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What Is God’s Responsibility and What Is My Responsibility? Part 2
What Is God’s Responsibility and What Is My Responsibility? Part 2
David W Palmer
(Luke 18:1 NKJV) … men always ought to pray and not lose heart.
(John 6:29 NLT) Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”
(Luke 18:8 NKJV) “… when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?
These passages show us that our responsibilities in the new covenant include prayer and faith; these are clearly a major part of what God expects of us. What else does he expect of us, and what isn’t our responsibility at all? He has told us directly that we cannot please him without faith (Heb. 11:6) and that we should:
(1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 KJV) Rejoice evermore. {17} Pray without ceasing. {18} In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Along with faith and praying, the Holy Spirit clarifies that our responsibilities before God include rejoicing and thanksgiving. This goes with his many instructions to praise him (See for example: Heb. 13:15).
These are directives from God, and he expects us to obey them. This leads us to the next of our responsibilities, obedience. As we look closely at the book of Hebrews, we see that obedience and faith are interchangeable; the converse is also true; disobedience and unbelief are also interchangeable in God’s mind:
(Hebrews 4:6 NKJV) Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience.
(Hebrews 4:6 KJV) … they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:
In these two translations, we see that one translated the original word as “disobedience,” and the other translated it as “unbelief.” (We see the same interchange in Heb. 4:11.) In other words, faith and obedience are two sides of the same coin; they simply go together. So we see that faith that leads to obedience to our Lord is our responsibility. This is further confirmed in the following passage:
(Hebrews 5:9 KJV) And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.
This verse implies that our eternal salvation is dependent upon our obedience to our Lord. After all, “Lord” means controller, the one in charge, the one we need to obey. For example, would Jesus’s apostles have caught the miraculous catches of fish if they hadn’t obeyed his instructions: “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4 NKJV); “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” (John 21:6 NLT). Would the three young people have been raised from the dead without instructions from the Lord? “Young man, I say to you, arise” (Luke 7:14 NKJV); “Little girl, arise” (Luke 8:54 NKJV); “Lazarus, come forth!” (John 11:43 NKJV). Yes, obedience to our Lord Jesus is our responsibility; this is the way he saves us eternally; and it is also the way he saves us daily in many temporal dangers. His responsibility is to give commands, instructions, corrections, and teachings, ours is to obey.
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By DAVID W. PALMERWhat Is God’s Responsibility and What Is My Responsibility? Part 2
David W Palmer
(Luke 18:1 NKJV) … men always ought to pray and not lose heart.
(John 6:29 NLT) Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”
(Luke 18:8 NKJV) “… when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?
These passages show us that our responsibilities in the new covenant include prayer and faith; these are clearly a major part of what God expects of us. What else does he expect of us, and what isn’t our responsibility at all? He has told us directly that we cannot please him without faith (Heb. 11:6) and that we should:
(1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 KJV) Rejoice evermore. {17} Pray without ceasing. {18} In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Along with faith and praying, the Holy Spirit clarifies that our responsibilities before God include rejoicing and thanksgiving. This goes with his many instructions to praise him (See for example: Heb. 13:15).
These are directives from God, and he expects us to obey them. This leads us to the next of our responsibilities, obedience. As we look closely at the book of Hebrews, we see that obedience and faith are interchangeable; the converse is also true; disobedience and unbelief are also interchangeable in God’s mind:
(Hebrews 4:6 NKJV) Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience.
(Hebrews 4:6 KJV) … they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:
In these two translations, we see that one translated the original word as “disobedience,” and the other translated it as “unbelief.” (We see the same interchange in Heb. 4:11.) In other words, faith and obedience are two sides of the same coin; they simply go together. So we see that faith that leads to obedience to our Lord is our responsibility. This is further confirmed in the following passage:
(Hebrews 5:9 KJV) And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.
This verse implies that our eternal salvation is dependent upon our obedience to our Lord. After all, “Lord” means controller, the one in charge, the one we need to obey. For example, would Jesus’s apostles have caught the miraculous catches of fish if they hadn’t obeyed his instructions: “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4 NKJV); “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” (John 21:6 NLT). Would the three young people have been raised from the dead without instructions from the Lord? “Young man, I say to you, arise” (Luke 7:14 NKJV); “Little girl, arise” (Luke 8:54 NKJV); “Lazarus, come forth!” (John 11:43 NKJV). Yes, obedience to our Lord Jesus is our responsibility; this is the way he saves us eternally; and it is also the way he saves us daily in many temporal dangers. His responsibility is to give commands, instructions, corrections, and teachings, ours is to obey.