The natural condition for humans is to be fully subject to God’s Word and walking in God’s truth, because we must be in harmony with God’s will.  This subjection is not for God’s benefit in any way, but always for our benefit and eternal life.  God cannot help us until we are willing to obey His Word and follow His plan without compromising.

            Obedience perfected means happiness enjoyed.  Any time we are in trial, we are neglecting God’s Word on something, or we are out of God’s will on some issue.  When we are in the will of God, peace and contentment will be enjoyed in our life.

Temptations come so that obedience can be perfected.  Hebrews 12:11 ”No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”  Trials met right, perfect our obedience to God.  Obedience under grace is having the Holy Spirit to empower us in faith.  We cannot serve God in our own strength but only on His.  Hebrews 11:6 ”Without faith it is impossible to please Him.”

           Romans 10:1-4 ”Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved.  For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.  Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.  Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.”

            God is to take out the evil desires of our heart, and replace them with the new desires of His Spirit—a willingness to obey the Scriptures.  King Solomon said Proverbs 4:23 ”Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do.”  A heart that is filled with the Holy Spirit, will control every choice to proceed in faith on God.

            Romans 10:6 “The way of getting right with God through faith says, ‘You don’t need to go to heaven” (to find Christ and bring him down to help you).”  The new way says Romans 10:8 "’The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,’ that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

            We must truthfully say—I have surrendered my will to God and I am willing to obey Jesus—that is what it means to have Christ in our heart as Lord and Master of our life.  We are to submit ourselves completely to Him, and make a no-compromise surrender to believe in our heart that God has raised Him from the grave.

            To believe in our heart, means that we believe the same Jesus who came out of the tomb, is the same Jesus who went in the tomb—a
Christ who hears and answers prayer today for anything we need—just as He did in Bible times.  We are to trust Him in the same way people did in the Bible.  If we do this, we will be saved—it is just a matter of believing and living by faith.

            Romans 10:10 ”For with the heart men believe and obtain righteousness, and with the mouth they make confession and obtain salvation.”  To believe and confess, in order to obtain salvation, means more than just saying we have faith, because confessing has no virtue in and of itself.  We must be able to say that Jesus has become the Master of our life, because we really do believe in our heart and are really trusting in Him for salvation.

            Romans 10:11-13 “As the Scripture says, ’Anyone who trusts [believes]  in him will never be put to shame.’  For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’"  To call on the name of Christ, is to trust in our heart for the deliverance from sin He has promised to those who believe.  We are delivered from sin, and have a new heart within—that is willing to trust in faith on God for every part of our life.

            God does not ask us to obey His Word, until His Son has been enthroned in our heart.  At the moment of making the decision that God’s way is the only way, and that we will be subject to Him concerning everything, then His Holy Spirit is given to enable obedience.  A submissive heart comes from the Holy Spirit.  That is the result of the uncompromising position we have taken that we are—“dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” Romans 6:11.

            As that final decision of trust on God is maintained, there is not one command that we will not be willing to obey.  It will be easy to follow, because our obedience will be perfected.  All opposition to God’s will and Word are from people who are unwilling to have Jesus fully enthroned in their heart.  Anyone who truly has Jesus in their heart, would not oppose one command of God.

            The New Testament was written for Christ-controlled people, and must be obeyed.  The true Gospel is for people who are willing to have their faith and obedience perfected.  If we yield to God’s will, His Word will be obeyed.

This obedience is the result of taking the position the apostle said we are to take.  Romans 6:11 ”You also must regard yourselves as dead in relation to sin, but as alive in relation to God, because you are in Christ Jesus.”  We cannot emphasize this too much, nor hear it too often.

            The apostle says Romans 6:13-14 ”Offer [surrender] yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.  For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.”  We are not under the outward commands of the law, but under the new inward law of power and grace through the Holy Spirit, who gives both the desire and ability to obey.

            The type of obedience is very important, because most churches today teach a half-way obedience that compromises on vital issues of faith and trust on God.  Every command of the New Testament must be obeyed, if our preparation for eternal life is to be complete.  The cross of Christ gives us eternal life, but there are conditions to meet in order to receive it.

            Most denominational church members believe that it is not necessary to obey New Testament commands in order to receive salvation.  They believe that a person will get eternal life without obedience to God’s Word.  They say that salvation is a gift from God, so nothing we do will earn it.

            They believe that we can receive eternal life by saying we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior, but showing no evidence of a changed heart, no willingness to obey God’s Word, no submission to His will, and no trust on Him for finances, healing, protection, or other faith issues that are part of life here on earth.  Most professed believers think that if they are a member of a church, and live a good moral life, they will surely go to heaven.

            The truth is that no matter what profession of faith we make, or what church we belong to, if we do not live according to the will of God, as expressed in the Word of God, we will go straight to the lake of fire, because we have not truly accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  Jesus would have to say—if we do not repent and return to Him in faithful trust—“‘I never knew you.  Away from me, you evildoers!’” Matthew 7:23. 

The apostle Paul prayed that those who oppose the Word 2 Timothy 2:25-26 would be brought to “repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.”  Satan’s will is to disobey God’s Word.

            1 John 3:7 ”Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray.  He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.”  1 John 3:10 ”So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the Devil.  Anyone who does not obey God’s commands and does not love other Christians does not belong to God.”

            The poor standard of Christianity in the denominational churches, is not God’s plan at all.  Obedience to the New Testament is just as strict as obedience was to Israel in the Old Testament.  Every command of God is not a matter of merit, but a matter of death to self, and preparation for heaven.  Having our obedience perfected, is absolutely necessary.

            Every single command in the New Testament is just as important as another.  None can be rejected without fatal results.  The apostle tells us that if we obey God in most things, yet are disobedient and rebellious in one, we might as well be rebellious in all of them James 2:10.  He tells us James 1:22 ”Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says.”  If we do not obey the New Testament as it is written, we deceive ourselves.

            Jesus, in giving His Sermon on the Mount, told us to “love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us” Matthew 5:44-45, “so you may become true sons of your Father in Heaven.”  Jesus told us to “store up for yourselves treasures [wealth] in heaven” Matthew 6:20—not on earth, because 6:21 “where your wealth is, there also will your heart be.”

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