True Apostolic Discipleship — Post 8 of 48
Section II: The Cross and the Covenant
Obedience is not the price we pay to make God love us. It is the first fruit of a heart that has come to love Him.
There is a kind of Christianity that speaks warmly of love while quietly resisting obedience.
It rejoices in grace, mercy, forgiveness, and acceptance, but becomes uneasy when the words of Christ press upon the will. It welcomes the promises of God but hesitates before His commands. It gladly speaks of what Jesus has done for us, yet grows silent when He asks something of us.
But Jesus did not separate love from obedience.
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.” — John 14:15
He did not say, “Obey Me so that I will begin to love you.”
He did not say, “Obey Me so that you may earn a place in My house.”
He said, “If ye love me.”
Obedience is therefore not the purchase price of acceptance. It is the response of a heart that has already encountered the love and faithfulness of God. The covenant gives the disciple a secure place to stand. The cross begins breaking the rule of self. Suffering exposes the places where self still hides, then obedience reveals whether love for Christ is becoming practical.
Love that never reaches the will remains sentiment.
Love Is Tested Where Christ’s Will Crosses Ours
It is easy to speak of love for Christ while His will agrees with our own. We gladly call Him Lord when His direction confirms our plans, comforts our preferences, and supports what we already wanted to do. But the true test comes when His will crosses ours.
- What happens when He says no?
- What happens when obedience requires waiting?
- What happens when He calls us to forgive someone we would rather avoid?
- What happens when truth costs us approval?
- What happens when His Word exposes something we have defended for years?
At that point, love moves beyond feeling. It becomes surrender.
Jesus asked:
“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” — Luke 6:46
“Lord” is not merely a title used in worship. It declares His right to govern.
A disciple may struggle to obey. He may hesitate, fear, or wrestle inwardly. But he cannot reserve the final authority for himself and still claim that Christ is Lord in more than name.
The first mark of love is not emotional warmth, it is the willingness to yield.
Obedience Is Not Legalism
Because many believers have been wounded by legalism, some now treat nearly every serious call to obedience with suspicion. They have seen Scripture used as a weapon. They have watched leaders impose human rules, demand unquestioning loyalty, and measure spirituality by outward conformity. They have seen Christians burdened with regulations that God never commanded.
Such things should be rejected. Legalism uses obedience to establish worth.
It says, in effect, perform well enough, and perhaps God will receive you.
The gospel says the opposite. God receives us in Christ, gives us His Spirit, and then teaches us to walk as those who belong to Him.
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.” — Ephesians 2:8–10
We are not saved by good works, we are saved unto them. And grace does not merely pardon the old life and leave it undisturbed. Grace brings us into union with Christ and begins producing a new walk.
Legalism tries to make an unchanged heart behave in contrast to the new covenant which gives a new heart.
Covenant Grace Writes Obedience Within
The promise of the new covenant is larger than forgiveness alone.
God said:
“I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts.” — Jeremiah 31:33
And again:
“And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes.” — Ezekiel 36:27
God does not merely stand outside the believer issuing demands to a resistant nature. He works within.
He gives His Spirit, He forms the life of Christ and He creates an inward agreement with His will.
This does not mean the disciple instantly becomes mature or incapable of disobedience. The flesh still resists. Old habits still speak loudly. Fear, pride, appetite, and self-will do not disappear without conflict, but something fundamental has changed.
The believer can no longer remain entirely comfortable with rebellion. The Spirit within him bears witness to the will of God. Disobedience disturbs fellowship, conviction remains, and the new man desires what pleases Christ even while the flesh argues against it.
That inward conflict is not always proof that grace has failed, often it is evidence that a new principle of life is present.
Paul writes:
“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” — Philippians 2:13
God works first in the willing, then in the doing.
The disciple learns to cooperate with the life God has placed within him rather than trying to manufacture holiness through the strength of the flesh.
Partial Obedience Preserves Self-Rule
King Saul provides one of Scripture’s clearest warnings. God gave him a command. Saul followed it only as far as he found acceptable. He preserved what appealed to him and then attempted to cover his disobedience with religious language.
Samuel answered:
“Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.” — 1 Samuel 15:22
Saul was not unwilling to be religious. He was willing to sacrifice, to speak of the Lord and he was willing to preserve the appearance of devotion. But he was not willing to yield completely.
Religious activity can become a substitute for obedience. A person may pray, teach, give, attend meetings, study Scripture, and speak spiritual language while avoiding the one matter upon which God has placed His finger.
The flesh often prefers sacrifice because sacrifice can still be controlled.
We choose the form, the amount and the timing but obedience requires that God defines the terms.
Saul did not reject everything God said. He obeyed selectively. That is what makes partial obedience so deceptive. It contains enough surrender to appear faithful while preserving a private territory where self still rules.
We may say:
- I will obey, but not there.
- I will forgive, but I will continue rehearsing the offense.
- I will wait, but only until my patience expires.
- I will surrender this, but I reserve the right to take it back.
