Obedience to the End

Revelation 1-3: "And among the lampstands was someone like a son of man [Jesus Christ], dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet . . . . And the seven lampstands are the seven churches . . . . (The Lord said to the messenger of the church in Ephesus) 'Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place . . . . To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.' . . . . (To the Church at Smyrna the Lord said), 'Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life . . . . He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.' . . . . (The Lord said to the Church in Pergamum), 'To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it.' . . . . (To the Church at Thyatira the Lord said), 'To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations.' . . . . (To the Church at Sardis, the Lord said), 'He who overcomes will . . . be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.' . . . . (To the Church at Philadelphia, the Lord said), 'Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God.' . . . . (To the Church at Laodicea the Lord said), 'To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.'"

In modern Christendom, there is a false notion that God's grace somehow is obtained by church association or mere cognitive awareness of Jesus' death and resurrection for the atonement of sin. How many times have people rationalized their faith by concluding, "I don't want to go to hell, so I'm going to say the sinner's prayer, make it public before the church, and get my 'Get Out of Hell Free' card . . . . But I'm not going to surrender my life (with all of its selfish and carnal appetites) to God . . . . I still want to be on the throne of my own life." Some are even more brazen to the point that they identify themselves as Christian simply because they participate in a few ceremonious events each year at a "Christian" church and give infrequently to a "Christian" organization. It's as if people want God for His eternal benefits, but they are unwilling to surrender to Him as their Lord. People will relegate God to a small subset within their life experience, but they refuse to give Him everything through their submission to Him as Master and Savior.


The Holy Scriptures do not teach such heresy; in fact, the Scriptures inculcate that salvation is reserved for those who persevere in their obedience to the Lord of Hosts through the power of the Holy Spirit. No mere words or ritualistic observances will suffice for one's redemption, for in each of the above cited scriptural dictates, the Lord expressly commands that only those who overcome the power of sin through true repentance and obedience will be the ones receiving His eternal blessing.


This is not to suggest that Christians live perfect lives (the example of the Church at Laodicea should affirm this [see Revelation 3:15-16]). Still, the true believer in Christ lives his life in such a way that he strives for Godly perfection through the life-transforming power of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 5:48). If the true follower of Jesus Christ begins to stray from obedience to the Lord, the Holy Spirit (who indwells the believer, giving him the power to overcome sin [see Romans 8:9]) will convict the believer of his sin and will lead him to the truth of repentance (John 16:8,13), and the true believer will respond with contrition, confession, repentance, and renewed obedience. One will not find a true believer straying very far and for very long from the path of obedience, for he willingly yields his own selfish will to the will of the Father, and he quickly returns to faithful allegiance, once the Holy Spirit begins to convict him of sin.


Therefore, we know that the true Christian is one whose mind, will, and body are controlled by the Spirit, because he is surrendered to the Lord of Hosts as his Master. God is the number one priority for the believer, and he cannot help but be faithfully obedient to Him as his Lord.


Romans 8:5-8 reinforces this fact by presenting the evidential difference between the reprobate and the redeemed. Specifically, the passage tells us that the reprobate "live according to the sinful nature . . . (being) hostile to God (by not) submitting to His (God's) law . . . (therefore) not pleasing God (and thus bringing) death" whereas those who are committed to Christ "have their minds set on what the Spirit desires (which brings) life and peace."


Let us not fall prey to the popular misconception of what it means to be a Christian. This identification is not flippantly assigned by the Lord to just anyone; instead, it is granted to those who have received the precious gift of grace through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ . . . and the benefits of this grace are experienced through faith, made manifest in repentance and complete devotion to God as the exclusive Lord of one's life.