Luke 6:46–49 46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? 47 Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”
Among those who claim Jesus as their Savior, almost all would say that obeying Jesus is essential. Yet there are times when it appears that they believe that obedience is optional, though they will not make such an explicit claim.
The reasoning that supports the “obedience is optional” conclusion is that salvation is by grace and not by works. Since salvation is by grace (Ephesians 2:8-9), saying consistent obedience is necessary seems to indicate the requirement of human works, and this expectation compromises salvation by grace alone. Another way the “obedience is optional” conclusion is drawn comes from the opinions of family and friends of people who profess saving faith in Jesus yet walk in patterns of consistent disobedience and defiance of a biblical way of life. Defending the salvation of the disobedient is usually done in the following manner. “I know (fill in the blank of a dear friend or relative here) is not living as they should. We are praying they will come to their senses. But we’re thankful they accepted Jesus as their Savior previously. At least they’re saved.”
The Scripturally faulty reasoning these examples reveal is the conclusion that obedience is optional because they feel it is a personal autonomous work that would obligate God to affirm human effort, compromising the free grace of God in salvation. Such reasoning misunderstands God’s grace and what God’s grace does to enable His people to be obedient. The Apostle Paul makes the same point in 1 Corinthians 15:10. “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.?“
Paul’s statement is consistent with the teaching of Jesus in Luke 6:46-49. Obedience cannot be considered optional. If we claim Jesus as Savior and Lord, we will not only listen and learn His teaching, we will obey His teaching. Living out the teaching of Jesus gives our lives substance, not pretense. People only hearing the teaching of Jesus find their lives falling apart when the storms come. Those obeying the teaching of Jesus are not promised they will not face storms but that they will stand firm when they go through them.
Praise God for His grace that enables His people to experience the salvation of their souls through trusting the work of Jesus in His death, burial, and resurrection. Praise God for His grace that enables His people to obey the teaching of Jesus, which equips them to survive and thrive through the storms of life.
Obedience is not optional; it is essential. All praise be to God!
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