Freedom in Obedience?
I used to think the bible was a list of rules to follow that robbed me of my joy and fun.
Now I can see that it’s IN obedience to God’s plan for us that I’m more joyful and satisfied than I’ve ever been.
What a seemingly self-contradictory statement. The lukewarm Christian or non-believer is thinking, “How on earth is freedom and joy found in obedience? That doesn’t even make sense! Those are opposites.”
Here’s how: It’s the joy that comes first. I’m not joyful because of my obedience, I’m obedient because of my joy.
In every other worldview, performance leads to the verdict. In Buddhism, good behavior earns good karma, and bad deeds bad karma. Muslims believe that a person’s salvation is based on their good works outweighing their bad deeds- the Qu’ran states “They whose balances shall be heavy shall be blest. But they whose balances shall be light, they shall lose their soul, abiding in hell forever” (Surah 23:102-104). Even atheists might say they get their esteem from being “a good person.” Tim Keller compares this to a courtroom. He says this way of thinking means that every day you are on trial. But in true Christianity, the verdict leads to the performance. Because the second we believe, God views Jesus’ perfect performance as if it were our own. Keller writes, “You see, the verdict is [already] in. And now I perform on the basis of the verdict. Because He loves me and He accepts me, I do not have to do things just to build up my résumé. I do not have to do things that make me look good. I can do things for the joy of doing them. I can help people to help people- not so I can feel better about myself or fill up the emptiness.” When the performance leads to the verdict, the verdict never comes- because your performance is never enough, there’s always more. You set a goal and achieve it only to realize it didn’t fulfill like you expected it to, and maybe there’s a higher goal that will fulfill you, rinse and repeat, and you’re always left searching. But for the Christian, the trial is over! You are out of the courtroom! Why? Because Jesus went on trial instead. He faced the judgment that should’ve been ours. And we’re counted as perfect because of that. That is freedom.
Piper says it like this: “If we treat obedience as something we do first and then joy in Jesus follows, we will have turned obedience into a work of the law.” This would mean that we can earn things by what we do, which is not biblical and not true! He goes on to say that “all Christ-honoring obedience is rooted in our treasuring of Jesus, our enjoying of Jesus. So it wouldn’t be accurate to say that enjoying Jesus is only the result of obedience. In fact, joy is a part of obedience, the cause of obedience, the root of obedience.”
I am so joyful in Christ and caught up in the supremacy of Him that obeying Him is simply an overflow of my satisfaction in Him. If I truly believe that Jesus lived a perfect and blameless life, took the punishment for my sins therefore freeing me from wrath, and then rose from the dead- why wouldn’t I want to listen to and take to heart everything that He says?
Sources:
Tim Keller in The Freedom of Self Forgetfulness
John Piper in a post on DesiringGod.com