The disciple may struggle honestly before God, as Christ Himself did in Gethsemane. Struggle is not the same as rebellion.
Jesus prayed:
“O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” — Matthew 26:39
The cost was real, the obedience was complete and mature obedience is not always emotionally effortless. It is love carrying the will through the struggle.
Obedience Often Comes Before Understanding
Modern man prefers complete explanation before submission. He wants the reasons, the outcome, the timetable, and the cost disclosed beforehand. But throughout Scripture, understanding frequently unfolds after obedience begins.
God said to Abraham:
“Get thee out of thy country… unto a land that I will shew thee.” — Genesis 12:1
Abraham did not receive the whole map before he departed.
Peter had labored all night and caught nothing when Jesus told him to let down the nets again. Everything in his experience argued against it.
Yet Peter answered:
“Nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.” — Luke 5:5
That sentence contains the heart of discipleship:
“At thy word.”
Not because the circumstances are favorable or the outcome is guaranteed nor even because every question has been answered, but because Christ has spoken. This does not mean that believers should obey every impression that passes through their minds. The voice of the Spirit must never be separated from the written Word, godly wisdom, and sober discernment. But once the will of God is clear, endless delay may become disguised resistance.
Jesus said:
“If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine.” — John 7:17
Some light is given only to the willing heart, the disciple who insists upon understanding everything before obeying may never gain the understanding he seeks.
Obedience Is Learned in Ordinary Life
Many believers imagine that their obedience will be proved in some great future test.
They picture persecution, costly ministry, or heroic sacrifice. Yet great obedience is formed through ordinary decisions that often go unnoticed.
It is learned when:
- we tell the truth though a lie would be easier
- we keep our word.
- we apologize without attaching a defense.
- we refuse temptation before it grows strong.
- we remain faithful to responsibilities no one applauds.
- we listen instead of insisting upon being heard.
- we receive correction without immediately striking back.
- we forgive, serve, wait, pray, and remain quiet before God.
These small obediences train the will.
A person who continually refuses Christ in ordinary matters should not assume that he will suddenly become courageous in extraordinary ones.
The cross is daily, so is obedience.
A man may speak passionately about surrender while remaining harsh, defensive, controlling, and unwilling to yield in his own home. But the life of a disciple is not measured by the strength of his vocabulary.
It is revealed in his walk.
Obedience May Cost the Approval of Men
One of the greatest enemies of obedience is the fear of man. We may know what Scripture says and still fear the consequences of acting upon it. We fear being misunderstood, rejected, mocked, or accused of being extreme.
There are moments when obedience separates us from the crowd.
Daniel prayed when prayer became illegal.
The apostles preached when rulers commanded them to stop.
Their answer was plain:
“We ought to obey God rather than men.” — Acts 5:29
This does not give believers permission to become harsh, self-important, or needlessly combative. Obedience to Christ should never be used to excuse pride. But neither can a disciple make human approval his final guide. A man who must always be understood will not always remain faithful. Love for Christ must become greater than the need to be accepted by everyone else.
Christ Is the Pattern of Obedient Sonship
Jesus is not only the One who commands obedience.
He is its perfect pattern.
“He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” — Philippians 2:8
His obedience was not partial or convenient and it did not depend upon how others treated Him. He obeyed unto death. Yet the passage does not end at the cross:
“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him.” — Philippians 2:9
The cross came before the crown and His obedience passed through death into exaltation.
The disciple does not repeat Christ’s redeeming work. That work is finished and belongs to Him alone. But the same obedient life of the Son is being formed within those who follow Him. The Father is not merely seeking correct behavior, He is forming sons who share the spirit of the Son:
“Not my will, but thine, be done.” — Luke 22:42
That is the deepest language of discipleship. It is not forced submission or fearful compliance neither is it outward conformity under religious pressure. It is the willing surrender of love.
The Direction of the Life
John writes:
“And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.” — 1 John 2:3
This does not teach sinless perfection. A disciple may indeed stumble. He may require correction. He may fail, repent, and rise again.
Peter denied Christ, yet Christ restored him. The issue is not whether a believer has ever failed. The issue is the direction of the life.
A person cannot make settled peace with disobedience while claiming intimate fellowship with Christ. The new man bends toward obedience. Even when the disciple fails, something within him longs to return. He cannot remain satisfied at a distance. He grieves the loss of fellowship and comes back into the light.
That is the covenant working within him.
Obedience is not the price paid to make God love us, it is the first visible fruit of a heart that has learned to love Him.
“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me.” — John 14:21
Love listens, yields and follows.
Section II Complete
With this article, Section II — The Cross and the Covenant is complete.
The disciple now stands upon God’s covenant faithfulness, understands the necessity of the cross, sees suffering as an instrument of formation beneath the Father’s hand, and recognizes obedience as the first practical mark of love.
The next section turns directly to Christ Himself.
Coming Next
Two discouraged disciples walked away from Jerusalem carrying shattered expectations. Christ came near, opened the Scriptures, corrected their understanding, and caused their hearts to burn again. In that journey, we see how Jesus forms confused believers.