Obedience Flows
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. ––James 2:26
Using stone, mortar, gravity, and a lot of ingenuity, the Roman Empire built the greatest water delivery systems the world had ever seen. On Palatine Hill in Rome herself, the homes of the wealthy had running water and toilets. In fact, the Eternal City once had twice the amount of drinking water running through it per-resident than the average American city does today. The entire city had water fountains within a 50-meter radius of one another, and there were public heated baths, as well as toilets that emptied into separate sewer pipes. The majority of the water flowed from the higher hills and mountains surrounding the city, and the furthest aqueduct began about 60 miles away.
The thing is, all the miles upon miles of stone, mortar, and planning would have been useless without one irreplaceable element: gravity. And so it is with God’s Kingdom and the element of obedience: all obedience leads to the throne of God, to His Kingdom. Just as gravity only causes things to flow in one direction on earth (downward), obedience only flows in one direction in the spiritual realm: upward to the throne of God.
“Kenny, weren’t you just saying (in an earlier reading) that grace is more important than obedience.” Not exactly. What I was saying is that our deliverance can’t happen without His grace and our choice to accept it. But once that happens—we receive the grace and accept His gift of salvation—then obedience is what leads us into deeper relationship and intimacy with Him. It’s a one-two punch: Jesus leads with grace, but requires obedience from His children.
Think about it this way: If Roman engineers had built their aqueducts from the lowlands to the seven hills of Rome, what would have happened? Well, nothing. No gravity, no water. In the Kingdom, we know that faith without works is dead. James tells us clearly:
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. ––James 2:15-17
Now, faith without works is a hindrance, or is weakened. It’s dead. Does that verse—often debated by scholars and laypeople alike—negate grace? No, not at all. James is simply saying that when grace changes us, the results are outward actions (works) that align with God’s Kingdom. When we love our child, we show it. When we love our spouse, we tell them and do acts of service for them. How much more so, then, with our loving Father?
For us to continue to walk in God’s grace as He desires, obedience is the aqueduct that delivers His life-giving water. When we surrender ourselves to His will, obedience is the by-product.
Obedience flows in one direction: toward His throne. Jump in the water.
Father, help me neither abuse nor cheapen Your grace, and help my daily actions reflect my commitment to obey Your Word.