by Dennis Gladden, By Green Pastures, ©2026
(May 6, 2026) — I have written as though obedience is the end of faith.
The premise has been:
God speaks → we hear → we obey → God strengthens us to obey
Obedience ushers us into this truth: “Without Me, you can do nothing” (John 15:2).
Wise father and teacher that He is, God may graciously allow us to strike out on our own to discover the weakness of our strength. The lesson is often painful and shameful, as Israel learned when they presumed to storm into Canaan the day after they had refused to enter (Numbers 14:40–45).
What would have been victory with God one day became a disaster the next day without Him.
God is not a Deist. He does not speak and then leave us to finish the job on our own. Jesus is both the author and finisher of our faith. God begins a good work and performs it “until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).
In the end, we need God’s strength to do His work.
We worship when we obey
But Jesus extended the path of faith another step. To obedience, He added worship.
Not an add-on but an equivalent. When we obey, we worship.
To disobey during the week destroys the honor of Sunday morning.
Jesus said as much, and He was not the only one. He quoted Isaiah to the most ostentatious worshipers in Israel.
These people draw near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me and in vain they worship me (Isaiah 29:13; Matthew 15:1–9).
Vain worship.
Feel the sting.
By Jesus’ generation, the Israelites were steeped in the teaching of Moses:
If we are careful to obey all this law before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness (Deuteronomy 6:25, NIV).
No one pursued the righteousness of the law more than the scribes and Pharisees.
Ask Paul.
“I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God,” he wrote (Romans 10:2).
He knew because he had been one of them.
“If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so… Concerning zeal, I persecuted the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, I was blameless” (Philippians 3:4, 6).
We sever worship from obedience. Jesus rejoins them.
Jesus saw Paul’s zeal in the squads of critics who harassed Him.
They flaunted their fasts, good deeds, and prayers (Matthew 6:1–28),
They occupied Moses’ seat and issued burdensome edicts (Matthew 23:2–4).
They tithed.
By all appearances, they looked good, but Jesus charged them with neglecting “the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith” (Matthew 23:23).
Read the rest here.