“Trust and obey” is frequently given as the key to living the
Victorious Life. “Surrender and obedience,” another suggests as the
things necessary for continuance in victory. Instant obedience to every
word of God, another says, is absolutely necessary if one would be in
victory. Another teacher points out that the New Testament reduces all
God’s commandments to two,――believe in Jesus and love one another,――and
our duty is thus simplified: we are to obey these two commandments and
victory is ours.
But to obey these commandments is exactly what I cannot do. If I obey
these two commandments, the whole law of God is fulfilled in me. It is
because I have failed to fulfil this perfect law of God, that I cry out
with Paul, “Wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me?” The answer
to that question gives me the secret of the Victorious Life, the Life
that results in obedience. Of what avail is it to tell me that the
secret of living the Victorious Life is to obey God, when the very
reason I am hungry after the Life is because it _results_ in obedience.
That Life does what I have failed to do――obey God.
So long as we make obedience the cause or producer of victory, so long
are we under the law. We are living under the Old Covenant. The law
says, “He that doeth them [God’s statutes] shall live in them”; that
is, it is the law-keeper’s obedience which brings life and victory.
But, it will be answered, when Christians are urged to obey it is
not intended that they should do this in their own strength. We must
constantly seek divine help to obey. There is the human side and the
divine side. On our part we are to strive with all our willpower
against sin, and God’s part is to help us in the struggle.