Obedience to the Gospel

You can watch two videos on this topic here: 1. What Must I Do to Be Saved? 2. What Must I Do to Be Saved: Part 2?

Jesus has all authority

In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus tells us that He has been given all authority in heaven and earth and says that He has commanded some things for us to do or not do. We must learn what those things are because He has commanded them and He has the authority to tell us what to do.

Jesus uses His authority to save people. Jesus wants to save everyone, but He will not save everyone. He has given some conditions that we must meet before He will save us. We must obey Him. Luke 6:46-49 says:

“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”

Jesus says that in order to stand, we must actually do what He tells us. It is not enough just to call Him “Lord.” The foundation that stands is Christ, but that includes what He says, not only what He has done.

The gospel includes commands from Jesus

We find the idea of obeying the gospel in 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9. It says there:

since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power

We are told here that all who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ will be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord. So this means that there is more to the gospel than just information about what Christ has done. There is something included in the gospel that must be obeyed.

In Galatians 1:6-12, we read that there is only one gospel and it comes directly from Jesus. Any attempt to change it in any way is not to produce a different gospel but only to produce something that is worthless and cannot save at all. When we read the book of Galatians, what was it that had been changed about the gospel? They were not denying anything about what Jesus did, but rather adding something to what must be done. They were saying that Gentiles must be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses to be saved. What we find from the principle in this passage is that if we change anything in the gospel, including what we must do, we are to be accursed. We will go to hell and all who follow our teaching will go to hell as well.

Our response to the gospel must be faith

When we talk about obedience to the gospel, we must understand that these are not things we can check off a list to be safe. Faith has to be the basis for our obedience. The necessity of faith is stressed over and over again. In Galatians 3:8-9, it says:

And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.

The Gentiles would be justified by faith just like Abraham was. The promise of justification by faith was considered part of the gospel. Again in Galatians 3:24-26, it says:

Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

We become sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Without faith in Christ, we cannot be sons of God. Faith is absolutely necessary according to the gospel of Christ. Only believers will be saved. Hebrews 11:6 says:

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Without faith it is impossible to please God. To come to God, you must believe. Without faith, you are forever separated from God.

Faith means that we will believe the promises of Christ and act on them

The previous passage said that we must not only believe that God exists but that He rewards those who diligently seek Him. If you believe that it is only those who diligently seek Him that will be rewarded, what will you do? James 2 describes the saving type of faith. In James 2:14, we are asked this question:

What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?

Then in James 2:21-26, we read about when faith is fulfilled.

Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.

Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?

For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

When Abraham offered Isaac on the altar, his faith was made perfect by works. That is when the scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God….” The faith the gospel requires is a faith that is obedient. Otherwise, it is worthless or dead faith.

Here are some things we must believe and act on in order to be saved

Matthew 5:20 says that unless our righteousness is better than that of the scribes and Pharisees, we cannot enter the kingdom. If we teach that some commands of God do not have to be kept, we cannot be saved. Matthew 18:3 says that we must become like children to be in the kingdom. Luke 13:1-5 says that we must repent or perish.

John 3:3-5 says that we must be born again by water and the Spirit. John 6:44 and 65 tell us that we must come to Jesus by the drawing of God as we are taught by Him. John 6:53 says that we must eat Jesus’ flesh and drink His blood to have life. We must be changed and nourished by the word of Christ which originally is from the Father. It is only by following His true teaching that we can have salvation. If we put our trust in anyone else’s teaching, we will not be in the kingdom and will not have life.

Matthew 16:24 says that we must deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow Jesus to be His disciples. Luke 14:26-27 says that if we do not hate our father and mother and so on, we cannot be His disciples.

These are just some of the things Jesus says we must do or we cannot have salvation in Him. There are some things that are given as requirements.