2. WHY OBEDIENCE? A matter of life and death? I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, (Deuteronomy 30:19 ESV)

3. Obedience is tied to Creation The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”(Genesis 2:15-17 ESV) CHOICE is the ability to recognize authority, …to respond with obedience …to receive the consequences of decision

4. Obedience is tied to Salvation For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23 ESV) And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:8 ESV)

5. Obedience is tied to Salvation 2 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. (1 John 2:1-3, ESV) He comes to our side, …pays our price …and expects obedience in return

6. Obedience is tied to Salvation I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (Romans 12:1 ESV) He expects obedience in our worship,in our worship, our attitude,our attitude, our lifeour life

7. Obedience is tied to Salvation And being made perfect, he (JESUS) became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, (Hebrews 5:9 ESV) He is the author/source of salvation for the obedient Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:16 ESV) Promises made for the obedient

8. Obedience Continues to be Tied to Being Faithful Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. (John 14:23 ESV) Loving obedience is necessary for an ongoing relationship with the FatherLoving obedience is necessary for an ongoing relationship with the Father You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? (James 2:19-20 ESV)

9. Obedience Continues to be Tied to Being Faithful “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. (John 14:15 ESV) For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. (1 John 5:3 ESV) “If you love…” speaks to obedience.

10. Obedience is Tied to Judgment For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. (2 Corinthians 5:10 ESV) What we have done is in front of us all

11. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7:21-23 ESV) Obedience is Tied to Judgment

12. Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? (Romans 6:16 ESV) The choice with consequences is ours Obedience is Tied to Judgment