Precision obedience?

 I have seen people comment on "precision obedience." One preacher said, "God does not expect us to be able to conquer sin or be perfect, so he gave us the perfect acts of worship, and how to perform them perfectly. Thus those who use instruments in music are of their father the devil."

Consider what God said. "[God] also made us sufficient as servants of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." (2 Cor 3:6)

Jesus, when declaring how His disciples would be known, did not say, "By this will all men know you're My disciples: if you have the correct doctrine about worship services, in the correct way, being set aside by a lack of pianos." Rather He said, "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:25). Thus, "you were called to freedom, brothers...For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Gal 5:13-14)

Is slavery ok or: are you a slave, too?

BQ: It's a great thing to want to be Christian, but it's a greater thing to know what that entails. What some don't realize is that being a Christian costs a lot. In fact, God says,

"Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?" (Rom 6)

Wait! Slaves? Obedience? What? God works hard for us—in fact, He worked Himself to death. It is therefore no surprise that he expresses some incredulity and says, "You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin."  (Heb 12:4) That may be a lot to take in, but God also gives us the power to live up to it—He is both King and Comforter! Let's go for it! 

Grace does not make sin less dangerous.

Grace does not make sin less dangerous. 

In Genesis 4:7 God warned Cain, "And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it."  In Hebrews 3:13, He cautioned, "But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." 

Sin has the power of deception. Examine yourself against the mirror of the Word. (James 1) Look upon your inner man. Be honest. If you ignore a monster in the mirror, sin's power of deception will be your master, and it may become a nightmare from which you never wake up—the worst reality of all. 

What is repentance actually? A tough, historical, Biblical look at it, plus when we get the Holy Spirit. Have you?

In another series, I looked at baptism as the Bible described it, what God does in it, how early Christians viewed it, and where people started going astray from what God taught. 

Because someone mentioned it in a comment, I think that a look at repentance might also be important, as well as a look at the Holy Spirit. Timothy McHenry noted that some people will even admit the necessity of baptism, but shy away from repentance.  That's a shame, because we receive God's Help with the Holy Spirit when we are immersed, and overcoming any particular sin, no matter how addictive, is entirely possible. We truly can make new, good habits, and clean out the old ones. It takes a lot of work, though, and, well, yeah, work is work. 

With that said, let's look at repentance and the Holy Spirit. 







BQ: First, we're going to look at repentance as the Bible discusses it. Is it important? What is it? 

Jesus warned, "I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish (Luke 13:3)," so repentance is needed for salvation. How can we really define what it is?  2 Cor 7:9-11 gives a working explanation, saying:

"For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. 

For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter." 

True repentance produces zeal and vehement desire to not continue sinning over and over. It is shown when old habits are killed off. Instead of continuing swearing, one stops. Instead of continuing bar-hopping, one stops. And in return, godly actions take the place of sin. 







BQ: True repentance is said to produce diligence, zeal, indignation, fear, vehement desire, a clearing of oneself, and vindication. What do we know of the word itself?  In Greek, it's "metanoeo," which literally means,"to perceive afterwards" , and was recognized to effectively mean, "change in the inner man."

The implications of this are great. Hebrews 6:6 says of some that when they, "then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame." Titus 3:5 says, "he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit."

Why is it impossible to renew some people to repentance? Because the inner man was changed by the Holy Spirit, and by their own doing, they drive the Spirit out, embracing the world. The practice of sin, doing it willfully and repeatedly, can make us lose out greatest Gift—it can make us lose the Holy Spirit. 







BQ: Today is just to cover a few verses that make it abundantly clear that repentance is not something to be taken lightly, but is in fact a core part of salvation. 

—Heb 12:17 "For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears." 

— 2 Pet 3:9 "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance."

—  Acts 2:38 "Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

In order, we see that without repentance, we will be rejected. Second Peter also makes it clear that without repentance, we'll perish, but God gives us time to repent.  And Acts 2 shows that without being immersed (baptized) and repenting, we'll not receive the Holy Spirit.  

Have you truly repented? Have you been baptized? 





