Christian Obligations to God: Understanding Our Duty and Reward

Understand your obligation to God as a Christian.

Recognize the sovereignty of God in all aspects of life.

Learn how God's sovereignty affects your personal responsibility.

Discover the redemptive story of the Bible and God's love for humanity.

Music Music The title of this message today is called, As a Christian, What is Your Obligation Towards God? Again, as a Christian, what is your obligation towards God? You see, as a true and genuine believer in Jesus Christ, do you realize you have a clear and succinct obligation to him? even though God is sovereign and holds all power and right of dominion over his creatures to deal with and determine their end as it seems good to him. The sovereignty of God is a biblical term which refers to the unlimited power of God who has sovereign control over the affairs of nature and history. In Isaiah chapter 45 verses 9 through 12, we see this and we'll begin to read in verse 9. making, or your work has no handles? Woe to him who complains against his parents that they have begotten him, who says to a father, What are you begetting? Or to the woman, With what are you in travail? Verse 11. Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel and its Maker, Would you question me about things to come concerning my children and concerning the work of my hands? Would you command me? I made the earth and created a man upon it. I, with my hands, stretched out the heavens and commanded all their hosts. Well, you see, in the New Testament, in Romans chapter 8, beginning in verse 18, we read in Paul's epistle where he explains that the whole creation is under the complete control and guidance of Almighty God, and for true and genuine believers, well, they have God on their side and have been freed and have hope and experience a foretaste of the wonderful things to come in this life after death. Let's read that in Romans chapter 8, verse 18. Paul says, known waits for the revealing and the disclosing of their sonship. Verse 20. For the creation, the nature was subject to frailty, to futility, condemned to frustration, not because of some intentional fault on its part, but by the will of him who subjected it, yet with the hope, that nature, creation itself, will be set free from its bondage to decay and corruption and gain an entrance into the glorious freedom of God's children. We know that the whole creation of irrational creatures has been moaning together in the pains and labors until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves too, who have enjoyed the first fruits of the Holy Spirit, a foretaste of the blissful things to come, grown inwardly as we wait for the redemption of our bodies, from sensuality in the grave, which will reveal our adoption, our manifestation as God's sons. Verse 24, for in this hope we are saved, but hope that object of which is seen is not hope, for how can one hope for what he already sees? But if we hope for what is still seen by us, We wait for it with patience and composure. Verse 26. We too, the Holy Spirit comes to our aid and bears up in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray, to offer, nor how to offer it worthily as we ought. But the Spirit himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterances. and he who searches the hearts of men knows what's in the mind of the Holy Spirit what his intent is because the Spirit intercedes and pleads before God in behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with God's will. We are assured and know that God being a partner in their labor all things work together and are fitting into a plan for good to and for those who love God and are called according to his design and his purpose. Verse 29, And for those he foreknew, of whom he was aware and loved beforehand, he also destined from the beginning, foreordaining them, to be molded into the image of his Son and share inwardly his likeness, that he might become the firstborn among many brethren. And those whom he foreordained, he also called. And those whom he called, he also justified, acquitted, made righteous, put them into right standing with himself. And those whom he justified, he also glorified, raising them to heavenly dignity in a condition or state of being Verse 31 Then what shall we say to all of this If God be for us who can be against us Who can be our foe if God is on our side He who did not withhold or spare even his own son but gave him up for us all, will he not also with him freely and graciously give us all other things? Well, hallelujah. That takes faith, doesn't it? Hallelujah. You see, the whole redemptive story of the Bible is the fulfillment of this prophecy by our most sovereign God. For true believers in Jesus Christ, we just read, If God be for us, who can be against us? Jesus certainly is the remedy for sin of the world, and its conclusion is certain because Jesus paid the price for all the whomsoevers would accept him as their hope of glory. Understand, please, not everyone chooses Jesus as their Savior. Not everyone is willing to stop doing those things which are sinful in the eyes of their Maker. Immediately after the fall, God talked about the curse of human sin and specified the cure for man's sin. In Genesis 3, verse 15, God said to the servant, I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed, and he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. Jesus fulfilled this curse of the law when he went willingly to the cross and died for the church, which is made up of true believers who accepted him as their hope of glory and live according to his mandates of Holy Scripture. The whole redemptive story of the Bible is the fulfillment of this prophecy by our Most High Sovereign God. Paul clearly teaches on this, and if you would like to learn more, you can read Paul's epistles beginning in Romans chapter 8 