Obedience is by Faith, Disobedience is by Default
Rev. Telema Okobi | For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous. Romans 5:19
There is no question that obedience is a vital issue for every believer. We were all born into Adam's physical family - the family line that leads to certain death. All of us have reaped the results of Adam's sin. We have inherited his guilt, a sinful nature (the tendency to sin), and God's punishment. Because of Jesus, however, we can trade judgment for forgiveness. We can trade our sin for Jesus' righteousness. Christ offers us the opportunity to be born into his spiritual family - the family line that begins with forgiveness and leads to eternal life. If by default we do nothing, we have death through Adam; but if we come to God by faith, we have life through Christ. Which family line do you now belong to?
The only path for obedience is the grace of God. "For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace" (Romans 6:14). Our lives are to be under the rule of God's grace. So as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 5:21. When we despise God's grace, sin dominates our lives. The Lord certainly wants us to get out from under the domination of sin and to live obediently. Man might think that the law could free us from the dominating influence of sin. If we had laws with radical standards and severe consequences, surely man would not go on sinning. Of course, this approach does not work. No standards are as lofty as the holy law of God. No consequences are more severe than violating God's law. Yet, men still are dominated by sin. Grace is God's remedy.
Some think that proclaiming grace, as the remedy will only encourage people to sin all the more. And many wrongly assume that continuing to sin will unleash more grace. The opposite is actually true. When God's children embrace the wonder of what His grace provides (an effective rescue from sin through our identification with the death and resurrection of Christ), we see the folly of continuing in sin. "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:1-4). By God's grace at work, growing in this new life means growing in obedience.
I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain." Galatians 2:21
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