Theological Commentary: Click Here
Discipleship Focus: Obedience
- Obedience: Genuine and satisfying obedience comes out of our identity. Our true identity comes only from our Father.
As I was
reading this passage today, a part of the scripture jumped out at me that I had
glossed over many times. We are created
for good works. Our function is good
works.
Of course
I always knew that, which is why I think I always gloss over it really easily. God made us and we are in relationship with
Him so that we can do His will. That’s one
of the great underlying premises of relationship with God.
However,
because we understand that premise so easily we miss the point that Paul is
trying to make in context. Paul says
this immediately after saying that we are saved by grace and not work. It is not our works that save us. What saves us is the gift of God coming to us
through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ upon the cross. Therefore, works must be our obedient
response rather than our natural condition.
God
created us for good works. In fact, Paul
goes one step further. We are created in Jesus Christ for good works. It is the transformation that God does in us
through Jesus Christ that allows us to be obedient to His will. We are not perfect little angels at
conception. We do not come out of the
birth process innocent little creations who are free of sin. We are born into this world sinful and
corrupt. Through Jesus Christ – through the
grace of God – God takes that person whose nature is corrupt and causes them to
be able to be obedient. Our obedience is
always a response to God’s grace; it is never an act we do on our own in order
to win God’s grace.
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