Obedience to God

Dear brethren in Christ,

In my last blog-post titled Grace or Law, I seem to have not given emphasis to a few immediate issues that arise from such a discussion, the most important being obedience to God. But before I get into this topic, I would once again remind you about Acts 17:11, which tells us to look into the scriptures and seek the truth personally. 

Before we go deep into the matter, let us acquaint ourselves with the meaning of obedience. Wikipedia defines it as "a form of social influence in which a person yields to explicit instructions or orders from an authority figure". This might serve the purpose in a secular lifestyle but as a christian, this definition turns out to be a bit myopic. 
Allow me to elaborate. In the Bible, we come across two forms of obedience. For lack of a better term, I will term them as the servant's obedience and the son's obedience. 

1. The servant's obedience: This is the type of obedience we come across most often in the Old Testament. It is a concept that was known to man long before Moses and the law. When God created Mr. & Mrs. Adam, He gave them specific instructions which they were to obey (Genesis 2:16-17). Later we have the nation Israel under Moses and Moses himself, called to obey the Lord. We see how Israel always found victory when they obeyed God. It was due to their disobedience that they wandered for forty years in the wilderness. Moses did not inherit the promised land only because he disobeyed God and struck the stone twice to bring forth water. This was the obedience that servants would show towards their master. 
2. The son's obedience: The Lord in John 1:11-12 (I love that verse, it's one of my favorites) gave us inheritance into the kingdom as official heirs. By the grace of God, we received salvation and inheritance (both being two distinct terms). So if we aren't under the subjection of the law an have been elevated to the position of the children of the most high, why do we need to take the place of a servant and obey God ? Simple ! Because the son of God himself did so. Matthew 26:36-45 is one of the most magnificent passages in the New testament in the sense that we see Jesus intimately praying with His father. He demonstrates the obedience of a son. Putting His father's will ahead of His own, He endures through the trials of the following night even dying on the cross for each and every sin that had been committed so far and all the sins that would be committed throughout the centuries that have followed that day. A son's obedience is voluntary and is not subject to any legal contractual obligations like a slave or servant. We learn this from on of Jesus' epistles, namely, the letter to the church of Laodicea. Christ says in the letter that He wishes that they were either hot or cold. We have the option ! Yes, it would hurt Him if you did not obey Him but He gave each person the free will to choose. But yes! He does have rewards in store for those who do obey. 

So does God punish those who do not obey him today ? Well, the book of proverbs does say spare the rod and spoil the child. The Bible also tells us that God disciplines (but does not punish) those that He loves like a father to a son. Although being the children of God is not a licence to disobedience, nobody is holding you back from rejecting God and going away. But you do this at your own risk. If you do not accept Jesus as your saviour, you have no room in heaven with His people. If you aren't in heaven, that implies, you go down to the pits of hell. Still...your choice !

To sum it up, our obedience is not that of a servant, but one of a son. Obedience that comes out of love for our father. Neither I nor anyone else can force you to obey God, but out of my own experience, I would encourage you to do so because it is written: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)
God Bless You !