Your ShelfYour Projects

HOLINESS AND OBEDIENCE

5%

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Aug 2, 1905

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 31, No. 31.

Read the full edition

HOLINESS AND OBEDIENCE.

By S.

In the possession of true holiness an essential requisite is obedience to God. This is seen by a reading of the following text:
"Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance; but as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy." 1 Peter 1:13-16.
It is all comprehended in true obedience. The "obedient children" will do the things there set forth; and it is that spirit of obedience to God which eventuates in true holiness. The admonition, "Be ye holy," is preceded by the direction for attaining true holiness, and that is summed up in the two words, "obedient children." As in all things pertaining to life and godliness Christ is our example, so we see that He was our example in this matter; for we read:
"Tho 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." Heb. 5:8, 9.
Followers of Christ are looking for and hoping for perfection. Many have claimed and are now claiming perfection, holiness, but without following Christ's example in the matter of obedience. Christ became the Author of eternal salvation because of His perfection, His holiness; but He did not consider Himself our perfect Saviour until He had learned obedience. "Being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." He suffered for us "being tempted." He "was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." If He had sinned, He would have been disobedient; that is, He would have broken the law, for "sin is the transgression of the law." Therefore, being obedient, He was a law-keeper. Obedience means law-keeping. He became a man for the very purpose of teaching men obedience by power of His own example; and He learned His lesson through suffering, even the ignominious death of the cross.
Not only did Christ suffer that He might teach us obedience; but also that He might be able to help us and sympathize with us in our struggle against the spirit of disobedience. Hear these words concerning Him:
"Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted." Heb. 2:17, 18.
That wonderful fact is thus reiterated:
"For we have not an High Priest which can not be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Heb. 4:15, 16.
Having left us an example that we should walk as He walked; having become a man that He might have a perfect knowledge of the feelings and infirmities and temptations of men; having declared Himself able to succor them that are tempted, and to help us "in time of need;" we are without excuse in refusing now to keep His law. He says that He "became the Author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him." What have we to expect, then, if we refuse obedience? To refuse Him obedience is to deny Him as our Master; and of those who do this He says: "Whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven." Matt. 10:33.
What is meant by obedience?—It is the keeping of the law of God, conformity to that law; for in that is the will of God expressed. That this is what is meant by "obedience" as used in the Word of God, is taught both directly and indirectly in that Word itself. It is taught directly in such texts as these:
"Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did not the Lord, He against whom we have sinned? for they would not walk in His ways, neither were they obedient unto His law. Therefore He hath poured upon him the fury of His anger." Isa. 42:24.
"As the nations which the Lord destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God." Deut. 8:20.
It was the law of God that was spoken by this "voice of the Lord;" for we read:
"And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire; ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. And He declared unto you His covenant, which He commanded you to perform, even Ten Commandments; and He wrote them upon two tables of stone." Deut. 4:12, 13.
"When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto His voice; (for the Lord thy God is a merciful God); He will not forsake thee. . . . Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live?" Deut. 4:30-33.
There can be no question, then, concerning what the Lord means when He commands us to be obedient unto His voice. He is commanding us to keep His law, the law spoken with His own voice, and written with His own finger upon two tables of stone.
That "obedience" means the keeping of the law of God is taught indirectly in the Bible in the record of the life of Christ. "Sin is the transgression of the law." Man had sinned. "Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." So man had earned death through sin, the transgression of the law. But Christ, triumphant where man failed, obedient where man was disobedient, keeping the commandments of God, and so declared righteous by the Father, was able to purchase redemption for us, giving us the life earned by His obedience in place of the death which would have been the wages of our disobedience. Man's failure was in his disobedience to God's law. Christ's victory was in His obedience to that same law. The law of God was the test of Christ's holiness; and He stood the test because of His obedience to the law. There is no different test for the followers of Christ to-day. It is folly for us to claim holiness while despising or neglecting the law of God, or trampling upon any one of its several commandments. S.