wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200003292 Counteracting disobedience due to inborn sin. At the outset God informed man that obedience was basic, a life-and-death matter. (Ge 2:16, 17) The same rule applies to God’s spirit sons. (1Pe 3:19, 20; Jude 6; Mt 25:41) The willful disobedience of the perfect man Adam, as the responsible head over Eve and as the male progenitor or life source of the human family, brought sin and death to all his offspring. (Ro 5:12, 19) By nature, then, men are “sons of disobedience” and “children of wrath,” meriting God’s disfavor because of their violation of his righteous standards. Failure to resist this inherent inclination to disobedience is the course of ultimate destruction.—Eph 2:2, 3; 5:6-11; compare Ga 6:7-9. Jehovah God has mercifully provided the means for combating sin in the flesh and for gaining forgiveness of wrongdoing resulting from imperfection rather than from willful disobedience. By his holy spirit, God supplies the force for righteousness that enables sinful men to produce good fruitage. (Ga 5:16-24; Tit 3:3-7) Forgiveness for sins comes through faith in Christ’s ransom sacrifice, and such faith in itself is a deterrent to wrongdoing and a stimulus to obedience. (1Pe 1:2) Thus Paul refers to “obedience [hearing submissively] by faith.” (Ro 16:26; 1:16; compare Ac 6:7.) At Romans 10:16-21 he shows that hearing coupled with faith produces obedience and that the disobeying (disbelieving [from a·pei·the′o]) of the Israelites was due to lack of faith. (Compare Heb 3:18, 19.) Since true faith is “the assured expectation of things hoped for” and “the evident demonstration of realities though not beheld,” and since it requires believing that God is “and that he becomes the rewarder of those earnestly seeking him,” those having faith are moved to obey, having confidence and assurance as to the blessings that obedience will bring.—Heb 11:1, 6. In harmony with this, God’s communication to men is not simply a series of terse commands like those of an unfeeling dictator. God does not desire the kind of obedience one obtains from a beast with a bridle and bit. (Compare Jas 3:3; Ps 32:8, 9.) Not a perfunctory or a begrudging obedience, such as even the demons rendered to Christ and his disciples (Mr 1:27; Lu 10:17, 20), but obedience motivated by an appreciative heart is called for. (Ps 112:1; 119:11, 112; Ro 6:17-19) Jehovah therefore accompanies his expressions of will and purpose with helpful information appealing to one’s sense of justice and righteousness, to love and goodness, intelligence, reason, and wisdom. (De 10:12, 13; Lu 1:17; Ro 12:1, 2) Those with the right heart attitude obey out of love. (1Jo 5:2, 3; 2Jo 6) Also, the truthfulness and rightness of the message given through God’s servants persuades the hearers to obey, and hence the apostle Peter speaks of “obedience to the truth with unhypocritical brotherly affection as the result.”—1Pe 1:22; compare Ro 2:8, 9; Ga 5:7, 8. Jehovah showed great patience with Israel and speaks of himself as “daily getting up early” and sending his prophets to exhort and admonish them, ‘all day long spreading out his hands toward a people that is disobedient and talks back,’ but they continued to harden their hearts like emery stone, stubbornly refusing discipline. (Jer 7:23-28; 11:7, 8; Zec 7:12; Ro 10:21) Even after the coming of Messiah, they endeavored to establish their righteousness in their own way, by works of the Law. Their lack of faith and obedience to God’s instructions through his Son cost the majority of them a place in the Kingdom government, opening the way for many non-Jews to become part of the chosen nation of spiritual Israel.—Ro 10:1-4; 11:13-23, 30-32. A healthy fear of God also plays its part in obedience, because one recognizes God’s all-powerfulness and that God is not to be trifled with nor can he be mocked, for he renders to each one according to that one’s deeds. (Compare Php 2:12, 13; Ga 6:7, 8; Heb 5:7.) Willful disobedience or disregard for God’s revealed will brings “a certain fearful expectation of judgment.”—Heb 10:26-31. The Scriptures set forth many encouraging examples of faithful obedience in all manner of circumstances and situations and in the face of all types of opposition. Supreme among these is the example of God’s own Son, who “humbled himself and became obedient as far as death, yes, death on a torture stake.” (Php 2:8; Heb 5:8) By his obedient course he was justified, proved righteous on his own merit, and hence could provide a perfect sacrifice that would redeem mankind from sin and death.—Ro 5:18-21.
Posted on: Sun, 01 Sep 2013 18:22:59 +0000
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