There is an old hymn that many older Christians know, and that I love to sing with the folks at Oakland Heights called "Trust and Obey." The chorus goes, "Trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey." I have been reflecting on this song recently as I thought about another topic and wondered if the message of this refrain is true and based on scripture. I concluded that it is true because trusting Jesus and obeying Him are not different things, but rather two ways of doing the same thing. When we act on our faith, it is a practical application of our trust in Jesus. This leads to happiness because we are made to be in a relationship with God, and the way to have a relationship with Him is to trust Him. Jesus is not just our friend but also our Lord and King, and by admitting this and thus trusting Him as Lord, we find the only secure place of identity and purpose.
Abraham is seen as a model of having this kind of faith in God because he acted on his faith by moving to a new land, by trusting God for a son, and by being willing to sacrifice his son (see Hebrews 11:8, Romans 4, James 2:21-24). His trust in God was shown when he obeyed, and the New Testament uses him as an example of how our trust can and should be shown by obedience to Jesus.
This thought came to mind recently in a conversation after church when someone asked if we can accept Jesus as Savior and not Lord. In other words, can we ask Jesus to save us from sin and its consequences without also desiring to follow Jesus as our Lord? My answer is no because of verses like Romans 10:9, which says, "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." The confession that Jesus is Lord and the idea that He is your King is a major part of becoming a disciple or follower of Jesus. What does it mean to confess that Jesus is Lord? Well, it means that you are acknowledging Him as your sovereign or master. It means you will do what He says. In Jesus's day, people understood the term "master" or "Lord" because many people were slaves and had to do what the master, Lord, or King said or face punishment. In our case, when we become or say we are Christians, we are saying that we voluntarily put ourselves under Christ's lordship because we trust Him to be a good master. We turn from our own sinful ways and desire to follow His way and thus become more like Him.
Our obedience does not save us; rather, Jesus's actions save us. His death and resurrection pay the debt for our sins, and His perfect life becomes our righteousness before God the Father. Our obedience is simply a response to what He has done for us, and it shows that we are learning to trust Him. We do not have to perfectly obey Jesus for salvation, but we should desire to follow Him perfectly. By admitting that Jesus is Lord, we are saying that even though we may not yet trust Him in all aspects of life, we know that we should. We are saying we believe He is a good Lord, worthy of obedience, and that He wants what is best for us. In fact, our growth as Christians can be described as learning to trust Jesus more and more, and that trust means obeying Him more and more.
How does this actually work its way out in real life? Well, we need to ask ourselves where God is calling us to obey Him today. Perhaps He is challenging you about where you spend your time. Do you spend too much time on social media and not enough time with your spouse or kids? Maybe He is challenging you about being sacrificial with your finances. Do you give generously to your church and to ministries of mercy, to the point of sometimes sacrificing something you want for the sake of helping someone else? Perhaps you're being convicted to be more engaged as a parent by stepping in and helping to regulate what your kids view on the internet. Or maybe you are facing hard decisions at work about how to live out your faith when you are specifically asked to affirm non-Christian values.
Maybe you do not know where God might be calling you to trust and obey Him. In that case, your first act of obedience might be to start listening better by being intentional about getting into God's Word. Get a reading plan or a Bible app with a plan and start writing down your thoughts as you read. Ask God to reveal to you how you might begin to trust Him more by obeying Him in new and fresh ways. I submit to you that it will not take long, if you are truly open to His leading as your Lord, for Him to reveal specific ways that you can trust Him. Furthermore, I am quite sure that the more you learn to trust and obey Jesus, the more lasting peace and joy you will find.
