Obedience to God’s will is the sum duty of Christian religion (Deut. 10:20; 1 Sam. 12:24; Eccl. 12:13). This reasonable service (Rom. 12:1) consists of four matters: its foundation or basis, its form or essence, its regulating principle, and its practical manifestation.

First, the foundation for this obedience is the character of God. God possesses within Himself all glory and wor­thiness to be served (Ps. 119:90-91; Jer. 10:7). His being demands man’s subjection to honor and serve Him – truly, to devote his entire existence to God. God’s character as the foundation does not exclude entirely the works He exer­cises toward men; rather, it recognizes that the basis for man’s obedience is first God’s glorious nature that He pos­sesses within Himself, even if there were nothing else. This obligation to obey God’s will is effected by God’s majesty. Therein lies the basis for man’s duty of service to God, living in dedication to his Maker.

Second, the form or essence of this obedience consists of man’s knowledge, recognition, and heartfelt endorsement of this binding obligation: living wholly to God at all times in all things. This affirmation is best understood as the inter­nal resolve to a life of glorifying God, both by understanding intellectually what is required and deciding willfully to abide according to the duties demanded by God. With sincere resolution, the believer willingly sacrifices himself to the service of God, proclaiming, “O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant” (Ps. 116:16; cf. Isa. 44:5). Further, underlying this commitment is the believer’s con­tinual plea to God to “create in me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me” (Ps. 51:10). The believer’s desire is that all that is void of godliness be thrown off and all that is suffused with holiness be taken on.

Third, the regulating principle for obedience to God’s will is the revelation of the contents of His will in Scrip­ture. It has not been left to man to determine the duties he owes to God (cf. Matt. 15:9); rather, they have been fixed, both positively and negatively. The latter consists of the prohibition of all that lacks conformity to God’s standard of holiness. The former refers to not only the letter of the moral law expressed in the Ten Commandments and its exposition, but also the spirit:

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.Luke 10:27; cf. Gal. 5:14

Therein lies what is the “good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Rom. 12:2). Thus, God’s will holds demands for the whole of man. This complete standard for obedience has been fleshed out in perfection for imitation – observe the obedient Christ (Heb. 5:8; cf. 1 Cor. 11:1; Eph. 5:1-2; Phil. 2:5-8).

Fourth, the practical manifestation of obedience is both an active agreement with and an execution of the will of God (cf. James 1:22; 2:24). The former denominates the internal act of obedience, for obedience is that which pro­ceeds from a heart offered sincerely to God. The believer continually recalls Christ’s words to him: “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15; cf. Matt. 7:21; Luke 6:46; John 14:21). Therefore, all that God wills the believer wills, because the will of God is the object of his heart’s desire and delight. The believer performs the will of God earnestly from his heart (Eph. 6:6), with joyfulness (Ps. 100:2).

The execution of the will of God describes the outward acts of the believer: an obedience extending to all matters of daily living. This obedience is most commonly known as good works, which are revealed to us that we may be care­ful to do them (Deut. 29:29b). Thus, for the believer, pure and undefiled religion can be reduced to its simplest form: “to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27).