BQ: Now we're going to look a little more at the character of repentance. 

—Mt 3:8 "Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance."

—Mk 6:12 "They went out and preached that men should repent."

—Acts 3:19 "Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord." 

From the above, we can see that true repentance leads to fruit in our actions. For example, if your bad habit was carousing at the bars, you'll not only stop, but you'll replace it with things which build the Kingdom. 

Furthermore, we see that if we wish to truly evangelize, we need to make repentance a part of it. Not to bash people over the head, but show they, as Acts 3 says, that refreshing can come, and sins can be wiped away. Repentance is about a fresh wind, and overcoming the stench of a dying world. 






BQ: It's incredibly interesting to look at how early Christians viewed repentance. To begin, Martyr wrote in the second century,

"As many as are persuaded and believe that what we teach and say is true, and undertake to be able to live accordingly...then they are brought by us where there is water, and are regenerated...there is pronounced over him who chooses to be born again, and has repented of his sins, the name of God the Father and Lord of the universe." 

That little passage alone reveals a ton. These people who were immersed were persuaded of the Truth (and faith, in Greek, means persuasion), and had decided to live according to the likeness of Christ. Immediately they were then baptized, and they repented of their sins. 

Early Christians understood that when a person had faith, it included baptism, and very importantly, repentance. When we're Christians, we can't let ourselves practice the same old sins. 






BQ: In 150-200 AD, Clement wrote, 

"We are washed from all our sins, and are no longer entangled in evil. This is the one grace of illumination, that our characters are not the same as before our washing... In the same way, therefore, we also, repenting of our sins, renouncing our iniquities, purified by baptism, speed back to the eternal light, children to the Father."

Time after time, you'll notice that repentance is required. Early Christians understood that, after they were immersed, they could not be the same as before.their washing. When we're baptized, we MUST change. I can't stress it enough. No matter what it is, from swearing to sleeping around, we have to fight and overcome it. And that's why we're given then Holy Spirit as a gift, to empower us to be overcomers for Christ. 






BQ: Speaking of repentance, some will claim that they have certain sins that they just can't resist. This isn't true, but it is a symptom of having very little faith in God. In Mt 17:20, Jesus said,

"Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

To say that we cannot overcome some sin with God's help is a terrible thing. He raised men from the dead, so something we find ourselves liking too much is no problem. That's why 1 Cor 10:13 says,

"No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it."






BQ: Although we've covered it a bit, some people claim that you don't receive the Holy Spirit when you repent and are immersed. Early Christians did not hold this view.  Cyril in 345 AD wrote, 

'Repent,' says he, 'and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. [Acts 2:38]' O unspeakable lovingkindness of God! They have no hope of being saved, and yet they are thought worthy of the Holy Ghost. You see the power of Baptism!"

The Holy Spirit in us is why Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." (Mt 11:11) The Holy Spirit gives us the power to change our inner man, and to make that repentance true. Baptism regenerates us, but the Holy Spirit constantly renews us. (Titus 3:5)

BQ: Early Christians understood that we indeed receive the Holy Spirit, but only in baptism. Around 200-250 AD, Cyprian wrote, 

"For by baptism the Holy Spirit is received... As also, in another place, the Lord speaks to the Samaritan woman, saying, 'Whosoever drinks of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him, shall not thirst for ever.' By which is also signified the very baptism of saving water, which indeed is once received, and is not again repeated."

For he who has been sanctified, his sins being put away in baptism, and has been spiritually re-formed into a new man, has become fitted for receiving the Holy Spirit; since the apostle says, 'As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.' 

Early Christians understood that people had to hear and believe in Christ in order to be spurred to have faith in immersion. They also understood that immersion and repentance were 100% necessary to salvation, and that if we continued in our old ways afterward, we made the indwelling of the Holy Spirit pointless.

Ask yourself if you have really repented? If not, there is an infinite amount of help available to you, as well as your brothers and sisters who have put on Christ in immersion. Take the bull by the horns and change!

As soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her sons.

With thanks to Rio and Miriam, about something that has been on my mind.

