The Plan of Salvation: Obey and Develop I. Introduction A. We have been examining the God's plan of salvation as demonstrated in the Bible 1. Hear, believe, confess, repent, be baptized, and be obedient B. We have already examined the first five: hear, believe, confess, repent, and be baptized 1. We saw that it is necessary to hear the Gospel in order to accept its message and be obedient, and for people to hear, there must be a presentation of the Gospel, and someone to preach it 2. We saw that we are to be the ones to preach the Gospel to others 3. We also saw that "to believe" was to give mental assent to Jesus and to trust Him, but that belief-- faith-- demands obedience and following the standard of the One trusted 4. We saw that confession was proclaiming that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, both by our mouths and also in our deeds 5. We recognized that repentance was the expression of sorrow for past sins, but also a complete change of mind, the mental determination to no longer walk in the futility of the past but to strive to do what is right 6. Furthermore, we saw that immersion in water is necessary for the remission of sin, and baptism represents the point at which one enters into a relationship with God and can be rightly considered a Christian C. Many times, discussion of the plan of salvation ends with baptism, since one now has received "initial salvation" and has entered into a relationship with God D. Yet really, salvation only begins at baptism-- the plan must continue! E. Let us now look into the need to obey God for salvation II. The Need to Obey A. The Scriptures widely attest to the need to persevere in the Gospel and be obedient to God B. Matthew 10:22 1. it is the one who endures to the end who will be saved 2. There is no "retirement" in Christianity! C. John 3:36 1. Notice the parallelism 2. Those who "believe" have eternal life... 3. ...yet those who "do not obey" will not see life! 4. Further demonstration of the connection between belief and obedience D. Romans 2:8: those who are disobedient are consigned to wrath E. 2 Corinthians 10:5: capturing all thoughts so as to obey Christ! F. 2 Thessalonians 1:8: those who do not obey the Gospel of Christ are consigned to condemnation G. 2 Thessalonians 3:14: one is to take note of those who do not obey the message of the Apostles and have nothing to do with such a one! H. Hebrews 5:9: God is the author of salvation to those who obey Him I. 1 John 5:2: We can know we love the children of God when we love God and obey His commandments J. We can see, then, that the Scriptures powerfully demonstrate the need for us to be obedient! III. The Need for Obedience Demonstrated A. The concept of obedience does not sit well with America 1. Americans pride themselves on independence from inherited authority 2. Americans have little desire to take orders from anyone 3. This has led many in America to go on their own path and no longer seek God's path B. Do we have the right to go down our own paths? Not according to what God has spoken! C. We can see the need for obedience demonstrated in the metaphors of the Scriptures speaking of the relationship between ourselves and God D. Parent/child relationship: Hebrews 12:5-10 1. From Hebrews 12 and other passages, we see the relationship between ourselves and God compared to that of a Father and a child 2. From this metaphor we get the idea of the tender love that God has for us, and the love we ought to have for Him 3. Yet the authority role of the Father, and the subservient role of the child, cannot be denied! 4. Colossians 3:20: children are to obey their parents, for such is right 5. How much more, then, should we be obedient to our Heavenly Father? E. Master/slave-servant relationship: Romans 6:12-21 1. Romans 6 presents a view of humanity that is not pleasing to modern philosophical principles, and yet represents a great truth 2. We can see from Romans 6 that no matter who you determine to make your master, you have a master-- you are always in the subservient position 3. The question is not whether you will have a master or not-- the question is whom your master will be 4. You are either a doulos of sin/Satan or righteousness/God a. the Greek word, in its basic meaning, is "slave" b. one, then, can properly speak of being either a slave of sin or a slave of righteousness c. doulos can also mean "servant", and is preferred when speaking of serving God, since you have at least the choice to serve Him-- you are not forced to do so! d. one can speak easily of having to choose between being a slave of sin or being a servant of righteousness 5. There is no other choice available! 6. Paul well explains and demonstrates the value of being a servant of God 7. The nature of the Master/servant relationship can be understood from many passages, including Luke 17:7-10 a. while in the world it is expected by people who perform their obligations that they receive commendation, Christians are expected to work and consider themselves as "unworthy servants" b. we are doing only what is our duty-- being obedient! c. our reward will be in Heaven! F. Therefore, despite the political heritage of America, we can see that we must strive to be obedient to God the Father and the Son if we seek eternal life! G. Let us be honorable sons/daughters and servants to God the Father, our Master 1. It can well be asked, "how are we to obey God?" 2. Let us seek an answer from the Scriptures IV. How We Obey God A. In short, we obey God by doing His will, and by not doing that which is contrary to His will B. By necessity, we must then know His will! 1. After all, how can you know what you are doing is according to God's will or against God's will unless you know His will? 2. 