Greetings Flag Branch members and friends and thanks for taking the time to join me, Pastor Jordan, for some Fine Points from Sunday’s service and message “Hiding Behind Faith”.
We live in a world of unknowns. We must make decisions without the answers to unknown questions. After looking at and taking into account all the relevant data and information, we must fill in the blanks with what we believe to be the case. That which we believe, but don’t know to be for a fact is called faith.
Much of what we know and believe about and concerning God is drawn upon faith. If there is a God, which I believe there is, then God has chosen to use faith as the means to justify mankind. People have used and are using the excuse of not knowing for sure as a reason for not obeying God. I call this hiding behind faith as a stated or given reason for not obeying God.
On the other hand, those of us in the church use faith as an excuse for not obeying God. We believe our faith absolves us of all accountability for disobedience. It really doesn’t matter how much or how often we disobey as long as we have faith in God through Jesus Christ. In this respect, we too are hiding behind faith as a stated or given reason for disobeying God.
But the truth is faith, sacrifices or anything else can’t replace or substitute for obedience. These things are worthless and meaningless without obedience. Hiding behind faith exposes a heart of rebellion and stubbornness as Samuel confronted Saul revealed when he disobeyed God.
In the case with Saul, faith wasn’t even in question. Saul didn’t doubt that God is real and that He gave him the command. However, Saul placed something else before his obedience to God. On top of that, he seems to make light of the fact that the portion of his disobedience really didn’t amount to disobedience at all because he claimed he obeyed God.
Today, we are dismissing our disobedience as a light thing to be overlooked and not to be concerned about. Some are going so far as to say that God doesn’t expect us to obey as we rely on the grace of God to cover and neutralize our disobedience. This is a misreading and misinterpretation of the gospel.
Nothing God has done has removed our responsibility to obey Him. If anything, it has given us the opportunity to amend our ways and become compliant with His expectations of us. We must come to see that obedience is something that is expected and disobedience unexpected with grace being there in those rare unexpected cases. For grace is an outgrowth of faith. We can receive God’s grace as a result of our faith.
When everything that we depend on faith for is no longer hidden or unknown and there is no need for faith, what will then separate those who are in the kingdom of God from those outside the His kingdom. Obedience.
Faith doesn’t release anyone, especially believers, from obedience. It doesn’t release those who say they don’t know enough to obey nor those who say they have faith enough to believe God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself.
Obedience is better than sacrifice and to obey better than all the faith in world. For without obedience, both are worthless and meaningless before God. This is why we must stop hiding behind faith to excuse our disobedience.
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Click the SS Daily Bible Readings for an excellent devotional and preparation for the upcoming Sunday School study. Don’t forget to leave a comment or question down below. As always, remember to fear God and keep His commandments.
Pastor Jordan