through chapter 11. And Paul clearly teaches on this. And if you would like to learn more, you can read Paul's epistle. The story of redemption from Genesis to Revelation is possibly only because our sovereign God loves the created fallen world and he alone is able to do something about it. Hallelujah. And without the sovereign love of our Heavenly Father ministered to us through His precious Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, there would be no real human freedom, no hope of eternal life. God Almighty is omnipotent, which means He is all-powerful. There is no one or anything that holds greater power than Almighty God, not even saint in the devil. God is omnipresent, which means he is ever-present and sees all things. And our great God is also omniscient, which means he has the divine ability to know all things. The perfect knowledge of God is exclusively his attribute. Daniel chapter 4 verse 35 declares, And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing. He does according to his will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand or say to him, What are you doing? And Ephesians chapter 1, verses 11 and 12. In him we were made God's heritage portion, and we obtained an inheritance. For we have been foreordained, chosen and appointed beforehand in accordance with his purpose, who works everything out in agreement with the counsel and design of his own will, so that we who first hoped in Christ, who first put our confidence in him, and have been destined and appointed to live for the praise of his glory. Oh, praise God. So, as was said from the beginning of this word today, Even though God is sovereign, it does not clear any individual of guilt or blame to relieve them of a requirement or an obligation of their personal responsibility towards God. This is a truth taught in scripture. God is sovereign, and his thoughts, his plans, and execution of times and events, history and people's lives. He is sovereign. This was elaborated by Paul in Romans chapter 9, also extends through chapter 11. So that would be 9, 10, and 11. And he especially deals with God's relationship with Israel and the Gentiles. So again, that is something that you can read yourself to see how God has dealt with the Israelites, the Gentiles, and Paul elaborates on that. But in his sovereignty, in God's sovereignty, it is impossible for God to be unjust towards anyone. It just is impossible. And we see this when we read that man is responsible for all that God has given him, just as shown in the parable of the pounds and the parable of the talents. And yet it is true that God in his grace affects and influences a work of regeneration in us. And this regeneration process is being born again. And this is the importance of the Spirit of God working within each and every person who professes to be a believer in Jesus Christ. It is a spiritual change which is worked out in willing believers by the Holy Spirit. In 1 Peter 1, in verse 3, the scripture says, God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Messiah, by his boundless mercy, we have been born again to an everlasting hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. So that will be Romans chapter 5, verse 10. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, it is much more certain now that we are reconciled, that we be saved daily delivered from sin's dominion through his resurrection life. And another scripture added to these. 2 Corinthians 5, verses 18 and 19. But all things are from God, who through Jesus Christ reconciled himself to us, received us into favor, brought us into harmony with himself, and gave to us a ministry of reconciliation that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with him. Verse 19. It was God personally present in Christ, reconciling and restoring the world to favor with himself, not counting up and holding against men their trespasses, but canceling them and committing us to the message of reconciliation, the restoration of favor. You see, as a new creature in Jesus Christ, a believer becomes personally responsible for his actions and the impression that he makes on the world around him. In other words, the believer must make his own decisions between right and wrong and be held accountable for them. And this is a, they will learn and grow that as they grow in the word of God, they will see clearly what is acceptable and what is not acceptable to God, what is right and what is wrong. In Romans chapter 12, Paul stresses that the believer's main responsibility is to live a holy life. So this says to us that we must consecrate our bodies. Amen. So when we become Christians, we must recognize that we do not automatically get rid of our corruptible mortal bodies. In Romans chapter 6, verse 12, we read, Let not sin therefore rule as king in your mortal, short-lived, perishable bodies, to make you yield to its cravings and be subject to its lusts and evil passions. Verse 13, do not continue offering or yielding your bodily members and faculties to sin as instruments, tools of wickedness, but offer and yield yourself to God as though you have been raised from the dead to perpetual life and your bodily members and faculties to God, presenting them as implements of righteousness. and also we need to read 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 53. For this perishable part of us must put on the imperishable nature. This mortal part of us that is capable of dying must put on immortality, freedom from death. And verse 54, and when this perishable puts on imperishable and that was capable of dying, puts on freedom from death, then shall be fulfilled the scripture that says, Death is swallowed up, utterly vanquished forever, in and unto victory. Hallelujah! Praise God! Well, this wonderful and awesome transformation will be ongoing until the final resurrection comes. 