Last week we examined the necessity imposed on us by God and renewed and augmented by our Lord of keeping all God’s commandments and, at the same time, the impossibility of human beings being able to do so.  Before continuing, it is probably a good idea to make some general observations about obedience.

First, there is a notion current in the Christian world today, especially in the emergent church movement and among popular televangelists that God wants to do wonderful and great things in one’s life.  These leaders downplay God’s wrath directed toward sin, the holiness of God, and the seriousness of disobedience before God.  It is a doctrinally flippant attitude that is devoid of genuine substance, having a temporary emotional attraction but lacking the necessary cohesive qualities to hold people through the difficult times of life.

Second, there is the teaching to be found in legalist denominations that obedience is both necessary and possible.  Some denominations actually teach a perfectionist doctrine that claims that one can reach the posture of sinlessness.  With such a doctrine people must do one of two things: either they must pick and choose among what is required and what is not (when in reality God requires everything) and bind certain requirements on others while overlooking still others, or people under such a system will be driven to utter frustration.  Utter frustration will mean either the person will quit in despair of ever obeying God, or the person will develop a dichotomous Christianity (otherwise known as hypocrisy) in which he/she will be Mr. or Mrs. Perfect Christian at church and around other Christians, and quite the opposite at home, business, and socially.  This split personality frequently causes children of such people to “quit the church” in view of what is to them blatant hypocrisy.

Finally, there is the idea that God will accept anyone who simply “does the best he can.”  This is a view that completely overlooks the scriptures we examined last week, or interprets them to mean less than their literal value.  Their picture of God is one who accepts a good, sincere heart that just keeps on trying.  Thus good intentions and well-directed effort short of the mark count for perfect righteousness with God.  Under this system, Samuel would have been wrong for taking the throne away from King Saul who said he thought he was doing a good thing in keeping the best of the Amalekites’ flocks and herds to offer as a sacrifice to the Lord (1 Sam. 15).

Thus we repeat: God requires us to keep the thirty-two ping-pong balls under the surface of the water; i.e., He requires perfect obedience.  No one obeys God perfectly (Rom. 3:9-19, 23; 1 John 1:8-10). We have a problem!