THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OBEYING THE WORD AND DOING THE WORD

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OBEYING THE WORD AND DOING THE WORD

2 Corinthians 5:7 states that, "For we walk by faith [we regulate our lives and conduct ourselves by our conviction or belief respecting man's relationship to God and divine things, with trust and holy fervor; thus we walk] not by sight or appearance."

This means we use the things of the spiritual world to live in the things of the physical world and not the other way round. No wonder 2 Corinthians 4:18 states that, "Since we consider and look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are visible are temporal (brief and fleeting), but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting."

Where some Christians have a problem is that they don’t know how to do the word. Some think that doing the Word means “obeying” the word, no; both thoughts may sound similar, but they’re very different. In the Old Testament, they were told to obey the word of God. In the New Testament, we don’t obey the word of God; we do the word of God! In the Old Testament, they were engaged with the spiritual forces of God's word from the outside. In the New Testament, they are engaged with the spiritual forces of God's word from inside their spirit. You’ll only have to obey the Word if you had a different life or nature apart from that of the spiritual world. Obeying the word is responding to God's word in a physical manner of life. You use God's word in things every natural man can see. In the other hand, doing the word is using the word in an invisible manner, with the things of the spiritworld. The Jews were commanded under the Old Covenant to obey the commandments that were given to them. In obedience, you relate the word with everyday's human life . There were a few commandments in the law that addressed the issues of the human spirit and his spiritual world, but not as many as those that addressed what the Jews should and should not do in their physical world. Interestingly, God has not called the believer in Christ to apply the word in the life of the physical world as the Jews were called.

The new creature in Christ affects the things of the physical world, by applying the word in the things of the spiritual world. The key is learning how to let the HolySpirit of love, respond to the invisible elements of His word in the circumstances of the spiritual world through your spirit. In obeying God's word, you can apply God's word in the physical world, without agreeing with what you are doing. You can use God's commandments in the things of the human realm of life even if you do not understand what they really mean in the spiritual world. This is not the case with doing the word. Doing the word is a higher calling than obedience.

Doing the word is responding out the word by the force from your spirit. The word first becomes one with your spirit, which causes the HolySpirit of love in you to live through you as you. The Spirit of love makes your spirit understand the invisible forms and realities of His word, believe them, agree with them, act upon them, until they begin materializing in the physical life.  Ecclesiastes 11:3 states that, "If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth;........" This is how you bring things from the spiritual world to the physical world.......I'll explain more about this part in the subject about 'Fasting for the invisible realities', but this is what faith is. Faith is not a mechanical obedience of God’s Word in the physical world. Faith is not responding to God's word theoretically or with mental assent. To mentally assent is to try acting as if you are in faith, when you are really still in hope. Faith is not a mere practise of God's word. Faith is seeing the invisible spirituality of the word, and take advantage of the spiritual forces of God's word in the circumstances of the spiritual world to get supernatural results. Do not just obey the word, but do it (James 1:22).

Another difference between obeying and doing the word is that, obedience involves an outward worship. James 1:27 from the amplified version states that, "External religious worship [religion as it is expressed in outward acts] that is pure and unblemished in the sight of God the Father is this: to visit and help and care for the orphans and widows in their affliction and need, and to keep oneself unspotted and uncontaminated from the world." The limitations with obedience is that you cannot be perfected before God and be blessed with what you do in the physical world if it is not connected with what you do and what you have become in the spiritual world. 

Doing the word involves an inward worship.

John 4:23-24 states that, "

[23]A time will come, however, indeed it is already here, when the true (genuine) worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth (reality); for the Father is seeking just such people as these as His worshipers.

[24]God is a Spirit (a spiritual Being) and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth (reality)."

Now, if you read John chapter 4 from verse 19, you'll notice a samaritan woman asking Jesus a question from the level of obedience. He told Jesus that their forefathers worshiped on a mountain, but the jews say that Jerusalem is the place where it is necessary and proper to worship. Then Jesus answered her by saying that they [Samaritans] do not know what they are worshiping [they worship what they do not comprehend]. But the jews know what they are worshiping [they worship what they have knowledge of and understand], for [after all] salvation comes from [among] the Jews. But you see that's just a question and an answer in the level of obedience.

But Jesus doesn't stop there. He goes further to explain to her about doing the word rather than just obeying it. He tells the samaritan woman that a time will come, however, indeed it is already here, when the true (genuine) worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth (reality); for the Father is seeking just such people as these as His worshipers, and that God is a Spirit (a spiritual Being) and therefore, those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth (reality).