"For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task? Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God." 2 Corinthians 2:15-17
Sometimes I have a little extra time on my hands and I read a few articles at The Gospel Coalition website and today I saw one on obedience. I have been thinking about obedience lately and so that article was particularly timely. I typically find myself reading TGC articles with a pretty critical eye, but I found the author's thoughts to be very much in-line with my own. Somewhere along the way, obedience became a 4-letter word in the Church but obedience really lies at the heart of what it means to be a disciple. Jesus didn't say 'do whatever you want and follow me'. He said, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." I've been in more than a few conversations over the years around this topic and inevitably someone will say, "well, we want to be careful to avoid legalism..." Even when I've heard preachers speak on obedience, you will often hear them qualify their remarks with something about avoiding legalism. Having said that - it seems like we are far closer to license than we are to legalism in our modern age. I know that's true for myself. We seem much more apt to excuse our own choices than we are to veer towards legalism.