2 Timothy 2:15: We are to rightly divide the truth, a servant without need to be ashamed 3. Acts 2:42: the early church continued steadfastly in the doctrines of the Apostles C. To do His will, we must avoid sin and practice what is right 1. In short, exhibit love as we ought (1 Corinthians 13:1-8, 1 John 4:7-12) 2. Passages like Galatians 5:19-23 can provide more concrete examples of what we are to avoid and what we are to do 3. We are not to try to tow the line of sin, and avoid what is right 4. Consider James 4:17: not doing what you know is right to do is sin! D. Another important part of obedience is development in the faith 1. Let us spend more time examining development V. The Need to Develop A. The Scriptures attest to the need to develop in the faith B. Ephesians 4:11-14 1. The purpose of evangelists, apostles, elders, teachers, etc. is for all to reach maturity in the faith 2. Maturity means one is no longer tossed to and fro by any wind of doctrine C. Hebrews 5:11-6:2 1. The Hebrew author rebukes the Hebrew brethren because of their lack of development in the faith 2. Maturity is there defined as having powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good and evil D. 1 Thessalonians 4:1, 9-10 1. Paul commends the Thessalonians for doing what they were instructed to do 2. Does Paul say that they can then quit? Or rest on their laurels? 3. No; he exhorts them to continue more and more! E. The need to develop, then, is manifest from the Scriptures VI. Development Explained A. Development in Christ is absolutely required for a pleasing faith before God B. As is even clear in life, we are either growing or declining 1. How many cars have you had that run well until they are not run for some time? 2. How often have you seen skills that you have learn be forgotten because of lack of use? 3. Have you not seen examples where being at the same level represents decline, not growth? 4. These things are not just true in business, in financial matters, and in the general trend of churches, but is true also in each of our spiritual lives! C. We have to look at our spiritual lives much like our physical lives 1. There is a reason that baptism is spoken of in terms of a birth (John 3:5, Romans 6:3-7)-- it can be seen to represent your spiritual birth in Christ 2. Development and progression in Christianity is spoken of in terms of food digested-- milk and/or meat (cf. Hebrews 5:11-6:2) 3. We are called upon to grow in the faith! 4. While in our physical lives, development is tied to time and natural processes, one is not limited by time to develop spiritually a. this can work for good or for ill b. on the one hand, one can grow exponentially, having progressed to maturity in Christ within a few short years temporally c. on the other hand, one can be a Christian for years and years temporally without developing much if at all d. Therefore, you can have mature Christians after only a couple of years, and have immature Christians who have been in the church for 40 years! D. Development in Christianity, then, is not inherent or natural: it takes a concerted effort to do so! 1. Paul often uses the metaphor of the race to describe our walk with Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27) 2. One runs only as well as the effort he puts into running! 3. This is equally true in Christianity 4. You grow only as much as the effort you put into growing 5. You learn the Bible as quickly and as well as you put the effort into learning the Bible 6. Likewise, you only get out of the assemblies and studies with brethren what you put into the assemblies and studies with brethren! E. Maturity in Christ, then, is something that you must determine to do, and is not something that is automatic after a given number of years! F. The goal of maturity is to transcend matters of obedience/disobedience 1. The reason that New Testament Christianity is not described in terms of law, but of grace and faith, is that Christians are called upon to transcend law! 2. We are to grow to the point where we no longer sin-- while we will never reach that point precisely, we will reach a point where our sin is infrequent 3. With sin being infrequent, we can then focus our attention to the things which are profitable, which edify, which work in love 4. We can then be as the Thessalonians, striving to excel in what we are doing more and more 5. We strive to reach that point of perfect servanthood, perfect imitation of Christ, and be more concerned about the things that profit than the matters of law G. Let us strive to have this mature, developed, obedient, faith VII. Conclusion A. We have examined the need to obey and develop 1. God has commanded us to be obedient to Him 2. We have seen that the relationship between God and ourselves-- as a Father and child, or as a Master and slave-- intuitively require obedience 3. We must know God's will in order to be obedient to Him, and we must strive to do His will and to not do what is contrary to His will B. Part of obedience is developing in the faith 1. One cannot presume to stay as they are and be acceptable-- being the same is one and the same as backsliding! 2. One must be continually striving to grow in the faith 3. Do not expect that merely because you are a Christian for a long period of time that you will become mature-- spiritual maturity is based not on age but on how much effort is put into maturing! 4. If we mature as we ought, we will get to the point of sinning less, focusing more on things that build up and profit, and transcend matters of law/sin C. Let us strive, then, to be as obedient servants of God, continually developing to maturity in the faith D. Invitation/songbook E. To be obedient and grow in the faith requires you to be a part of the faith F. If you have not determined to be one of Christ's followers, we encourage you to consider it today G. Follow God's plan for salvation today! H. Perhaps you were once part of the faith, but have not been obedient as you ought, or require encouragement to continue growing and developing I. However we can help you, please let us do so; come to the front as we stand and sing