
To
link "obedience" with "the gospel" surprises most church-goers today. If the gospel is "good news," how can "obedience" be mixed up with it?[16]Obedience to all the Word of God is the heart of the Gospel. Consider the role of obedience in these four aspects of the Gospel:
1. Christ the King demands the obedience of all men.[17]
2. Fallen man, prone to selfish idolatry, does not render obedience to the King.[18]
3. Christ our King and Savior forgives us for our lack of obedience to His Law.[19]
4. Through His Spirit, our King empowers us to walk in obedience to God's Law.[20]
This is "good news." Obedience to the Word of God is the common ingredient in the Gospel proclamations.[21] Our chief task as Christians - redeemed by the King - is to understand and apply all that the Lord commands us through His Word. God's Word addresses every area of our life, and we should be striving to put it into force.
This kind of thinking disturbs many people. They are shocked to hear us say that a person cannot be a Christian if he envies the rich, slanders people, is disrespectful of parents, covets the latest fashions, fails to render appropriate love and affection to his spouse, is a danger on the highways after parties, depends upon government loans and benefits, supports homosexuality and sex with children, delights in the Hollywood mentality of anti-marital sex, and makes no effort to get along with others, or resolve conflicts between them. Romans 1:29-31, Ephesians 5:5, Galatians 5:19-21, and I Corinthians 6:9-10, which speak of all these idolatries, are suppressed and unknown passages. In our day those who call themselves "Christians" are not a force for peace, responsibility, self-control, support of the weak, or harmony. They are instead, along with the worker-drones of an anti-Christian Empire, a force for threatenings, intimidations, disunity, addictions, irresponsibility, selfishness, and covetous wastefulness. These concerns are at the heart of God's Law.
Modern evangelists say nothing about the demands of Christ the King with respect to our relationships with each other, with the State, with the environment, or with victims of oppression and violence. The Bible, on the other hand, places great weight on these issues.[22]
Can you be a Christian if you don't "worship" God? Can you "worship" God if you don't worship His Law?
The Gospel Message is a Word from God. Every Word of God is Law.
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Most of us have been taught (subtly or overtly) that "obedience" is a harsh, inferior, and undesirable way of life. This is not the Biblical perspective. American "christians" have a relationship to the Father which is one of slaves, not of mature sons.