I have personally watched Christian friends slip into the world, committing both spiritual suicide with themselves, and spiritual murder with the things they did with others, and encouraged others to do. And those times have been the most painful of my life, bar none.  And those times have been the most painful of my life, bar none. A lot of that pain comes from the pain of knowing what I've been, and the damage I've caused in the past.

Even if you don't personally like the person that much, the pain is devastating, because there is nothing you can do.  You cannot be the conscience for someone who wants his or her conscience to be seared.  Often, these people will apply a veneer of godliness, so that they can look at their fake reality and call it real, but the poison runs deep and is killing them.

What do you do? Do you delete such a person from your life? Do you utterly abandon them?  

I have often done that. I don't think it's right. It was my selfish way of protecting myself from pain. I once encouraged my mother and sister to abandon someone who caused them great pain and tears. They refused.  Instead of letting the person simply get off easy, they were loving but also truthful.  Their efforts were met seemingly forever with rejection and cruelty.

And yet God says, "Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!" (Psalms 126:5)

Who wants to sow a field with such effort that it causes them to cry? Isn't it easier to just abandon that plot and more on to easier territory? 

My sister and mom didn't. They sowed in tears. Eventually, the person they loved changed. Hard times came. Rock bottom was hit. This person was abandoned. And suddenly, the person realized that through everything she had done, despite the evil of it, two people were still compassionate. Compassionate despite the way they'd been treated. And indeed, none of the person's actions had been more than passing pleasure.  And in the end, my mother and sister reaped with joyful shouting.

Compare that with two of my own examples. Both times, I saw someone reverting back to their old friends and old ways, including drinking. Both times, I said, "That hurts me and is repulsive behavior. You're otta' my life."  And both these people, now, are fully surrounded by the world, molded into it as a part of it, horrifically deep.  Attempts by me now to say, "Hey, I care about you," have no weight behind them. Because I gave up. Instead of being loving but correcting, I threw away anything, including hope, no matter how small.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 says, "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit." 

Are you like that? If you persist in love, will you not remain green? Are you afraid of the pain, and willing to wilt away from hope and caring? There is only one way to bear fruit, and it is through persistence. 

Sometimes, however, when you are persistent, people will reject you. It happens. As my friend Rio once told me as a wake-up call, and this is paraphrased "Sometimes nothing you do can reach people, and you'll be consumed."  You have to know when that point is, but you can also make the conscious decision to not simply and utterly reject them.

The truth with the person struggling is that we do not know if they will be overcome, or shall overcome.  We cannot make the call with their struggles, or with their future.  We cannot condemn their hearts, but can see their difficulties. 

And more importantly, sometimes people have to hit utter rock bottom. They have to be at the lowest, where the sun does not shine, before they decide they don't want to be in the pit. 

God tells us that a struggle is present, and that it shall not come without weeping. For our struggles, for our help, and for the struggles of others, it is often true that much pain must be endured before we conquer. 

In Isaiah 66:8, God confirms this and says, "Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth all at once? As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons."

New birth does not come without pain and persistence, but we have to maintain the hope of beautiful things to come. We must have the attitude that we would, "could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh." (Romans 9:3)

And if you're sad, hurt, and damaged, remember, "Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD." (Proverbs 16:20)  When you're feeling darkest and down in the dumps, dwell even stronger in the Word.

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)

Secret Sin: Can You Keep It Hidden?

Food for thought and the stout of stomach:

I have personal reasons to address this heavy topic today, but it is my hope to prick your hearts and dampen the power of evil that has so strong a hold on too many souls in this world. And so I ask:

What dark secrets are you hiding?

How long do you think you have before they will be discovered?

It really doesn't matter how clever you are, how carefully you cover your tracks or how masterfully you might be able to manipulate those around you. No matter how hard we try, we cannot conceal our sin from God, and He has the power to reveal it to anyone, at any time.

"Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops." Luke 12:2-3

Are you ready for that?!?

"Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption..." Gal 6:7-8a

Sin reaps corruption! That's a harsh saying and a hard truth, isn't it? Some sin is easy to confess and some sin is so shameful, so utterly vile that we might rather die than to speak it aloud, but even that sin is forgiveable.

What do we do?? For one, we could repent and confess of our sins (which means STOP IT! and FIX IT!) letting Christ wash it away OR continue in our delusion that we are in control and will never be found out.

Choosing the first, we can continue in Galatians to see that:
"...the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up." 8a-9

Trade the physical for the Spiritual! Do GOOD, have patience, and be determined never to give up! The reward is beyond any fading lust or pleasure we experience here-- it is eternal life in paradise!

Still don't think you're touchable? Still think what you're doing isn't hurting anyone? What they don't know won't hurt them, isn't that the saying? If you've got the idea you are just fine, consider the warning of Titus:

"To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work." Titus 1:15-16

If you aren't obeying God, if you refuse to fight your sin, beware, lest you go so far down the path of destruction that you develop a defiled conscience that cannot guide you back the right way. If you are unfit for any good work, what are you fit for?

No pity parties! No excuses! Your sin hurts those you love and it is your choice to change that path. . . . 

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER your Savior waits for you with love and open arms, He will forgive you. He's pretty awesome like that. 

"As your heavenly father is."

BQ: God undoubtedly challenges us, and He does it in the best way: having us aim for perfection. Every military in the world has its soldiers shoot not for "just ok," but instead for 100% accuracy and excellence, and that's why the motto for the Air Force used to be, "The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer."

God throws down the gauntlet with Matthew 5:48, saying, "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."  In a world of, "I'm nothing but a black-hearted sinner,"this is a pretty stunning thing to say. How does God modify this, though? We'll see tomorrow. 

BQ: God casts down the gauntlet, saying, "be perfect," but He immediately launches into some application. What's the application when aiming for excellence? Matthew 6, which comes right after God says to be perfect, gives many examples, but starts off by saying,“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven." (Mt 6:1)

He goes on to say in the same chapter that when we give to the poor, we shouldn't brag about our charity, and when we pray, we shouldn't pray to make ourselves noticed. Part of Jesus' perfection was the fact that He didn't do what He did to show off; we need to have the same attitude. 

BQ: We've seen that God threw down the gauntlet in the NT, telling His followers not to just aim for "fair-to-middlin," but to aim for the perfection of Jesus. It makes sense, because if you're never aiming high, you're going to stay pretty low. Is this a new thing for God to do, though? 

Nope! For example, consider Genesis 17:1, which says, "Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him,

“I am God Almighty;

Walk before Me, and be blameless." 

That word "blameless" is better translated, "complete, perfect; or having integrity." God's always had the same desire for us! 

BQ: I'm not looking to do a word study on "perfect" yet, as I don't feel I have the time to do it justice, but I'd still like to look at one cool use of it. Colossians 1:28 mentions perfection, saying, "We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ."  That word, "complete," also means perfect. 

How can we be in Christ to receive this completion? As the Bible often mentions, it comes from being immersed: "all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." (Gal 3:27)

BQ: Another way to describe completion and perfection is that of maturity; having a lack of nothing. Heb 6:1-2 says it well, "Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,  of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment."

The Air Force has a silly saying: "Aim high—fly, fight, win!" Although it's pedantic and trite, it does have some practical application. As Christians, we need to aim high, and we need to grow. We can't stop at the basics and call it good, just like no soldier can grant boot camp and call himself a special forces operator. The basics are just a foundation from which we move on to maturity, so challenge yourself to study by yourself, with others, and to be constantly immersed in a godly environment! :) Grow!!!

Obedience, too.

Obedience, too.
BQ: Does accepting Jesus as your Savior preclude obedience?

A:Romans 6:16-18, 1 John 3:18, John 14:15; 15:10;14, Rom 1:5, James 2:17

To be defined in God's terms, true faith demands obedience.
(PN24)
 

Is obedience necessary?

Is obedience necessary?
BQ: One online religious organization maintains that anyone who says obedience is important to Christianity is not to be trusted, as only Christ's obedience was necessary. "You only need to believe," seems to be the claim, "because Jesus did all the obeying." Is this Biblical?

