Obedience or More?

He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. (John 3:36)

This verse touches something inside of me that has been coming to my attention lately that needs to be dealt with internally. It is a trigger that is ignited spontaneously in my mind anytime certain words related to obedience or law or some such related issue is mentioned. As a result of my legalistic upbringing and because most of society around me, even secular society is filled with legalistic thinking and attitudes, this concept for me is a strong trigger point.

Most people assume that this means I need to be forced to submit to authority and have my rebellious spirit broken. And while it is certainly true that I need to become free of a spirit of rebellion, I believe it is becoming clearer to those who choose to think carefully, that breaking the spirit of an individual, even an animal, is the wrong way to bring about a healthy relationship with that individual. It may produce external conformity and compliance, but it cannot result in a deep love relationship or freedom at the heart level.

This verse keeps bringing me back to this issue every morning since it is right in the middle of the section of verses I am contemplating lately. So this morning I decided to take a closer look at this and look up the original words in the Greek to see what they really mean. As I thought, the word translated not obey is in essence the very opposite from the word translated believes. However, because of the English usage of these words is so different than in the original languages it is actually impossible to properly express these two words from the original so simplistically in our language.

The first word actually is closely related to what we usually term faith or belief. But this faith is much deeper and more active than simply an intellectual exercise, opinion, belief system or even religious prejudice. This is the kind of faith that works itself out in natural expression in the life because of the heart's synchronization with the heart of the object of that faith. It can best be described as the loyal relationship of a person who is coming to trust more and more the integrity, transparency and worthiness of the other person so much so that they are willing to make confident choices based on the reliableness of the other person. This kind of faith is so sure and trusting in the other that it is willing to take great risks based on what is believed about the other.

The second word in the Greek translated variously not obey or not believe in various versions of the Bible, is about as opposite a word as can be produced. It is the very essence of the opposite of the first word. So all the nuances implied about the trust and confidence embedded in the word for believe are just the opposite in the person who disbelieves. Included in that is the idea of a deliberate choice, not just ignorance. This verse is not referring to a lack of belief due to a lack of awareness or knowledge. The original word strongly indicates that this is a situation of willful unbelief even to the point of perverseness. This is choosing to not believe in the face of evidence and awareness of the trustworthiness of the other person. Hence, it will also be evident in this condition that unbelief will include a lack of synchronization with God or what is commonly called disobedience.

Ironically this kind of disobedience can actually be masked by the appearance of obedience when that obedience is intended to make it look like a person is in compliance with the rules and laws in place. This is really a part of the essence of legalism, trying to comply with all the rules in order to establish the appearance of a relationship without having the heart transformed and synchronized with the heart of the trustworthy Lawgiver. It is like trying to keep up the appearance of a good marriage by complying with all the formulas laid out by experts while failing to become intimately connected emotionally or becoming vulnerable to one's spouse. Many marriages are in fact in this condition and from the outside everyone thinks that they are very healthy. But when the truth is revealed it can be seen that the marriage is only superficial and is maintained more for convenience or to maintain a comfort zone or to keep others from talking instead of for real love.

The truth involved in having a real marriage that is healthy is actually the closest thing God has given us to understand the kind of even deeper relationship that we need to have with Him if we are to enjoy this eternal life talked about in this verse. In essence, this verse is saying that if we want to have eternal life we must have the kind of relational, responsive, trusting faith in the Son of God that will express itself through every part of our life and our decisions. And in contrast to that, anyone who deliberately chooses to turn away from His invitation to have this kind of relationship with Him will not see life. And since the only alternative to life is death and all that goes with it like pain, fear, suffering, anger and the rest of the descriptions of sin, then this condition will be the result of that choice.

So it is not nearly so shallow as sometimes it first appears when reading this text. The implications of this verse are about as profound as profound gets. This is at the very heart of the choice that everyone of us has to face in our life.

As I become aware of the real truth about God and His offer of salvation for me through the life and ministry of Jesus, I am forced by this awareness to make decisions about how I am going to relate to Him. And behind my choices will lie the beliefs that I really hold at the heart level about how God feels about me. If I believe things that are not true about Him but that feel true to me about God's attitudes and treatment of me, then I may likely pull away in fear and look for alternative ways to find life or hope or strength for myself. But if I choose to trust His heart even when I cannot understand it, I will enter into a relationship with Him that will transform my own heart and I will experience the effect of being changed by the grace that is ever-present to restore me to wholeness, peace and joy.