Godly Disobedience

Coronavirus lockdowns have forced many places to close or change how they do business. For two months now, I haven’t been able to get a haircut, hang out at coffee shops, or attend most church services in person. Nevertheless, there are Christians who are quick to preach about “obeying the laws of the land” (Romans 13:1-6, Titus 3:1-2). I agree with that to a point. For example, no one should violate the speed limit except for policemen catching criminals and first responders trying to save lives.

Sometimes civil disobedience is necessary when a law contradicts the higher laws of God. These individuals in the Bible wouldn’t have fulfilled their divine destinies had they followed every man-made ordinance…

• The Hebrew midwives were ordered to throw newborn boys into the Nile River (Exodus 1:16). One mother hid her son for three months and then sent him floating down the river. Moses eventually led the Israelites out of captivity. 
• Esther went against protocol by appearing before King Ahasuerus even though it could have cost her life. Her actions prevented the Jews from being killed.
• Daniel and his three friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego refused to worship the king of Babylon and instead prayed to the true God. All of their lives were supernaturally spared.
• The early apostles were commanded not to preach in the name of Jesus. Peter responded in Acts 5:29, “We ought to obey God rather than men.”

Yesterday I exchanged emails with a fellow American who claimed we aren’t living in times of persecution. Baloney! For the past few years, Christian business owners refusing to support homosexual events have been harassed and fined. Lately we’ve had governors and mayors issuing threats against pastors and churchgoers just for having worship services. This goes against the First Amendment of the Constitution, which is the highest law of the land.

God hates rebellion but He is also against cowards tolerating godlessness. 500 years ago, a German priest named Martin Luther opposed corruption by the Roman Catholic Church that resulted in religious freedom for multitudes of people. This same country later allowed an Austrian named Adolf Hitler to gradually take away personal freedoms. Think that can’t happen here in the United States? Bad things happen when good people do nothing. 

A future law people should not obey is taking the mark of the beast. As A. W. Tozer once said, “To be right with God has often meant to be in trouble with men.”

But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.” - Acts 4:19

Obeying God vs. Man

Burger King once used the advertising slogan, “Sometimes, you gotta break the rules.” If you’re truly living for the Lord, He will occasionally lead you to do things that may seem risky and go against man-made laws. Sometimes I have evangelized in shopping malls even though security people will try to stop that because they consider it “soliciting.”

A recent exchange of emails with a Facebook friend about illegal immigration reminded me of a situation that happened fifteen years ago. In April 2003, I flew to Berlin to share the gospel in Germany. Originally I was scheduled to fly back to the U. S. a month later but opted not to despite my return ticket classified “non-refundable.” The Lord told me my leaving Germany then would be in His permissive will but not His perfect will. Eventually, He led me to visit other European nations.

By September I was in Spain and perceived it was time to come home. One day I went to the Madrid airport hoping the airline would let me use my old return ticket. The representative I talked to put a reservation into her computer, which was denied by the airline’s home office. But when I returned to the place I was staying, a friend had called saying the Lord instructed him to buy me another airline ticket!

When I started my flight back to the Washington, DC area, one concern I had was what to say while going through customs. I found out an American could legally stay in the European Union without a visa for only 90 days every six months. After changing planes in Amsterdam, I was given a customs declaration form to fill out. One question that needed to be answered was which foreign countries I visited. The form had space to write down only two but I had been in seven on this trip. I asked a flight attendant what I should do. She told me to put down the last two countries I’d been in. 

Later at Dulles Airport, the customs official examined my declaration form and asked me how long I was in Spain and the Netherlands (the total time for both was just over a month). He didn’t inquire about any other countries I visited. The only thing that raised his eyebrows was my post office box listed as a permanent address. I explained that I’m a missionary who lives in various places for short periods of time but uses a PO Box in Virginia to collect my mail. The man shook his head and waved me through.

This testimony is not to encourage anyone to purposely overstay their visit to a foreign nation. Whenever possible, we should obey the laws of the land that don’t violate Scripture. Still, God will give grace and favor to those obedient to the Great Commission. 

The laws of man are superseded by the higher laws of God.

“But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: ‘We ought to obey God rather than men.’” - Acts 5:29 

Supernatural Speeding

Christians are living epistles according to 2 Corinthians 3:3. Non-Christians carefully observe the actions of professing believers to see if they are “walking the walk” as well as “talking the talk.” One thing that leaves a bad witness is when God’s people don’t obey traffic laws. Imagine what an unbeliever thinks when he sees a Christian speeding with a “What Would Jesus Do” bumper sticker on the back of his car.

I’ve met a few Christians who tried justifying their need to speed but still found themselves in trouble. One morning I rode with a pastor who was running behind schedule and drove well over the posted speed limit on our way to his church. Despite having a radar detector in his car, this pastor got pulled over. Since I was from out of state, the patrolman searched my luggage to make sure I wasn’t transporting drugs. Fortunately for the pastor, all he got was a warning ticket. In spite of this, we arrived at his church much later than had he obeyed the speed limit in the first place.

There was another incident when a friend of mine went past the speed limit while driving me to the airport. When I suggested he slow down, my friend claimed speeding would help him avoid flying rocks. A rock hit and cracked his windshield just before we exited the freeway.

Then there was the time a man asked me to use his car to drive a female friend of his to work. When I showed up at this woman’s house, she insisted on driving since she knew the way to her workplace. Once we got on the freeway, she started going 80 miles per hour in a 55 mph zone. I politely asked her to slow down. She replied, “I don’t want to lose the job God gave me.” I reminded her what the Bible says about obeying the laws of the land (Romans 13:1-2). She got more defensive and so I quietly prayed in the Spirit. This woman was forced to slow down due to heavy traffic and still arrived late for work.  

