FoF Lesson 12

Obedience

Audio message: Love and Obedience
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[Lesson 12: Session 17] [Lessons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13]

Notes on Session 17, Sunday, March 6th:

  1. Session on Lesson 12
  2. Welcome to new members of the class
  3. Personal highlights from MacArthur’s message?
  4. Challenges in filling in Answers in Lesson 12?
  5. Questions to be addressed?
  6. Objectives for Lesson 12:
    1. To understand why obedience is central to a growing relationship with Christ.
    2. To understand that obedience is not following a list of Do’s and Don’ts, but rather it is knowing and serving Christ from the heart.
  7. References

Common Questions for Lesson 12:

  • How can I become more obedient?
  • What does it mean to deny yourself, take up the cross, and follow Christ?

Class Plan for Lesson 12:

  1. Obedience from the heart.
  2. The call to obedience and how we should view ourselves as slaves of Christ.
  3. The desire to obey as a mark of true salvation.
  4. Encourage an examination of personal attitudes about obedience.

Questions:

  • How do we move from knowing The Faith to living The Faith?
  • From living The Faith we should move to ______ The Faith.

1. Love and Obedience

  • Moving from learning about the FoF to living by faith
  • Obedience flows from a thankful heart, Eph. 6:6, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,
  • Love for Christ is our basis for our willingness to deny ourselves and follow Christ
  • Obeying God to earn favor or to pay God back for salvation is not true obedience
  • Christians have God’s law written in their hearts, Heb. 8:10, For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
  • Under the New Covenant, the law is internal
  • We are now made slaves to God, Rom. 6:22, But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.
  • Free to serve God with love and joy, 1 John 4:19, We love because he first loved us.
  • Love is the Christian’s motive for obedience, Matt. 22:37-40, And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

2. The Call to Obedience (Section I)

  • To love God is obedience, John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
  • Christians are exhorted to offer their lives to God, Rom. 12:1, I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
  • We need to seek after the things above, Col. 2:20-3:2, If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— … If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
  • We need to think about Christlikeness and holiness, 1 Pet. 1:15-16, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
  • We need to dwell on things that are noble, pure and good, Phil. 4:8, Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
  • Set our minds on things above, Col. 3:1-2, If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
  • We fall short in our obedience, James 3:2, For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.
  • Paul struggled to obey, Rom. 7:15-19, For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.

Questions:

  • What does it mean to love God “with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind“?
  • What does it mean to deny oneself, and to take up your cross daily? Luke 9:23, And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
  • What does it mean to offer one’s life to God? Rom. 12:1, I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

3. Obedience Marks a True Believer (Section II)

  • Memory verse, 1 John 2:3-4, And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,
  • Our love for God, 1 John 2:5; 4:8, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: … Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
  • Real faith, saving faith, is all of me (mind, emotions, will) embracing all of Him (Savior, Advocate, Provider, Sustainer, Counselor, Lord God). Those with such faith will love Christ. Rom. 8:28, And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose; 1 Cor. 16:22, If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come!; 1 John 4:19, We love because he first loved us.
  • Obedience must come from a joyful heart that flows from our love for Christ
  • We obey because we want to, not because we have to

4. Examples of Disobedience and Obedience (Sections III and IV)

  • Examples of Disobedience
    • King Saul’s own way of worship, 1 Sam. 15:15-23, Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the LORD your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.” Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the LORD said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.” … And Samuel said, “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
      as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king.”
    • People’s reaction to God’s instruction, Zech. 7:8-14, And the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear.  …  “and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known. Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and the pleasant land was made desolate.”

Question: Are there consequences to disobedience? Rom. 1:26-27, For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

  • Examples of Obedience
    • Abraham’ obedience, leaving home for the unknown, Gen. 12:1-4, Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
    • Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac, Gen. 22:1-12, After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”  …  He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” Gen. 26:2-5, And the LORD appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”
    • Christ’s example on earth, John 4:34, Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.
    • Christ facing the cross, Luke 22:42, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

Questions:

  • What did God promise to Isaac because Abraham obeyed God? Gen. 26:2-5, See above.
  • To what extent was Jesus willing to be obedient? Phil. 2:8, And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
  • What consequences have you seen or experienced because of disobedience in today’s world?

5. The Promise and Blessings of Obedience (Section V)

  • See Section V for some blessings as the result of obedience.
  • Jesus compares the life of a person who hears and obeys His Word to the wise man who built his house on the rock, Matt. 7:24-27, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. … “

6. Areas of Obedience (Section VI)

  • See Section VI for where we need to be obedient.
  • Observe all that Jesus commanded us, Matt:28:20, ” … teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
  • Who is to be obedient? Children, wives, slaves, Christians, all.

7. Our Attitude Toward Obedience (Section VII)

  • We should desire to obey God, Ps. 40:8, “I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”
  • We should view ourselves  as obedient slaves of Christ, Eph. 6:6, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,

Questions:

  • What was the basis of Abraham’s obedience? Heb. 11:8, By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
  • Which son had the better attitude? Matt. 21:28-32, “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’  …  For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.
  • How should we respond when God’s Word seems contrary to our own judgment? Luke 5:4-7, And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”  …  They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.

8. Application (Section VIII)

  • What does it men to “present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God? Rom. 12:1, I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
  • What have you learned about the consequences of disobedience?
  • In what areas of your life does God want greater obedience? 1 Pet. 1:15-16, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
Video Clips:

New City Catechism (NCC) and The Gospel Coalition (TGC):

[Lessons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13]

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