Many people have many opinions about what salvation is and what it is not. While I am not going to attempt to address these opinions, I am going to speak to one point which applies to salvation. This is not a topic that is readily spoken to as it makes some uncomfortable, however I believe it should be. This topic is obedience to the Lord. Let’s dig in.
Did Jesus address obedience? John 14:15, Jesus says, “If you love me you will keep my commandments” and again Jesus says in John 14:21, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will disclose Myself to him”. Again, in John 15:14 Jesus makes it very clear, “You are My friends if you do what I command you”. Here Jesus also makes it firm in John 15:5,6 that if anyone does not abide in Him, then they will be thrown away. Bottom line is this, if we say that we believe in Christ then we will obey Him, if we do not obey Him, then we do not believe in Him.
What did John have to say? 1 John 2:3, “And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments”. Going on to verse 4, “The one who says, I have come to know Him and does not keep His commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him”. There is no argument, we either know Christ or we do not. The proof is obedience.
What about the Old Testament? The Old Testament is full of the contrast of obedience and the blessings of God and disobedience and the consequences. Abraham obeyed God and it was counted as righteousness to him. Moses obeyed God and was called the friend of God. By obedience Joshua entered the promised land and took possession of it. There are many others mentioned from the Old Testament in Hebrews, all noted for their obedience.
Now here is some good news, just in case like me, I do not always obey. Christ is our High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, a priest forever. It is Christ who makes intercession for us when we repent of our disobedience. It is also Christ who makes intercession for the times we disobey unknowingly or we forget to repent.
The bottom line is that if someone says that they believe, (give Christ their allegiance), in Christ the proof is in that they also obey Christ. Note, they obey Christ not the church nor the teaching of men, but Christ.
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