HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 237
page A235
Does obedience to God get me into heaven?
• G A L AT I A NS 2 :1 6 | “No one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.” (See note
on page 1059.)
Obedience to religious laws can never save us. But when we accept Christ, we are
increasingly motivated to obey God out of love for him.
• J O H N 1 4 :1 5 | “If you love me, obey my commandments.” (See note on page 971.)
Our obedience to Christ is to be an expression of love for the eternal life he has already
given us when we put our faith in him.
What are the benefits of obedience?
• 2 K I NG S 1 8 :6 -7 | He remained faithful to the Lord in everything, and he carefully obeyed
all the commands the Lord had given Moses. So the Lord was with him.
God is always with the obedient.
• 1 C H R O NI C L E S 1 5 :1 5 | Then the Levites carried the Ark of God on their shoulders with its
carrying poles, just as the Lord had instructed Moses.
Obedience opens the way to true worship.
• E Z R A 7 :9 -1 0 | The gracious hand of his God was on him . . . because Ezra had determined
to study and obey the Law of the Lord.
God often grants unusual favor to those who are obedient to him.
God whittled down Gideon’s army from thirty-two thousand soldiers to three hundred in
order to test Gideon’s obedience and to make it clear that the victory would come from
God. Obedience to God will ultimately test our true loyalty.
• R O MA NS 2 :1 0 | But there will be glory and honor and peace from God for all who do good.
Have you ever wondered why you feel good after doing something you know was right?
That peace is God’s reward to you for doing what is right.
How does my disobedience to God hurt me?
• DE U T E R O NO MY 3 :2 6 | “But the Lord was angry with me because of you, and he would not
listen to me. ‘That’s enough!’ he declared. ‘Speak of it no more.’ ”
• 2 SA MU E L 2 2 :2 7 , 4 2 | “To the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show
yourself shrewd. . . . They looked for help, but no one came to their rescue. They even cried
to the Lord, but he refused to answer.”
• MI CA H 3 :4 | “Then you beg the Lord for help in times of trouble! Do you really expect him
to answer? After all the evil you have done, he won’t even look at you!”
Disobedience to God hinders prayer.
• H O SE A 4 :1 6 | “Israel is stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. So should the Lord feed her like a
lamb in a lush pasture?”
Disobedience to God separates us from his guidance.
• E Z E K I E L 1 8 :2 4 | “However, if righteous people turn from their righteous behavior and
start doing sinful things and act like other sinners, should they be allowed to live? No,
of course not! All their righteous acts will be forgotten, and they will die for their sins.”
A desire to disobey God routinely will negate past righteous deeds.
• 1 T I MOT H Y 1 :1 8 -2 0 | Timothy, my son, here are my instructions for you, based on
the prophetic words spoken about you earlier. May they help you fight well in the
Lord’s battles. Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear. For some
people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been
shipwrecked. Hymenaeus and Alexander are two examples. I threw them out and
handed them over to Satan so they might learn not to blaspheme God.
A pattern of deliberately disobeying God renders us unable to hold true to our faith.
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• J U DG E S 7 :7 | The Lord told Gideon, “With these 300 men I will rescue you and give you
victory over the Midianites. Send all the others home.” (See note on page 224.)
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Why does obedience make me look foolish sometimes?