The word obedience is a derivative from a word which means “to hear”—which is also true in the Greek and Hebrew languages. “To hear” frequently means “to obey,” “to listen to a voice,” “to be pleased with a command and to execute it.”
Obedience is the willing subjection of God’s child to God, as Lord and Father in Christ, in order to comply with His commands.
The Object and Subjects of Obedience
The object is God. All that obligates us to obedience and all that can incite us thereto is to be found in God. He is the First, and the One who alone is majestic, glorious, and holy. He is the Creator from whom man originates and through whom he exists in his motions. He is the One who is worthy to be obeyed and the only lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy. Every man is obligated toward obedience by virtue of the nature of God and of his own position relative to Him. That obligation is upon everyone and is acknowledged and subscribed to by everyone—even by the heathen. God requires it from His people in Scripture. This is not so because God has need to be served by man’s hands, but because He is worthy, human nature mandates it, and it constitutes the well-being and felicity of man. It is a manifestation of God’s goodness that He wills something in reference to man, issues him a command, and wishes man to do something toward Him. On the other hand, if God reveals Himself to man and causes him to behold His perfections, man cannot but subject himself to God with delight. Man needs no other reason nor any other incentive for obedience except that God is God. God is to be viewed here both as Lord and as Father in Christ. As Lord, as possessor, and as the most eminent One, He was the object of Adam’s obedience prior to the fall. After the fall, however, God is to be viewed not only as Lord to His people—that is, Jehovah who is, who was, and who shall be—but also as their Father in Christ, so that both reverence unto God as Lord and love to Him as Father coalesce. “Obey the voice of the Lord your God” (Jer 26:13).
The subjects are the children of God. Christ is involved in every aspect of the covenant of grace; hence everything must transpire by faith in Christ. God does not want to be served by His enemies—even if it were in a manner becoming to Him. In order to serve God there must first be reconciliation, which alone is accomplished through Christ and applied by faith. That faith is active in serving God as a reconciled Father in filial love. The law is not a burden to God’s children but a delight; it is not a condition of the covenant of works, but a loving rule to prevent error. The partakers of the covenant are here not to be viewed as slaves who, for fear of being beaten, are compelled to work, but as children whose delight it is to obey their Father. The unconverted do not know God in that relationship, and even if they do something which God commands, they do not do so in the manner enjoined and with the required objective. Furthermore, they have no desire to obey God; they are neither willing, nor do they engage themselves to do so. God reveals Himself to His children, however, as the One who is worthy to be obeyed. He grants them faith to come to Him through Christ, as children to their father. He gives them both filial love toward as well as fear for Him, so that they only are the suitable subjects to render obedience to the Lord. This obedience is therefore referred to as the obedience of faith (Rom 1:15), and believers are called obedient children (1 Pet 1:14).
The Nature, Goal, and Manner of Obedience
The nature of obedience consists in subjection to God. Man, by his very nature, has been placed in subjection to God. Adam acknowledged this subjection with delight and joyfully subjected himself to the Lord. However, after the fall man’s nature is rebellious toward God. “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Rom 8:7). However, the man who has been born again and has received a new nature, does not only know and acknowledge the fact that he is naturally subject to God, but he willingly subjects himself to God, renders himself available to Him for service, and says with David, “O Lord, truly I am Thy servant; I am Thy servant” (Ps 116:16). He surrenders himself with his entire heart. “But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you” (Rom 6:17). This subjection consists: