Obedience is a gift. Obedience is a gift. Obedience is a gift. Obedience is a gift. Obedience is a gift. Obedience is a gift. Obedience is a gift. Obedience is a gift!

Obedience is a gift because faith is a gift. Review the theses on faith, if you are still in doubt about the truth that faith is a gift. Colossians 2:6 tells us,

“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him.”

Romans 1:17 says,

“The just shall live by faith.” (Emphasis supplied. )

Patriarchs and Prophets, page 657, says,

“Every failure on the part of the children of God is due to their lack of faith.”

If we come to Christ by faith in the first place, if we continue to walk with Him by faith, if our every failure is due to our lack of faith, if we are to live by faith, then faith is the basis for obedience. If faith is a gift, then obedience must also be a gift.

Obedience is a gift because of the nature of mankind. Review the theses on sin if you have any doubt about the fallen nature of mankind. Romans 5:12 tells us that “all have sinned.”

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” – Romans 5:12

Steps to Christ, page 18, says,

“Our hearts are evil, and we cannot change them.”

If we are sinful by nature, if our hearts are evil, then how could we ever produce obedience? Any genuine righteousness in our lives must come from outside ourselves. The Lord is our righteousness. See Jeremiah 23:6.

“In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” – Jeremiah 23:6

If we have no righteousness and the Lord is the only One who has righteousness, then whatever righteousness we experience must be a gift from Him.

Obedience is a gift because surrender is a gift. Review the theses on surrender if you wonder about this one. Romans 10:3 says of Israel,

“For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.”

Do you want your own righteousness, which is described as filthy rags? Or do you want the righteousness of God? To obtain His righteousness, you must submit or surrender yourself to Him. If surrender is a gift, then the obedience that comes as a result of that surrender would have to be a gift as well.

Obedience is a gift because of God’s control. Review theses 20 and 21 for this one. If we give up our power of choice to God and accept His control in place of the devil’s control, then He is the one who is working in us to will and to do of His good pleasure. See Philippians 2:13.

“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” – Philippians 2:13

“Every soul that refuses to give himself to God is under the control of another power.” – The Desire of Ages, p. 466.

We are controlled by either God or the devil. When God is in control, He gives us His gifts of righteousness and obedience. As long as God is in control, we will be genuinely obedient.

Obedience is a gift because of the Sabbath rest. We haven’t covered the ground on this one yet.

But Ezekiel 20:12, 20 tells us that the Sabbath is a sign of sanctification. Hebrews 4 describes a rest that remains for the people of God–a rest symbolized by the Sabbath rest.

“He that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.” Verse 10.

How do we obtain this rest? Jesus says,

“Come unto me,… and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28.

If the Sabbath rest is a symbol of our rest from working to produce our own sanctification, then obedience would be a gift, because rest is a gift.

Obedience is a gift because repentance is a gift. Review the section on repentance if you have any question about repentance being a gift. Repentance includes sorrow for sin and turning away from it. If repentance is a gift, then sorrow for sin is a gift, and turning away from sin is a gift.

Obedience is a gift because fruit is a gift. Fruit is natural and spontaneous. And Jesus longs for fruit from His children. He talks about fruit at length in John 15.

“Yet the Saviour does not bid the disciples labor to bear fruit. He tells them to abide in Him” – The Desire of Ages, p. 677.

The labor is in abiding in Him, not in trying to produce fruit. And

“obedience is the fruit of faith.” – Steps to Christ, p. 61.

Therefore, since fruit is a gift, obedience is a gift.

Obedience is a gift because of the example of Jesus. For a more detailed explanation of this point, look ahead to the last section, the one about Jesus. How did Jesus obey? The Desire of ages, page 24:

“As the Son of man, He gave us an example of obedience; as the Son of God, He gives us power to obey.”

Jesus said, “I can of mine own self do nothing.” He also said, “without me ye can do nothing.” If His obedience came as a gift from His Father, then our obedience must come as a gift from Him. It is good news that obedience is a gift!