Romans 6:16 (part 4)

...or of obedience, which leads to righteousness   Romans 6:16 ESV part 4

In this post, we will continue looking at what it means to be obedient slaves to the one we serve, and the fact that how we spend our time, energy, and resources reveals who or what we are presenting ourselves to as willing servants, obedient slaves. This will finish up verse 16, and as we move forward, Paul will shed even more light on this topic.

Here is verse 16 in its entirety:

Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 

In the previous posts, we have discussed this idea that what we do reveals who we are. Verse 16 is also very clear that who we serve, we serve willingly...we are never forced by God to be lost, sinful creatures. We are lost sinful creatures because, as Paul says, we present ourselves as obedient slaves.

In the last post, we saw that one option is to present ourselves as obedient slaves to sin, which leads to death. In this post, we will look at the other option.
     - side note - we also looked at the fact that there are only two options. There is no middle ground or neutral area. We are either slaves of sin, or as we will look at now, slaves of obedience. By default, refusing obedience makes us slaves to sin, and being set free from sin makes us slaves of obedience.

Here is what we see Paul saying in regards to obedience here in verse 16:  The other option is to present yourselves as obedient slaves to obedience, which leads to righteousness.

This is very interesting, this idea of obedient slaves of obedience - so much is revealed about what it means to be a child of God. The Greek words translated obedient and obedience both imply submission to authority . As lost people, we willingly submit to sinful lusts and desires, they are what drives every thing that we do.

As God's children, the change that has taken place in our heart is made evident by the fact that we willingly submit to a new Master - God. Our submission to God is made evident through our submission to Him. (though we continue to hang on to areas of pride, and God continually reveals areas in which we need to submit, the ultimate desire of the heart is submission)

So, when Paul says we are obedient slaves of obedience, he is telling us as God's children that the thing we are to be controlled by, the thing that is supposed to guide our every decision, the thing that we are to be submissive to, is obedience/submission to God. If this is true (and God said it so it is!) we can know this:

as God's children, we are to be in constant pursuit of obedience to Him

If we are not pursuing obedience and submission to God continuously, we in gross disobedience. We like to say, "I'm a Christian" and then justify why we don't do what the bible commands us to do. Things like "Seek first the kingdom of God" - "Draw close to God" - "Be holy" - "Put to death what is earthly in you" - or whatever else challenges us as Christians. We like to gray the lines when it comes to verses like this because the standard set by God is so perfect and unattainable. But, as His children, we are to be driven by a desire to submit and obey. Keep this in mind for a minute while we look at some Scripture.

It's so interesting that the reason Satan was cast from heaven was pride. Pride is the opposite of submission, and pride is the driving reason behind why, as lost people, we do not choose God. We refuse to submit to an ultimate authority. This reveals the power of God, that He can take us as prideful, self-centered, arrogant people and make us obedient (submissive) from the heart - as Paul will discuss in greater detail in the following verses.

Look at these verses:

And he said to them, "Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?" Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, "What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?"  Mathew 8:26,27

But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, "What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him."  Mark 1:25-27 

In the two passages above, we see the authority of God through Jesus on display.  The elements of the earth conform to His authority. The spiritual realm, including the demons who hate Him, conform to His authority. The difference is, they don't do this willingly...the elements of the earth can't be willing, and the demons hate God, yet they must conform to the authority of the Creator.

Back to the statement we looked at above: as His children, we are to be driven by a desire to submit and obey. When we obey things God says, but don't willingly pursue obedience to Him and His entire Word, in all areas of our life, we are revealing that we are submissive to God as the One who is more powerful than us, and maybe to a degree as our Father, BUT we are not submitting to obedience as the driving factor in all that we do. Obedient to obedience speaks of submission to the greatest degree.

Analogy:
If a parent tells their child to go to their room, and the child does it knowing that if they don't the parent has the ability to physically carry them to their room, the child is obeying simply because the parent is stronger than them, not because they want to.

If a parent tells their child to go to their room, and they do it because they want to do what their parent says, because of the love between them, their desire to obey their parent is driving their act of obedience...this is being obedient to obedience.

The analogy is weak, I hope it sheds light on how we are to be living as God's children!

As humans, God is our creator, and we ultimately conform to His authority. However, Paul tells us that, as His children, we are to recognize and acknowledge the authority of our Creator, and follow Him in submission, fighting against the pride and self-centered attitudes of the flesh that want everything to be about us.

Let's look at some Scripture that commands our obedience to Christ - and solidifies the command to be obedient to obedience, willingly submitting to God through obedience in all areas of our life.

But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men.  Acts 5:29

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ  2 Corinthians 10:5

(Jesus Christ)...through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations  Romans 1:5

Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart  1 Peter 1:22

according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.  
1 Peter 1:2


and probably the most powerful example of being obedient to obedience...Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our perfect example...also was obedient:

Although He was a son, He learned obedience through what he suffered.

How are we living as God's children? Are we obedient to obedience? Are we willingly submitting to all of God's Word, in every area of our lives? Are we pursuing obedience to God through submission to Him? Are we allowing obedience to God be the thing that drives all that we do? 

Or...are we 'kind of' obedient? Is obedience to God something that we do when it is convenient? Do we try to live a 'moral' life, go to church on Sunday, and give some of our money to those in need - and consider ourselves 'obedient'? 

My friend, I think we all find ourselves in the second description more than we would like - we are sinful creatures...but this is not what we should be OK with. We need to discipline ourselves to pursue God by submitting to Him....how can we do this? We need to allow obedience to God to become the thing that drives us, not in an effort to gain a reward, but out of love for Him as our Father! We need to desire being obedient to obedience! 

To me, this sounds so hard at times. How do I make myself desire being obedient to obedience all the time. I get frustrated when I screw up, when I get distracted, when I totally flip flop my priorities...and God reminds me of these promises:
Draw close to God, and He will draw close to you. James 4:8
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13
It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. Galatians 2:20

       ...and SO MANY more!

The greatest thing about being obedient to obedience is this: submission to God is not about working hard to achieve something, it's all about letting go! The world will run itself into the ground attempting to achieve something...in it's obedience to the lusts of the flesh. We are so blessed! We have been called to a relationship that is all about being released from the curse of work! We can lay it all at the throne of God, and He will draw close to us, strengthen us, bless us, and ultimately, work through us for HIS GLORY!!!!