Why do we obey the Lord?

[Wayne in Maine]

According to Calvinism, we obey the Lord as evidence of being among the elect.

According to Evangelicalism, we obey the Lord out of gratitude for our Salvation.

According to Anabaptism we obey the Lord simply because we love Him.

Who is correct?

[Soloist]

According to Calvinism, we obey the Lord as evidence of being among the elect.

According to Evangelicalism, we obey the Lord out of gratitude for our Salvation.

According to Anabaptism we obey the Lord simply because we love Him.

Who is correct?

We are saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved.

[Neto]

According to Calvinism, we obey the Lord as evidence of being among the elect.

According to Evangelicalism, we obey the Lord out of gratitude for our Salvation.

According to Anabaptism we obey the Lord simply because we love Him.

Who is correct?

It's three parts of one elephant. We love the Lord because we are grateful for the salvation he has given us, undeserving as we are. Those who have been forgiven much love much, and the Scripture tells us that we may know that we love him by our obedience to him.

[silentreader]

According to Calvinism, we obey the Lord as evidence of being among the elect.

According to Evangelicalism, we obey the Lord out of gratitude for our Salvation.

According to Anabaptism we obey the Lord simply because we love Him.

Who is correct?

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:8-10 (ESV)

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.
1 John 5:1-3 (ESV)

[PetrChelcicky]

According to Calvinism, we obey the Lord as evidence of being among the elect.

According to Evangelicalism, we obey the Lord out of gratitude for our Salvation.

According to Anabaptism we obey the Lord simply because we love Him.

Who is correct?

This is a question of "why we obey". We shouldn't turn it into a question of salvation - an interesting but different problem.

The answer of the Anabaptist, as given here, is unsatisfying. WHY does he love God? The answers to that could be again: "because God has elected me" or "because God has saved me" (or, from a more Jewish point of view, because he created me and created the surrounding world according to my needs).
These different answers could be condensed under the common term "responsive love - our love responds to the love of God".

Mark that of course there is a second reason to obey: fear. But neither the Jew nor the Calvinist nor the Evangelical act merely out of fear or propagate fear as the reason. God cannot simply retract his creation, salvation or election, so there's no immediate danger here. So, "responsive love" is more adequate.

But Wayne might here propagate "unresponsive love" as the only true kind of love.

Here there are again, two possibilities. Firstly, our love may be a partnership or partaking in God's love. We are overwhelmed by the mere view of this "ocean of love" and so try to be involved. (But then our focus is not on God, but, parallel to God's own perspective, on our "neighbours".) Secondly, my love may be a quite voluntary act: I just felt like loving someone and had a free choice, so I have chosen arbitrarily for you, o God. (It's a rather unusual standpoint, but sometimes it happens.)

[Robert]

I obey the Lord because of trust. I have found God is much more wise and far sighted then I am. Everything works out better when I do, especially when it is hard to follow His guidelines. Those are the times I need to follow more. I guess the trust is from a love we have of each other. I know God loves me. I love God and we work together to move life forwards. It is not always about what is best for me, but what is best for humanity.

[Wayne in Maine]

I obey the Lord because of trust. I have found God is much more wise and far sighted then I am. Everything works out better when I do, especially when it is hard to follow His guidelines. Those are the times I need to follow more. I guess the trust is from a love we have of each other. I know God loves me. I love God and we work together to move life forwards. It is not always about what is best for me, but what is best for humanity.

I was hesitant to associate the last of the three statements to just "Anabaptists", thought I have read that sort of statement made by early Anabaptists in trials and disputations where their motive was being questioned. Certainly there is good soil in many places where God's word also has yielded and is still yielding abundantly.

PetrChelcicky's response is insightful in general regarding two types of love. Thank you for sharing that wisdom.

I think it is too much and way beyond our intellect (odd that such a statement is coming from me, eh?) to try to understand God's foreknowledge, "predestination" and the nature of free will. But I am reminded often by Jesus' words that while the seed is scattered only that which falls on a certain type of soil can possibly yield fruit, all else (sadly) withers and dies. Only in His discourse about the fig tree bearing fruit did He allow/encourage "the vinyard-keeper" to fertilize a withering plant to give it a chance to be fruitful (Luke 13:6-9), but that was only for a limited time (three years) and that was likely a reference to His earthly ministry among the Jews.

What is startling to me is Jesus's statement about "the good soil": "...as for that seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word with a good and noble heart, and hold on to it tightly, and bear fruit with patience." Or as other translations have it "the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart". Well at least Jesus gives a good argument against Calvin's "Total Depravity" - but He does leave us hanging about who these people with good and noble hearts are, and it does suggest that we might consider our attempts to "reach the lost" will be largely fruitless (and we are blameless for not saving lots and lots of souls with "a gospel") as our efforts to sow the word of the kingdom will only be successful among the few people who have "good and noble" hearts. Whatever a "good and noble heart" is I think it has something to do with an "unresponsive love" - a love that expects nothing but is simply grateful and willing to obey. I don't think though, as PetrChelcicky seems to suggest, that such love is "arbitrary".

[Ernie]

We love God because he first loved us. I will forever be grateful to God because He saved me. The reason I get out of bed in the morning is because I want to fulfill the purpose for which God created me. If, in spite of the aforementioned realities, I am sometimes tempted to take my own way, it does me good to consider the coming judgment.
All of these things motivate me to obey God.

I suppose all of the above happens due to me being part of the elect.

[Outsider]

But Wayne might here propagate "unresponsive love" as the only true kind of love.

I propose that only Christ has ever held truly "unresponsive love". 1 John 4:19
We love Him because He first loved us.

We all being evil ("Matt 7:11 So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!", we are all ultimately working for a reward. Even if it is a reward in Heaven.

[Franklin]

According to the Old Testament, well, this question is a mistranslation. There is no word in the Old Testament meaning "obey", the mistranslated word means "listen". And God never calls himself "the Lord". This comes from Judaism, not God. So the question is: Why do I listen to God? And the answer is because this will benefit me and my descendants.