“Obey God Rather than Men” 2/03/2014

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Godsmanforever
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Acts 5:29…  But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “Weought to obeyGodrather than men.”  (NKJV)
 
If we as Christians could simply learn to obey God, instead of trying to please ourselves or those around us…our lives would change in a dramatic way for the best, in all areas !!  This is such a short, but profound statement being made by the apostle Peter and the other disciples, to the religious council and the Pharisees in the opening scripture… 
 
The Apostles were going through tough times, as they went about preaching and teaching the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and healing the sick and the lame in Christ’s name…  The disciples (and all believers at that time) had been filled with the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, as penned by Luke, in Acts chapter 2…  The Apostles had later been put in prison by the High Priest, but scripture tells us that they were released at night “by an angel of the Lord”, in…Acts 5:19…   
 
The Apostles then said this to these religious leaders of Jerusalem, in…Acts 5:32… “And we are Hiswitnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to thosewhoobeyHim.”  (NKJV)
 
11 of the original 12 apostles, as well as the apostle Paul and many others, suffered and were martyred, because they chose to obey God through obedience to the Holy Spirit, that God has given to all of His redeemed children…John 14:26…  Only the apostle John suffered persecution and was not martyred, but he was banished to the island of Patmos…Revelation 1:9…
 
Anyone who does not have the Holy Spirit residing with-in them is not a Christian in God’s eyes, no matter what they call themselves…Romans 8:9…  All of us understand what sin is…  Most of us have heard of “The 10 Commandments” (the Law), that God inscribed with His finger on 2 tablets of stone, before He gave them to Moses to bring down to the Israelites from atop Mount Sinai, as recorded in…Exodus 31:18…
 
All of us are born with a natural sin nature (Romans 3:23), from the time Adam and Eve were deceived by Satan in the Garden of Eden, and ate the apple from the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil…Genesis 2:17…  The apostle Paul tells us this sin will separate us from God (“death”), when he pens this, in…Romans 6:23…  For the wages of sinisdeath, but the gift of God is eternallifeinChristJesus our Lord.  (NKJV)
 
This “gift of God” that will allow the sinner to be forgiven of their lifetime of sins, is called grace…and it is given by God to those who in saving faith alone in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9), understand and obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ…    Salvation is only possible after the unrepentant sinner has first been drawn in by God…John 6:44…   I came across this explanation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, with a lengthy description backed up by scripture, to teach those in need of hearing this truth from God’s Word…  http://www.acts17-11.com/gospel.html
 
But once the new believer has been graced with salvation by God…today’s writing is to further explain how the filling of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18-20) is the only way to have any chance of living in consistent (though never perfect) obedience to the will of God… 
 
Because God gave man free will…we can choose to obey God after we become one of His redeemed children…  Or we can choose to follow our own fleshly, carnal desires…and fall prey to the temptations that Satan will constantly try to bombard all Christians with, to separate us from the sweet fellowship that will be experienced by walking in the Spirit, by the full power of the Holy Spirit…Galatians 5:16… 
 
Jesus gives us the answer on how to remain filled with His love, in… John 15:10-12…  “IfyoukeepMycommandments, youwillabide in Mylove, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. 11  These things I have spoken to you, thatMyjoy may remain in you, and thatyourjoy may be full.  12 This is Mycommandment, that youlove one another as I have lovedyou.” (NKJV)
 
Friends, Jesus isn’t speaking about us keeping the 10 commandments that God gave us in the Old Testament…  No one living then (or ever), will be able to keep all of these commandments…James 2:10…  These 10 Commandments (called the Law), are now only to show us that we are sinners, pointing us to the Savior, Jesus Christ…Romans 3:20-23…
 
Jesus gives us His 2 most important commandments in…Matthew 22:36-40… here is the link… http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mat22:36-40&version=NKJV;KJV…  Jesus tells us that if we can fulfill both of these commandments, (the second being “that youlove one another as I have lovedyou”), then we will be abiding in His love, and then our “joy may be full”… 
 
Abiding “in Mylove”, walking in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16), being filled with the Spirit(Ephesians 5:18-20), being “filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:16-19), and “Myjoy may remain in you, and thatyourjoy may be full”, are all pieces of Bible scripture depicting the Christian who is living as a follower (disciple) of Jesus Christ…
 
Jesus tells His disciples (and us) this, at “The Last Supper”, in…John 13:34-35…  “A new commandmentI give to you, that you love one another; as Ihaveloved you, that you also love one another. 35 Bythisall will know that youareMydisciples, if you have love for one another.”  (NKJV)
 
Love is the common thread and the key to obeying God, and walking with Him as a Spirit filled Christian…  But notice that our love for others must be unconditional love, “as Ihaveloved you”…  This means that our love must not come and go…  It must be a continuous love that Jesus tells us should prevail even in the face of our enemies…
 
Matthew 5:43-44… “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, loveyourenemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those whohateyou, and pray for those who spitefully useyou and persecute you,” (NKJV)
 
Friends, I am here to testify that you can not love someone screaming in your face with rage, in your own weak mortal strength…  I failed this test on more than one occasion as a Christian, because I wasn’t living a Christ centered, Spirit filled life…  This “Christ like” agape love to be revealed in ALL situations, is only possible through the fullness of Christ in our lives; by the supernatural power of the Holt Spirit living with-in the Christian’s heart that is filled with the love of Christ…
 
When we submit our lives totally to God on a consistent basis…we will possess this awesome supernatural power of the Holy Spirit, which will fill us with the supernatural love of Christwhich passes our mortal knowledge… Ephesians 3:19…that will give us a fullness of joy because of Christ’s joy in us…John 15:11…and a supernatural peace which surpasses all understanding…Philippians 4:6-7…  This peace will allow us to even look at our own impending death without fear…Philippians 1:21-23…  Only then, will we be established in Christ to a point where we will be able to obey God virtually every time the Holy Spirit urges us to follow His lead…
 
Heavenly Father, I pray that Your living and powerful Word would cut to the very core of all of our souls like a two edged sword…Hebrews 4:12-13…  Help all us Lord, to taste and see that Your way of life is the only way to find true peace and joy in this sin filled, sick world that surrounds us…  I pray for this fullness of Christ in all of our lives, in Jesus’ most precious name and for His sake…Amen…
 
Blessings in Christ,  bruce
 
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About Godsmanforever

I present posts about God's Word, with a personal focus on how God's grace is received through saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ... Sinners must understand and obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ... See this link for more... https://godsmanforever.com/2014/10/26/the-truth-about-sin-10262014-by-bruce-reposted-from-7112013/
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