How are obedience and grace connected, if they are?

[JS1Jn513]

Can someone please explain to me these questions?

1) How are obedience and grace are connected, if they are?

2) We cannot live perfect, but we are to obey, but we are saved by grace through faith. When we get to heaven, will it because our faith obeyed or because we are saved by grace through faith, or is it both?

3) How does God’s grace come in to play in all this?

 

[for_his_glory]

We are saved by the grace of God through having faith in Him and His Son Christ Jesus. We are to be obedient to His commands that are not burdensome as we submit all of our self to Him. God perfects us through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus enabling us to be made holy and complete through His grace as it is a process of sanctification that first begins at salvation and continues throughout our life. Sanctification involves growing in faith in Christ Jesus and repentance. None of us are perfect, but are being transformed int the image of God the more we press into Him.

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

How to live our lives for the Lord:
Col 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Col 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Col 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
Col 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
Col 3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
Col 3:6 For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
Col 3:7 In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.
Col 3:8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
Col 3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
Col 3:11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.
Col 3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
Col 3:13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
Col 3:14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
Col 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
Col 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Col 3:17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

 

[Hopeful 2]

Can someone please explain to me these questions?
1) How are obedience and grace are connected, if they are?

God gives us the grace to remain obedient.
Paul wrote..."By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:" (Rom 1:5)
Grace...for obedience !

2) We cannot live perfect, but we are to obey, but we are saved by grace through faith. When we get to heaven, will it because our faith obeyed or because we are saved by grace through faith, or is it both?

We can be perfect, in everything but the vessel we walk in.
God gracefully gave us the gift of repentance so we could quit sinning, permanently.
He gracefully gave us water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of past sins...making us clean, and also destroying the old man so we could be reborn of His Father's seed.
His seed cannot bring forth evil fruit.

3) How does God’s grace come in to play in all this?

Hi, J'.
Welcome to the site.
God gave us everything we require to remain obedient.
Like, 1 Cor 10:12..."There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."
Look for the escapes !

 

[JS1Jn513]

God gives us the grace to remain obedient.

Grace as in He gives us teachings that we did not deserve to know how to remain obedient?

 

[Hopeful 2]

Grace as in He gives us teachings that we did not deserve to know how to remain obedient?

That too.
When I refer to "grace", I refer to God's goodness towards the unworthy, in any aspect of life, including obedience.
By His grace, I make it through every intersection in town without getting T-boned !
By His grace, I was delivered the message of my conversion !
By His grace, I was given the gift of baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of my past sins, AND of how it destroyed the old me ! (Rom 6:6)
Etc, etc, etc,...Thanks be to God.

 

[LOOKING]

Perhaps it would be wise to approach these topics with perspective.

In the end, the question seems quite simple when we compare it to how we relate to young children.

Children rarely do things correctly. They lack the knowledge, skills, and experience needed to accomplish most of what is required of them. We must guide them constantly, or they will make mistakes and potentially harm themselves or others.

We need them to be obedient—that is, to be open to our corrections—not for our own satisfaction, but for their own good. We know they will make countless errors, but if they are obedient, we can lead them to places or situations that we know are better for them. Often, children resist doing something that later proves to be far more beneficial than their fleeting desires. The same applies to us: we must be obedient because, frankly, we often hold misguided ideas about what is truly good for us. We must be willing to see the objective outcomes of our actions, admit our mistakes, and change accordingly. We must remain open to interpreting the signs that indicate we are not aligning with God's will. Obedience often wounds our pride, but it also relieves us of unnecessary burdens, and in the end, we feel much better.

Faith plays a crucial role here. This is when children take you seriously and believe you. If they don’t believe you, they will not be obedient; they will be rebellious and try to deceive you with poorly mannered tricks that—while ridiculous to us—seem very cunning in their eyes. With rebellious children, progress is impossible. They cry, demand irrational things, and ignore gentle warnings.

But when children are obedient, believe you, take you seriously, and do what is right, they begin to feel at ease and gradually understand the reasons behind the rules you’ve set. This is grace—being in harmony with God. When children obey and start doing what is right, they eventually realize it is for their own good.

On the other hand, disobedient children begin to feel troubled, make poor choices, misinterpret your intentions, and drift further away from what is truly beneficial for them. In such cases, there is often no solution but to step back and allow them to learn through experience that the path you’ve shown them is the right one. Their childish ideas, born of ignorance, delusion, and misconception, will prove futile in the end.

We are not called children of God for nothing.

 

[JS1Jn513]

I appreciate all of the replies so far. Do any of you have any advice when someone accuses others of trying to earn their salvation through obedience to Jesus? Thank you.

 

[LOOKING]

I appreciate all of the replies so far. Do any of you have any advice when someone accuses others of trying to earn their salvation through obedience to Jesus? Thank you.

Well, this problem seems to come down to the fact that we must be honest with ourselves when following the teachings of Jesus. I mean, following Jesus is not something we have to force into our lives; these teachings must resonate within us. Maybe not all teachings will have an echo, but we should not pretend to be what we are not or act as if we are better than we really are.

Sometimes, it's better not to be so "perfect" and to accept who we truly are, because I'm pretty convinced that someone who is not in touch with himself cannot be in touch with God.

Luke 18:13-14 → Not just because the tax collector is humble, but because the tax collector is not deceiving himself. He admits his mistakes and, therefore, is more in touch with himself than a proud Pharisee.

Sometimes, we are not good. The mistake is to try to hide it, deny it, or repress it when all we need to do is admit it.

 

[Hidden In Him]

I appreciate all of the replies so far. Do any of you have any advice when someone accuses others of trying to earn their salvation through obedience to Jesus? Thank you.

Blessings in Christ, JS.

This is a rather complex question, and I would have to simply refer you to some studies I wrote on it last year to explain things in full.

While the sections I would refer you to are actually in Part 2, this is a two part study, so I will include both just in case you want the full context. But for the short version, start from "Why Faith Is Accredited As Righteousness" in Part 2.

Part 1.

James 2:14-26, Part 1

Our Faith In His Return Will Be Reflected In Our Actions, Part 1 The passages covered next are often hotly debated in discussions about what it truly means to be spiritually "saved." Some say that good works are necessary, while some say they are not. When the New Testament writers...

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Part 2.

James 2:14-26, Part 2

Our Faith In His Return Will Be Reflected In Our Actions, Part 2 Reestablishing the context of our current passage from Part 1, the belief during New Testament times was that the second coming was imminent, and that those still alive in the earth would be taken up with Him and spared the...

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