Trust and Obey

Trust and obey
For there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus
But to trust and obey

But this is not a matter of trusting and then obeying. It is also a matter of obeying and continuing to trust in God, even when we cannot understand his ways with us. Abraham trusted where he could not see (Hebrews 11:8). But even when trust wavered, obedience was the only way into the perfect will of God for his life (Romans 4:18; Hebrews 11:17-19)...

Here is an immensely important lesson to learn as early as we can in the Christian life. Be obedient even when you do not know where obedience may lead you. It will guard you and protect you. Always trust God's word and live by his commands rather than by circumstances, providences or opportunities alone. Only in obedience, in a trust which clings to the promise that God is working everything together for those who love him, can there ever be safety. For only in obedience can we discover the great joy of the will of God.

- Sinclair B. Ferguson, Discovering God's Will

A pattern of deliberately choosing to obey the Word of the Lord is the very heart of a life of principled obedience. Where obedience is rendered in this fashion habitually (ie. as a pattern of life), a life of principled, conscientious obedience exists. Where obedience is left to manifest itself according to any other principle than deliberate choice to obey, a pattern of conscientious conformity to the will of God will not exist. The reality of the Christian life is just that simple.

The Christian life is not, 'Let go and let God.' It is true that in all our obedience we are to seek and depend upon the power of the Holy Spirit; yet if we 'let go' (ie. become passive nonparticipants in the war against remaining sin), God will not do for us what He has commanded us to do. God will not obey for us.

We must not permit a life of principled, conscientious obedience to be overturned by unprincipled feelings or by the fact of remaining moral corruption. If our obedience is accompanied by good feelings, wonderful. May God be praised! But if we feel rotten, our duty does not change. If our remaining sin resists us in the path of obedience, we are not excused from our obligation to obey God. And until we embrace this perspective with all of our soul, we will go limping and halting all of our days. Unless we vigorously battle unprincipled emotions and remaining sin, we will know very little of a real life of obedience to God.

- A. N. Martin, A Life of Principled Obedience

Let no vice or sin remain
That resists Your holy war
You have loved and purchased me
Make me Yours forever more

Links: The Obedience of the Will (26 May 10), Genesis 24 (3 Jun 10)