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Obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

When children are told by their parents to clean the cat’s litter box, they might have a hard time obeying. The litter might stink. They might say that they have better things to do. Yet God tells them to obey their parents. The very word “obey” tends to sound like a duty more than a privilege.

That’s why is sounds strange in our ears to hear the apostle Paul writing that we are to, “Obey the gospel.” The gospel has nothing for us to do. It tells us that Jesus obeyed the law in our place. It tells us that Jesus died for our sins. What is there to obey? The very fulfillment of the gospel declares that we need to do nothing for our salvation.

For many people, this is the most difficult thing: to do nothing for their salvation. It makes them feel that they have no credit, no worth, nothing that gives them the ability to stand before God. They desire to do something to earn God’s favor. In trying, however, they forfeit what Christ has already done for them and, unfortunately, fall under God’s judgment.

We don’t need to do anything for our salvation. It’s all been done for us by Jesus. “Obeying the gospel” is simply clinging to the salvation we have in Christ alone.

God grant you the Holy Spirit to see your sins and your Savior, so that through faith you may “obey the gospel.”

Lord, obeying the gospel doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. Nor does doing nothing for my own salvation. Yet I know this is exactly how you work. Help me to trust solely on you for my salvation and not depend on what I do. Amen.

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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.