2 Corinthians 4, verse 11 declares, We who live are constantly experiencing being handed over to death for Jesus' sake, that the resurrection life of Jesus may be evidenced through our flesh, which is liable to death. So you see, the indwelling of the precious Holy Spirit, of the crucified and resurrection Lord, Jesus Christ, gives you and me the power to willingly and voluntarily refrain from sinful practices. Romans chapter 6 verse 6 declares, We know that our own old unrenewed self was nailed to the cross with him in order that our body, which is an instrument of sin, might be made ineffective and inactive for evil, that we might no longer be slaves of sin. So now, only as true believers in Jesus Christ, am I or you in a position to present our bodies unto the Lord instead of unto sin. And this is called consecrating yourself to God. And this is the responsibility and obligation of everyone who professes to be a believer of Jesus Christ. This act of consecration discussed in Romans 12, verse 1, takes two forms. Let's read that. In Romans chapter 12, verse 1, I appeal to you, therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of all the mercies of God to make a decisive dedication of your bodies, presenting all your members and faculties as living sacrifices, holy, devoted, consecrated, and well-pleasing to God, which is your reasonable, rational, intelligent service and spiritual worship. And this is the first act of consecration, an act of surrender of the body. There's a song that is sung, I Surrender All. But I don't know if people really grasp that as they go up to the altar singing, I surrender all. But it only comes by being like a Berean and opening the Bible reading and allowing God the Holy Spirit to give revelation and wisdom in the book of life So this is truly an act of surrender of the body And this is a daily moment denial of the body to be used for unrighteousness and can only be achieved by this once-and-for-all presentation of ourselves unto God. And we can say that it is like being alive, being raised from the dead. Hallelujah, because we all once were dead before we came to Christ. In the phrase, now yield your body members to righteousness, this means to present, indicating a once and for all presentation or voluntary crucifixion with Christ and identifying with that. And we can identify with it When we look to Romans chapter 6, verse 19, Paul says, I am speaking in familiar human terms because of your natural limitations. And as you yield your bodily members and faculties as servants to impurity and ever increasing lawlessness. So now yield your bodily members and faculties once and for all as servants of righteousness, being right and doing, which leads to sanctification. And Paul says in Galatians chapter 2 verse 20, Paul says, I have been crucified with Christ. In him I have shared his crucifixion. It is no longer I who live, but Christ the Messiah lives in me. And now the life I live in the body, I live by faith in and adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me. Well, the second consecration of our body takes place after our initial dedication is called a living sacrifice. And the word living is something, means something, that is a result of our present will and which is done constantly without ever becoming dead or losing its vibrancy. a sacrifice is something that we give up in order to please God and we know according to what this in the scriptures that we have read thus far that we give up sin amen so the living sacrifice is giving up sin which reigns in our mortal bodies a sacrifice is something that you know we please God with. Such a sacrifice doesn't mean the lack of hardships of the legitimate needs of our body within the realm of biblical Christian conduct. This unselfish yielding must not only be living, conscientious and constant, but also wholly separated from sin and attached to God. and it must be well pleasing or acceptable to God and it must have calculated or reasoned out purpose and this is where day by day that we live in this frame of mind to please God and to not let sin rule in our bodies. Now the second thing that we must do is we must be nonconformist and because in Romans 12 verse 2 the word says do not be conformed to this world fashioned after and adapted to its external superficial customs but be transformed changed by the entire renewal of your mind by its new ideals and its new attitudes so that you may prove for yourselves what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect in his sight for you. So this speaks volumes in that we must remain apart from the world. The outward shape or fashion says that we should not dress or behave as people in the world if they do not conform to God's standards. In the present, at this time, it says that we should constantly refuse to conform to this age that we live in, but we should be transformed by the renewing of our minds. So this tells us and refers to an inner character, maybe a disposition or nature of our hearts that will be opposite of the outward fashion of the world. So it's going to be totally different. We will be totally different people. And when we bring about that inner change, the change of mind, the change of heart, there will be a difference in the way that we will behave outwardly. And these are all ways that we have obligation towards God. personal obligation towards God. So there is no excuse for anything, for a professing believer in Jesus Christ to say that they did not know and they were ignorant of such things. But this is a growing forever as we walk on this earth that until the Lord takes us home or comes again, if it be in our time, that we will constantly be changing changing and looking forward to that change and growing in God's grace and God's mercy and becoming more like our Jesus Christ, our Savior, our Messiah. Hallelujah. Thank you.

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