Learning Obedience

Learning Obedience

“Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.” Heb. 5:8-9.

Jesus learned obedience by the things which He suffered; thereby He had learned the most important thing of all. He learned to know God’s will in all things through obedience; thus the fullness of the Godhead came to dwell in Him bodily. Col. 1:19.

All of us have ample opportunity to learn obedience, from morning till evening, in all kinds of adversities and trials. None of us have an excuse for not learning it. A person has to be specially equipped and very capable to learn what the wise men of this world have to offer. However, regardless of what you are able to learn of the wisdom of this world, you can use it only for a short time. It will be useless in eternity; but if we learn obedience in our lifetime, we will truly have learned something for time and eternity.

No one needs to learn disobedience, because it comes quite naturally from early childhood. Everyone has to learn a certain amount of obedience so he does not come into conflict with the laws of the land. But this is not good enough before God.

“But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.” Rom. 6:17.

God is pleased only by an obedience that comes from the heart. It is not something we are forced to do, but we give ourselves to it and desire it with joy. God gives the Holy Spirit to all those who obey Him (Acts 5:32), so if we have a living interest in being obedient to all of Jesus’ laws and commandments, we will also receive abundant power for it. Then we are first in line for receiving all help and grace.

It is only through the Holy Spirit that we can learn to be obedient from the heart. The Spirit makes the Word come alive in the most varied circumstances; He helps us to advance on the way that we are called to go. He teaches us and helps us. For example, He speaks to our hearts when we are in a difficult situation because we have had to suffer gross unrighteousness from someone. In such a situation almost everyone loses his composure and follows the mind of the flesh, which is death and eternal loss. But if the attitude of our heart is to be obedient and faithful, the Spirit will clearly and plainly show us how great it is to suffer an injustice with joy, and what glorious fruits will result from it for time and eternity.

We all have a flesh, which neither can nor wants to be obedient to the laws of God. “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” Rom. 8:6.

We meet opposition from the flesh when the will of God is to be done. The flesh wars against the Spirit (Gal. 5:17), and if the Spirit shall always overcome, then the will of the flesh must always be denied and put to death. We battle and suffer, but we learn obedience and partake of an increasingly richer and more glorious life in God. We taste that God is good, and we constantly desire more. 1 Pet. 2:2-3.

We will learn obedience if we always choose to suffer rather than sin in the trials of life. Through this we are led into a life of love, patience, truth, and goodness—into all the virtues of Christ. We become pure and wise for eternity. The wisdom of this world is acquired through vexation and pain, and it ends in the grave. It causes annoyance, because people are always confronted with things they do not understand, in addition to being hoodwinked by others who are smarter than they are.

Through obedience we are led into rest in the lowly places among the lowly. “In lowliness they lived, but when they stood forth, these men, no king, no prince, no ruler could overpower them.”

We have been elected for obedience. 1 Pet. 1:1-2. When Jesus comes again, He will be admired among all those who believed and were faithful to His gospel.