{"id":60846,"date":"2013-05-22T19:23:00","date_gmt":"2013-05-23T00:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=60846"},"modified":"2025-10-07T14:45:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T19:45:10","slug":"what-constitutes-obedience-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-constitutes-obedience-2\/","title":{"rendered":"What Constitutes Obedience? (Thetford)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\tby Richard Thetford\n

A passage of Scripture comes to mind when I hear the word “obedience” and that is from I Samuel 15:22 which says: “And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams<\/em>.” We all need to understand that obeying the voice of the Lord is our first obligation. The truth is what guides us unto salvation and all men should obey the truth of God (Galatians 3:1-5; I Peter 1:22). We can learn from the scriptures that no man was saved by obedience to anything other than God’s word. King Saul obeyed the voice of the people and that led to his downfall (I Samuel 15:21). Adam obeyed the voice of Satan (Genesis 3:1-6). Saul of Tarsus obeyed the voice of his conscience (Acts 26:9). Only when one obeys the commandments of God is one able to be saved.<\/p>\n

So how do we obey the truth? Before answering this question, let us first see how we disobey it. We disobey the truth by refusing to do anything at all (John 5:40). We disobey the truth by adding anything to it that God has not commanded or allowed. The Proverb writer says: “Do not add to His words Lest He reprove you, and you be proved a liar.<\/em>” (See also Revelation 22:18; II John 9) Besides adding to God’s word we disobey Him by taking away that which He has instructed us to do (Revelation 22:19; Deuteronomy 4:2). The only way that we can obey the truth is by doing the exact thing that God commands us to do. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness<\/em>” (Matthew 7:21-23). Some may think they are doing God’s will because it “feels right”, or “it is a good work” but that does make it right!<\/p>\n

This point is driven home by the example of Moses when he struck the rock when he was not commanded to do so (Exodus 20:7-12). It seemed such a small thing when Uzza touched the Ark to stabilize it, yet it caused his death (I Chronicles 13:9-10). If we offend in one point we are guilty of all “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one {point,} he has become guilty of all<\/em>” (James 2:10). Let us strive to do only <\/b>those things which are authorized<\/strong>\u00a0by God!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Richard Thetford A passage of Scripture comes to mind when I hear the word “obedience” and that is from I Samuel 15:22 which says: “And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[54],"class_list":["post-60846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-obedience"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":47349,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/obeying-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":60846,"position":0},"title":"Obeying God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dennis Stackhouse On one occasion King Saul had been given a direct command from God to utterly destroy Amalek, including men and women, children and infants, as well as all the livestock (I Samuel 15:3).\u00a0 However, Saul and the people spared Agag, the king of Amalek, along with the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":86019,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-relationship-between-worship-and-obedience\/","url_meta":{"origin":60846,"position":1},"title":"The Relationship Between Worship and Obedience","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 24, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Vance E. Trefethen Have you ever heard someone say that worship and obedience are essentially the same thing or that every act of obedience is an act of worship? I've heard these concepts expressed privately by Christians and even taught publicly. A few months ago, I decided to study\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27487,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/obedience-to-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":60846,"position":2},"title":"Obedience to God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 13, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Paul Southern via The Preceptor, Vol. 1, No. 10, August 1952. The subject of obedience is an important theme that should engage the thought of every responsible person. Rebellion against constituted authority seems to be a trait inherent with mankind. On every hand, we witness infractions of constitutional, statutory,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43828,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/both-david-and-saul-sinned-and-admitted-they-sinned-so-why-was-the-kingdom-taken-from-saul-but-not-david\/","url_meta":{"origin":60846,"position":3},"title":"Both David and Saul sinned and admitted they sinned, so why was the kingdom taken from Saul but not David?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 2, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, Good day to you. I hope you are well. My question is about two men from the holy Scriptures: King Saul and King David. When Saul sinned against God, God took the kingdom away from him, but when David sinned, God did not take away the kingdom from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58256,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/some-thoughts-to-consider-with-our-mothers-in-mind\/","url_meta":{"origin":60846,"position":4},"title":"Some Thoughts to Consider with Our Mothers in Mind","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 21, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Abraham Smith \"For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears\" (Hebrews 12:17). This verse holds many valuable applications for the one who would accept them. From the preceding\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/01\/MotherAndChild-300x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":31668,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/blessed-in-what-he-does\/","url_meta":{"origin":60846,"position":5},"title":"Blessed in What He Does","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 7, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: James 1:21-25 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sin is the breaking of law - I John 3:4 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sin is universally found in mankind - Romans 5:12 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Thus, we cannot be surprised that rebellion (going against authority) is also widespread \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Obedience then is submitting to authority. It is subjecting your\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60846\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}