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.
This chapter
is really a chapter that boils down to: “Do the right thing and live.” It genuinely is about obedience. It is about our desire to follow God’s ways
rather than bow to our own sinfulness.
Obey God and live. Disobey God
and die in your sin. It doesn’t get much
more simple than that.
What does
flabbergast me about this chapter is the idea that the Hebrew people thought
this was unjust. How can God possibly be
considered unjust by saying that people are judged according to their own
works? How is that line of thinking even
rational?
The reason
that it is rational is because of the interpretation that the Hebrew people
take regarding God’s interaction with Abraham.
They believe that they are God’s chosen people because their biological
heritage grants them a special circumstance.
So when God comes out and says that even Hebrew people will be judged
according to their obedience they cry foul!
Think about
it for a second. Who would voluntarily
want to be judged based on our obedience when we could be judged on our
lineage?
Of course,
we know that this isn’t what God is talking about. The offspring of Abraham are a spiritual
offspring, not a biological one. Abraham’s
seed is not in genealogy; it is in spiritual obedience to the Father. Those who are humble before God and obey Him
after listening to His call are Abraham’s offspring.
<><
No comments:
Post a Comment