IV. Obedience

Submitting Our Will to God’s Will

In responding to God’s call, we each need to face a practical question: when God’s revealed will conflicts with my desires, interests, or habits, am I willing to act according to His word?

We may know the truth and agree with it, yet remain reluctant to change. We know we should be honest but are unwilling to give up the advantages of concealment. We know we need to apologise but fear losing face. We know that our behaviour is harming a relationship yet continue to make excuses for ourselves.

Obedience needs to shape our response to these specific struggles. It involves listening, understanding, and choosing, and it requires God’s grace and the Holy Spirit’s help. We learn as we respond, repent when we discover our errors, and allow God’s revealed truth gradually to guide our lives.

1. Obedience Puts Trust into Action

When Abraham heard God’s command, he left his country, his relatives, and his father’s house and went toward the place God directed him to (Genesis 12:1–4). When Samuel heard God calling, he responded, “Speak; for your servant hears” (1 Samuel 3:10, excerpt). Mary received the message concerning Jesus’ birth and expressed her willingness for the Lord’s word to be fulfilled in her (Luke 1:26–38).

Their circumstances differed, as did the revelation and responsibilities they received. Abraham went out relying on God’s promise, Samuel began to receive and convey God’s word, and Mary bore a unique responsibility in the history of redemption. Their experiences show us that trust needs to take shape in practical choices, which may involve uncertainty and cost.

Today, we likewise need to put the truth we understand into action. Acknowledging the importance of honesty means we need to stop deceiving. Recognising human dignity means we need to change behaviour that belittles or exploits others. Being willing to take responsibility means we need to honour the commitments we have made.

An unclear future does not prevent us from responding to what we already understand is required today. Obedience often begins with one thing before us and grows through continued practice.

2. Struggles with Obedience Need to Be Taken Seriously

Scripture also records the hesitation, avoidance, and failures of those who were called. Moses repeatedly resisted, Jonah fled in the opposite direction from where God sent him, and Peter denied the Lord three times. Those who are called may still fear, resist God, or falter under pressure.

We need to distinguish between honestly voicing questions and refusing to obey. When we have questions, we can seek understanding and help. When a requirement is already clear, we need to examine seriously whether we are still avoiding it.

Jonah’s experience especially shows that outward compliance and the heart’s turning toward God both need examination. He later proclaimed the message God commanded him to give to Nineveh, yet remained angry because God showed mercy to the city (Jonah 3–4). A person may complete a task while their inner judgements and attitudes still need renewal.

Obedience therefore concerns both our actions and how we understand God and treat others. We need to ask God to help us change wrong behaviour while also being willing to face the pride, resentment, and self-centredness within us. Confessing sin, seeking help, and learning anew within His grace are all part of continuing to follow Him.

3. Christ’s Obedience Accomplishes Salvation and Guides Our Lives

As Jesus faced the cross, He prayed, “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42, excerpt). He truly experienced suffering, yet remained faithful to the Father’s will.

Philippians 2:6–8 explains that Christ humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Romans 5:19 also connects His obedience with people being made righteous. His obedience has a unique redemptive significance.

To know Christ, we first need to recognise Him as the Lord who gave Himself for sinners and accomplished salvation. Through faith we receive the redemption He has accomplished and then, within His grace, learn to become like Him. Imitating His actions cannot be a means of earning salvation.

Christ’s obedience also helps us understand that suffering and obedience can coexist. A person willing to remain faithful to God may still feel fear, sorrow, or struggle. We can pray to the Father, express our needs, and ask Him to help us act according to the truth.

Yet Jesus’ going to the cross to accomplish salvation cannot be used as a reason to require those being harmed to give up seeking protection, or to exempt wrongdoers from accountability. We need to attend to justice, human dignity, and the responsibilities that should be borne in light of Scripture’s teaching as a whole.

4. Obedience Requires Understanding and Discerning God’s Will

Honesty, loving others, turning away from sin, caring for the vulnerable, and fulfilling our rightful responsibilities are clear requirements in Scripture. We need to understand these teachings carefully and be willing to let them govern our choices.

Decisions about a career, relocation, or specific arrangements for service require consideration of biblical principles, abilities, family responsibilities, actual circumstances, and mature counsel. We cannot treat our judgement as God’s command simply because we say, “I feel prompted.” Favourable circumstances alone cannot prove that a decision must be from God.

After urging believers not to quench the Spirit or despise prophecies, Paul calls them to test all things, hold firmly to what is good, and abstain from evil (1 Thessalonians 5:19–22). When the council forbade the apostles to teach in Jesus’ name, they also insisted on obeying God (Acts 5:27–29). These passages remind us that obedience to God includes a responsibility to discern. We cannot simply equate human demands with God’s commands.

In the family, the church, and the workplace, legitimate authority has a real role. We should take the responsibilities involved seriously and respect teaching and arrangements consistent with the truth. Yet no position of authority gives someone the right to require others to sin, conceal harm, or endure injustice.

Asking questions, explaining difficulties, and seeking clarification do not automatically amount to disobedience. Equally, we cannot use “I obey only God” as a reason to avoid legitimate responsibilities and accountability. Both parties need to be governed by the truth and discern together with honesty and humility.

5. Obedience Takes Shape in Actions We Can Take Today

Obedience can begin with something we already understand but have delayed acting on. If we know we have concealed important facts, we need to disclose them honestly. If we know an action is harming someone, we need to stop and take responsibility for putting things right. Confessing sin also calls for a concrete response: discerning what must stop, what needs correction, and how to take responsibility.

These responses may come at a cost. Honesty may bring loss, apologising may feel embarrassing, and facing the consequences may change our original arrangements. Yet taking these matters seriously brings faith into real life.

Obedience requires preparation and continued learning. We can ask others to remind us, establish appropriate boundaries, and change habits that leave us prone to repeated failure. Philippians 2:12–13 connects believers’ practical obedience with God’s work in their hearts: God enables them to will and to act, and they also need to respond earnestly.

This growth may not happen all at once. After falling, we need to confess, repent, face the consequences, and keep learning. After making a change, we also need to sustain it over time rather than stopping at a momentary resolve.

Submitting our will to God’s will involves continued learning within His grace: letting the truth guide our desires, putting what we understand of His word into action, and being willing to change when corrected. Obedience is expressed not only in a single decision but also in ongoing practice. This leads us to the further question of how to remain faithful to what has been entrusted to us.