Friday, June 7, 2013

What's Your Focus, Trust or Obedience?

The noun obedience appears 13 times in the New Testament. 4 of those times refer to "obedience of faith" which means to have faith in Jesus, have faith in the gospel. 7 of those times refer to other human obedience, 1 of which could contextually be applied to us today.
The noun faith (trust) appears 282 times in the New Testament.

The verb obey appears 23 times in the New Testament. 6 of those times refer to "obeying the gospel" which means to believe in the gospel, to believe in Jesus. 7 of those times refer to other human obedience, 3 of which are commands we could contextually apply to ourselves today.
The verb believe (trust) appears 221 times in the New Testament.

The adjective obedient appears 9 times in the New Testament. 2 of those times refer to being "obedient to the faith" which means to have faith in Jesus. 6 of those times refer to other human obedience, 3 of which could contextually be applied to us today.
The adjective faithful (trustworthy) appears 54 times in the New Testament.

Final Tally:
Obedience:  7
Trust:  567

Of course this is just based on these 6 words & without examining the contexts believe, faith, & faithful appear in, but still this should get us thinking. Our Father is more concerned with having a relationship of trust with His children than with having obedient servants.

We are however called to be obedient children (1 Peter 1:14), but obedient to the highest command of God which is "Trust in Me" (1 John 3:23, John 14:1). Trusting is obedience & trusting results in further obedience. The bible clearly communicates trust as most important. The difference between trust & obedience should be recognized. Therefore trust must come first. Trust has to be more important because everything is wrapped in trust. Many attempt to obey without trust. You can obey (ideas of God, the law, traditions of men, self-professed human leaders) without trusting God but you cannot trust God without obeying Him. Start with trust & you will have everything. Start with obedience & you may never get to trust.

1 comment:

  1. I am reminded by the song. "Trust & Obey" for there's no other way...
    Trust precedes obedience. It has a deeper meaning. A believer can obey but still lost. Trusting God's omnipotent power is total surrender...

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