Obeying God in Everything

by Hugh DeLong

“Legalist?” “Legalism?” Is it wrong and sinful to attempt to obey God in everything? Is it wrong to attempt to keep all the teachings and doctrines of Jesus? Is it sinful to strive to never sin?

Can one strive for such things and yet not rely on them as the basis of their relationship with God?
I would first of all read:

"And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age'" (Matthew 28:18-20).

"Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father" (Colossians 3:16-17).

"My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world" (I John 2:1-2).

Then, consider Jesus’ attitude toward such questions:

"For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:18-20).

Or we might read again exactly what he condemned the Pharisees for:

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others" (Matthew 23:23).

Or James 4:17: "Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin."

Or I John 3:10: "By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother."

The hard part seems to be that as we strive to obey ‘everything’, we can easily become arrogant, proud, and puffed up and begin thinking of ourselves as right with God because of such obedience. Thus the condemnation in Luke 18:9-14: "And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt:…"

Yet, one is right with God on the basis of forgiveness which comes because of the graciousness and mercy of God.

The call of the gospel is to repent and receive forgiveness through the sacrifice of Jesus (Acts 17:30). The call of holiness is to become ‘dead to sin’ (Romans 6:11), to put away all unrighteousness (Colossians 3:8; Hebrews 12:1; James 1:21; I Peter 2:1), and yes, to obey in all things. Yet in our striving to be holy, we are to recognize our failings and our need for forgiveness and mercy.

Study the word ‘righteous’. Make sure you recognize the subtle distinctions in its use. It does not mean the same thing in every instance. As a short and simple demonstration notice:

• God is righteous (Romans 3:25-26).
• Some of God’s people were said to be righteous: Simeon was righteous (Luke 2:25), Joseph was righteous (Luke 23:50), etc.
• Yet "there is none righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10).

Obedience is never wrong, but our attitude concerning such obedience may be. Take a quick look at obedience in the book of Romans (a book that is often said to teach salvation by faith only and is said to contrast as opposing concepts the ideas of obedience and faith)

"Through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake" (Romans 1:5).

"But to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation" (Romans 2:8).

"Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts" (Romans 6:12).

"Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed" (Romans 6:16-17).

"For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed" (Romans 15:18).

"But now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith" (Romans 16:26).

Faith is never contrasted against obedience, rather they are coupled together! The obedience of faith: at the beginning (Romans 1:5) and the end (Romans 16:26).

Thus, we are brought back to our opening questions. Can one attempt with all of his might to obey in all things and at the same time recognize his failing and rely upon forgiveness to be his only hope of being right with God in the end? Yes. It may be fraught with difficulties and dangers, but it is what we are called to do.

This always leads me back to the distinction between commands and teachings that are connected to forgiveness and things that are necessary for holiness. Most commands and instructions pertain to our being holy unto God, paying taxes, not lying, loving our spouse and children, sharing our worldly possessions with those in need, etc., etc. Yet, some things are said to be ‘for forgiveness’, which are conditions to be ‘saved’.

• Of course, our belief and trust (actually from the same word in the New Testament) (Hebrews 11:6; Mark 16:15-16; etc.).
• Confession of such faith before men: "That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation" (Romans 10:9-10).
• Repentance of sin (Luke 24:44-47; Acts 17:30; II Peter 3:9; Acts 2:38).
• Baptism into Christ for the remission of sins (Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:38; Colossians 2:12-13; etc.).

Then, as we live out our lives as disciples, we recognize when we sin and make a confession of such (I John 1:7-9; Acts 8:28 ), and we are merciful to others, forgiving them as we want to be forgiven by God (Matthew 6:14-15; 18:35 (read Matthew 18:18-35); Mark 11:25-26; Ephesians 4:32; James 2:13).

Are you forgiven? Are you forgiving?

"Jesus is the author of salvation unto all who obey Him" (Hebrews 5:9); and wrath and condemnation await all who "obey not the gospel" (II Thessalonians 1:8).