Daniel 12:3 says that in the last days, “many shall run to and fro.” In today’s society, multitudes are constantly rushing to go somewhere. While street evangelizing, many people I approach won’t stop to talk with me because they claim to be in a hurry.

Christians don’t have to live under that kind of pressure. God can translate us if He needs us to be somewhere when we cannot be on time by natural means. Personally I know at least two people who experienced translations while driving. In 1992, a former girlfriend testified how God supernaturally got her to church one night faster than the 15 minutes it normally took to get there. When she left her house, the clock in her car read “6:25.” When she arrived at the church, her clock read “6:31.” She got to the church in six minutes without speeding.

Another friend of mine who was on staff at Calvary Campground emailed me a testimony of her being translated. One morning she drove 90 miles from Ashland, Virginia to Washington, DC where she was scheduled to speak at a church. She was running late and had to drive slower than the posted speed limit due to heavy traffic on Interstate 95. While driving through Northern Virginia, God suddenly moved her forward several miles and got her to the church on time.

Don’t let the busyness of this world prompt you to break the speed limit or do other foolish things that can create additional problems. Trust in the Lord and He will always help you be in the right place at the right time.

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, and He delights in his way.” – Psalm 37:23

Obey the Gospel

Doctrinal debates sometimes result from comments I post on my Facebook page. I don’t mind this as long as our discussions remain civil and don’t promote heresy. Isaiah 1:18 encourages us to “reason together.” Yesterday I modified and reposted a powerful statement seen on another friend’s wall: “Grace alone did not save Noah and his family...obedience did.”

One friend wrote in response, “It’s Christ's obedience that saved us.” It’s true Christ did His part to make salvation available to everyone but a covenant involves two parties in agreement. A couple doesn’t become married if only one partner says, “I do.” Likewise, someone cannot become part of the Bride of Christ unless he or she says “I do” to Jesus. 

As I pondered my friend’s statement, I recalled how the New Testament talks about obeying the gospel...

“But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed our report?’” - Romans 10:16

“in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” - 2 Thessalonians 1:8

“For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?” - 1 Peter 4:17 

To elaborate on my original comment, Noah could have basked in God’s grace and goodness but would've drowned with the rest of the world if he hadn’t obeyed God’s command to build the ark. Under the New Covenant, sinners can avoid drowning in the lake of fire if they hear the gospel and then decide to obey it. That can happen if more believers do their part in obeying the Great Commission.

“Whoever says, I know Him [I perceive, recognize, understand, and am acquainted with Him] but fails to keep and obey His commandments (teachings) is a liar, and the Truth [of the Gospel] is not in him.” - 1 John 2:4 (Amplified Bible)

The Law is Good

Some Christians get really defensive when they hear about the need to obey God’s word. This past Wednesday I witnessed to a dollar store employee who was taking a smoke break outside. She claimed to know the Lord but wasn’t going to church anywhere. When I tried pointing out how Hebrews 10:25 commands us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, she walked away saying, “I have my own beliefs!” 

Part of the problem is ministers not presenting a balanced perspective of God. Just as some preach too much about God’s judgment, others totally disregard (and in some cases distort) the Bible’s warnings on disobeying His commandments. l frequently hear believers who defiantly boast, “I am not under law but under grace.” They associate obedience with legalism. 

There are numerous Scriptures that talk about treasuring God’s laws. Let’s look at a few from the largest chapter in the Bible...

“I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.” - Psalm 119:16

“Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law.” - Psalm 119:18

“And I will delight myself in Your commandments, which I love.” - Psalm 119:47

“The law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of coins of gold and silver.” - Psalm 119:72

“Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies.” - Psalm 119:97-98

“Therefore I love Your commandments more than gold, yes, than fine gold!” - Psalm 119:127

“Great peace have those who love Your law, and nothing causes them to stumble.” - Psalm 119:165

Even the New Testament recognizes the value of the law...

“Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.” - Romans 7:12

“Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters.” - 1 Corinthians 7:19

“But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully,” - 1 Timothy 1:8 

Fellow evangelist Daniel K. Norris says, “I have found that grace doesn't render the law irrelevant to me but actually makes it even more relevant for me.” 

It is possible to delight in God's law and still be under grace.

“But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.” - James 1:25 (NIV)

Free Will

A doctrine taught by some ministers is that believers don’t have free will. Recently a friend wrote on her Facebook wall, “When love invades your heart, where is the choice, the so-called free will? You turn into LOVE!” I wrote in response, “If Christians no longer have free will, then how come God doesn’t make every one of them take part in free-will offerings?”  

That reminds me of one preacher who had someone tell him, “God makes people do whatever He wants them to do.” This preacher replied, “If that’s true, then how come He won’t make you pay your tithes?” Hebrews 10:25 commands us not to forsake “the assembling of ourselves together.” Yet when I’m out evangelizing, I regularly meet Christians who don’t go to church for a variety of reasons.

A believer who truly loves the Lord will want to obey Him in all things including giving, attending church and witnessing. Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love Me, keep my commandments.” But until we die or are raptured, we will continue living in a fleshly body still capable of disobeying God’s laws. Even the Apostle Paul had struggles in this area. He wrote in Romans 7…

15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 

16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 

17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 

18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 

19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 

20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

One dictionary defines free will as “the power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate; the ability to act at one's own discretion.” When a couple exchanges wedding vows, they respond to questions by answering, “I do” or “I will.” If you’re married, I’m sure you didn’t want your spouse to feel coerced into tying the knot with you. True love is a decision. 

The Lord feels the same way about us. Jesus said to the church of the Laodiceans in Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” Notice He didn’t say, “When everyone hears My voice and opens the door…”  

God made man a free moral agent. Every day He gives us choices regarding His direction for our lives. What will you choose to do?

“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing, therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.” - Deuteronomy 30:19