A:  "By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.  The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;  but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked." (1 Jn 2:3-6) 

"Through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith... Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ...has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith." (Rom 1:5; 16:26)

How do we know that we're in Christ? If we keep His commandments and walk as He walked. Faith, we see, is obedient. It's worth noting that love (Greek: agape) is coupled in with obedient faith, occurring again and again in 1 John. In this letter alone, it occurs 18 times, which is more than in any other New Testament book. Certainly we cannot be disobedient in practice, running about murdering people willy nilly, and expect to be in Christ. 
(PN199)
 

If—then conditionals and baptism.

If—then conditionals.
BQ: Satan LOVES to keep you down. Not kidding. Doesn't matter if you're a new Christian, an old one, he wants to trip you up and then pin you down in your fallen position. 2 Cor 5:17 is perhaps my favorite verse in the Bible. It says freeingly, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."  Do you see that? Amazing. But look closely, because this is a conditional statement. See that word in there? "If."

Q: If we are in Christ, then we are new, then the old is gone, then the new has come. How are we in Christ, then?

A: "Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.  For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,  knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;  for he who has died is freed from sin." (Rom 6:3-7) Notice that there is that remark on being united again, and also on being new. Coincidence? No!

"For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." (Gal 3:27)

God's gift is free, but it's also conditional. We don't have to go and die on a cross, but think about about this: I've offered you a free set of tickets to a concert. All you have to do is show up at my house before the concert and I'll hand them over, no charge. You don't bother showing up. It's a free gift. It's right there. And you missed out. 
(PN119)

Irresistible grace?

Irresistible grace?
BQ: Many doctrines boil down to Calvinism. Saved by faith alone leads to, "how much faith?" How much of the Bible that says "not faith alone" or "saved by (not faith)" is a lie? I've been reading some different websites that claim they're not Calvinist, but many of the quotes I've read go like this. "We can do nothing good of our own, but only of God. The person who is saved does not choose God, but rather irresistibly flies to Him when saved." 

Q: What does the bible say about this irresistible grace?
A:  "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance." (2 Pet 3:9)

"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling." (Mt 23:37)
 

“You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did." (Acts 7:51)

God chose to provide us a chance at eternal life, but it is not irresistible. We have free will be either have obedience of faith or not. :)

(Note: John 15:16 and Eph 1:3-4 must be viewed in the context of what is going on, as must all of the Bible.) 
(PN112)

What SHOULD come from belief?

If you believe…
BQ: I like John 3:16 which says, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." 

Let me ask you a question. You're in a theater. An usher comes in and says, "There's a fire." You believe him. Yep, smells like smoke. Do you exit the building? Do you listen to the rest of what he says, instructing you to exit the building? Do you obey those instructions? Or do you nod happily and think, "Glad I'm not in danger now," and then go back to watching the movie? 

Q: What does belief lead to?
A: "Through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith.  According to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith." (Rom 1:5; 16:25-26) 

"Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?" (Rom 6:16)

Sin is missing the mark God sets forth. If we truly believe that usher, we're going to obey and hit the mark he sets forth, which results in life. Look at John 3:16 again. The proper translation is "should not." It's conditional; it's qualified negation. If you believe that usher, you shouldn't perish, but you still can if you choose to do nothing. 
(PN121)
 

So you believe, but do you obey?

So you believe, but do you obey?
BQ: So you believe, but do you obey in what you do? This is important to consider.

Q: How much obedience do you show to God? Do you rely on your belief? Is your belief enough without good obedience? When is belief enough?

A:  We'll start off with James 2. "What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?" (14) You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. (19) You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. (24) For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. (26)"

"As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him. So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, THEN you are truly disciples of Mine." (John 8:30-31)
The people believed in Jesus, but they had to do more than just that. They had to continue in His word. 

Faith is a necessary foundation. Now that we have the rock and have the foundation laid, let's build something wondrous that leads to eternal life. 
(PN136)