WEEK 44

OBEDIENCE IS BETTER THAN SACRIFICE

King Saul’s first and last mistake was to listen to his army’s suggestion to leave the choicest spoil to be sacrificed to GOD when he had clear word from GOD to devote EVERYTHING to destruction (1 Sam 15:21). GOD does not delight in sacrifice but desires His followers obey His voice. To obey is better than sacrifice (1 Sam 15:22).

“Do you think all God wants are sacrifices— empty rituals just for show? He wants you to listen to him! Plain listening is the thing” (1 Sam 15:22-23 MSG). You can’t pick and choose in these things, specializing in keeping one or two things in God’s law and ignoring others” (James 2:8-11 MSG).

Our default reaction is to fall back into sacrificing when GOD’s Word has leaked out of

us. When time moves on and we have not disciplined ourselves to open GOD’s Word, the communication between GOD and us no longer exists. If joy is missing and obedience hard it is because we’re ignorant or avoiding what God has designed for us and what that is is to fellowship with Him.

“I’m after love that lasts, not more religion. I want you to know God, not go to more prayer meetings” (Hos 6:6-7 MSG).

 “The word abide means to remain or stay around. The abiding believer is the only legitimate believer. Abiding and believing actually are addressing the same issue of genuine salvation.”¹

When we are too far away to hear the LORD, we are forced to depend on insights of others or our own thinking. Without dwelling in the LORD’s presence we have absolutely no inkling how to live spiritually. And, like Saul, we will always fall into attempting to impress Him by doing something we think He would like.

“[G]ifts and sacrifices can’t really get to the heart of the matter, can’t assuage the conscience of the people, but are limited to matters of ritual and behavior” (Heb 9:6-10 MSG).

“Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.’” (Matt 9:13 ESV).

True saving faith is supernatural, a gracious gift of God that He produces in the heart and is the only means by which a person can appropriate true righteousness. Saving faith consists of three elements: (1) mental: the mind understands the gospel and the truth about Christ; (2) emotional: one embraces the truthfulness of those facts with sorrow over sin and joy over God’s mercy and grace; and (3) volitional: the sinner submits his will to Christ and trusts in Him alone as the only hope of salvation. Genuine faith will always produce authentic obedience.²

ENDNOTES

(44) Obedience is Better Than Sacrifice

            1. John MacArthur, One Perfect Life (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2012) 417.

                  2. MacArthur, 508.

                  3. “I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people” (Leviticus 26:12 ESV).

                  4. “[T]hey provoked the LORD to anger. [H]e gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them” (Judges 2:12,14 ESV).

                  5. “Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them” (Judges 2:16 ESV).

                  6. “[W]hen the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the people to Israel, who saved them” (Judges 3:9 ESV).

                  7. “[I]f you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache” (Leviticus 26:14,16 ESV).

                  8. “I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38 ESV).

                  9. “We were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4 ESV).

                  10. “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever” (John 14:16 ESV),

                  11. “[W]hoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it” (James 2:10 ESV).

                  12. “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:29-30 ESV).