But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness (Romans 6:17, 18).
Sometimes you hear something that sticks.
That's the case for this statement about faith I heard from Major Ian Thomas many years ago.
A life of faith is our love for God, resulting in dependency upon God, resulting in obedience to God.
I had never heard faith sequenced like this.
I had it backwards. Obedience was the main thing as far as I was concerned. And, I thought my obedience to God would generate a love for God. But that never happened.
Many Christians fall into this same trap. They are taught the importance of being obedient, but they are never equipped to live it out through faith in Jesus. They are left to gut it out through human effort. That's not the kind of obedience God is looking for.
Paul's question to the Galatians hits the modern church right between the eyes: "After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?" (Galatians 3:3).
It is time for us to get faith in the right order. When we do, obedience will be the natural, heart-felt result.
Major Thomas said a life of faith starts with our love for God. And our love for God is the result of God's love for us. As John wrote, we love because he first loved us.
Start anywhere other than the love of God and all you get is legalistic obedience, not obedience from the heart.
God didn't set you free from sin to put you back in bondage to self-effort. He set you free to live a life of faith, a faith that starts with the love of God and ends with obedience that flows from the heart.
If you want a heartfelt expression of faith, let Major Thomas' statement stick with you.
A life of faith is our love for God, resulting in dependency upon God, resulting in obedience to God.
In Him,
Bob Christopher