Subject: What does God want other than 'obedience |
Bible Note: Dear VPaine93, I don't find any Scripture that teaches that "obedience is what he longs from us" (sic). As the sovereign creator, He has a right to command and to be obeyed. He's not wringing His hands, hoping someone will obey Him. :-) God grants what He commands. That's what we call grace. According to the Scriptures, obedience is the hallmark of those who love Him (John 14:21; 1 John 5:3). That love originates in us by His work in us (Romans 5:5). Although nature provides some knowledge of God (Romans 1:20), the Lord has graciously provided us with His self-revelation, the Word (Hebrews 1:1-2). When we rightly understand God -- His holiness, beauty, majesty, power, glory, etc. -- worship is a natural result. John Piper, discussing this very topic, writes, "There are always two parts to true worship. There is seeing God and there is savoring God. You can't separate these. You must see Him to savor Him. And if you don't savor Him when you see Him, you insult Him. In true worship, there is always understanding with the mind and there is always feeling in the heart. Understanding must always be the foundation of feeling, or all we have is baseless emotionalism. But understanding of God that doesn't give rise to feeling for God becomes mere intellectualism and deadness. This is why the Bible continually calls us to think and consider and meditate, on the one hand, and to rejoice and fear and mourn and delight and hope and be glad, on the other hand. Both are essential for worship." I still think that your students will benefit from being properly instructed in essential Biblical doctrines. In Him, Doc |