Obedience IS Better IN THE YIELDING WE GAIN THE SHIELDING 1 Sam 15:22-23 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams .For rebellion is the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king. The root of all Godly character from Adam until this very day is steeped in our obedience to Him. Obedience is our best imitation of Him who has loved and redeemed us. [Romans 12:1,2 & 13:14] We must be obedient, not because we have to in a legal sense but because that is the desire of our heart. Yeshua clearly tells us that absolutely not one jot or tittle of His Word passes away. [Matthew 5:18] Peter echoes this with the proclamation that all flesh is as the grass that withereth but the Word of God endureth forever. [1 Peter 1:24,25] Throughout the New Covenant the references to scripture and God’s Word are of the TaNaK—Torah, Prophets and Writings and assuredly prophetically of the New Covenant writings. Paul’s admonition to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16,17 regarding all scripture surely, at that point could not be pointing to the synoptic Gospels or any other writing in what we now have as the New Covenant. John tells us that the sure evidence of the love of God in our life is to obey His commands [1John 5:1-3] and that His commands are not grievious. Keeping of commands has NEVER been God’s plan of salvation/redemption. That has always been by the blood and by faith. The truth of the matter is that the Law/Torah CANNOT be properly adhered to UNTIL one is born again for it IS by the Spirit we duly imitate Yeshua. { a little gotchya right here is the the slogan of WWJD; He would-and did- obey the Torah—ALL that His Father has/had said}. The goal of God’s Law/Torah is to point us to Yeshua {Romans 10:4]. Obedience IS imitation, and just as Yeshua we learn obedience through that which we suffer…..Heb 5:8-9--Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; Please take serious note of the last phrase above. He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that OBEY Him. Bold proclamation of the works one has done is NOT salvation, it is in the KNOWING and that comes only through submitted obedience from a broken and contrite heart washed by faith in Yeshua’s blood. as our Lord. Isa 1:19-20--If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. The point of imitating Yeshua by obedience of this missive begins with Acts 1:8--But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. The first rule of good interpretation is to take the literal meaning and apply it. Yeshua came to the Jews, the children of Abraham, Isaac and Israel and meant for that ministry to continue from that point outward. Apart from the Jewish foundation Christianity’s stand is a bit shaky; sort of like trying to grasp calculus without having ever learned simple math. This does not mean that God is a respecter of persons but He surely does have a perfect manner in which His will is to be completed. God has no obligation to be politically or socially “correct.” Yeshua has let us know that the spreading of the Gospel should radiate from Jerusalem for maximum imitation and affect. Even Paul, in his sure calling to the Gentiles, echoes this heart of the Messiah in Romans.--Rom 1:16-17--For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek .For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. The clamor of nearly every generation since the first coming of Yeshua has been for revival as in the book of Acts. Well, that is surely a good and noble, even Godly yearning, but somewhere along the line we have forgotten the facts of that first great awakening. It was not until Cornelius that the Gentiles were apart of that great revival/awakening. Up until that time it was our Hebrew family that was growing in Spirit and in Truth and in revival., in numbers that were absolutely astounding. What could be the underlying truth or revelation of this? Well. Let us take a peek at Romans 3:1-4--What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged. The advantage is that the Jews have the history of the Torah, Prophets and writings, the very basis for obedience and for imitation of God. THIS is the foundation that the New Covenant is built upon. Apart from the foundation there can not be much hope for that greater latter rain. The church today, some, not all, is in the mode of imitating the world in an attempt to win the lost with a salvation that actually denies the Lordship of Yeshua and apart from His Lordship there can be NO salvation. Go ahead take a new look at that Romans road of salvation; confess the LORD Jesus. We become His peculiar people by our obedience not by our reasoning and ‘figuring” Him out and making the Scripture palatable rather than convicting. In obeying Torah (the portion that does apply to us) we are set apart, walking out our redemption in holiness. In obeying Torah (that portion that does apply to us) we can claim the promises; yep His love is unconditional but EVERY promise has the hinge of if, then and when. Obedience IS better and yet His grace buoys us all on with hope for God’s grace empowers the disciple to DO all that Truth requires. Grace just isn’t amazing in our salvation alone but also in the perfecting of our holiness in Him; and as with natural children all are in differing stages of growth. What portion? Look at Acts 15:17-21. There are 4 very pronounced items in this passage but there is also a subtle key found in verse 21 of Moses being read in the synagogue. Where were believers/disciples gathering to learn and to grow? In the synagogue as well as from home to home, growing TOGETHER as one new man in Yeshua; one not above the other. Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the world. This does not mean that we have to go there first but Jerusalem and the faith of the fathers should LEAD the way [if it’s not broken don’t fix it].--Rom 2:28-29--For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. The letter of the law is the legalistic adherence in an attempt to obtain salvation and the favor of God.; the spirit is that which flows from relationship and love in seeking His face His arm is around us; the yeilding that brings shielding..-Ezek 36:26-27--A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh .And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. [Jer 31:31-34] Let us jump to Romans 11 to close: Rom 11:11-21--I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. OBEDIENCE IS BETTER, why settle for less? Let’s have Life from the dead!!!!!!! ONE New Man.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Jun 2013 14:19:23 +0000