Obedience Fulfills Righeousness

God’s word carries in it the seed of faith, which grows into the fruit of obedience when received into the good soil of your heart. Jesus began His ministry on earth with His baptism by John. Jesus came to John and asked to be baptized by him. He was being obedient to the Father.

Matthew 3:14 says that John asked Him, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” John called the nation of Israel to a life of repentance, turning from their ways of sin to God as they prepared for the coming of the Messiah. John’s baptism was an expression of the desire to be totally prepared for the coming of the Messiah by being totally immersed in God’s word. He questioned Jesus because he already knew that Jesus was the One whose sandals he was not worthy to untie, the One who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. In the verse above, John told Jesus that he needed His baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire!

But Jesus would not give John what he asked. He said, “…Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” 3:15. The word “fitting” is the Greek word prepo, which has the meaning of becoming right in terms of moral judgment and decision. Jesus told John that by baptizing Him, John would be obedient to the word that God had spoken to him. It was the right thing to do based upon God’s word. This is the definition of obedience.

The Lord was also telling him that He was essential in John’s obedience and that together they would fulfill all righteousness. This was one of the most radical statements made by Jesus. It is the gospel. In that single statement to John, Jesus said that in Him all righteousness would be complete, without any righteous act left out. But Jesus was also saying that He would not do that without John! The Lord Jesus will save you and fulfill all righteousness in you, but not without you! The Greek word playro means to be totally full and complete. If you are willing to trust Christ, He will completely fulfill your life with the righteous acts that please the Father. But He will not do it without you.

The Lord Jesus comes to you, just as He did to John. He does not give you what you always want, but He does give you what He wants, which is Himself. In Christ and Him in you and with you, all that is right in God’s eyes is complete! This is the gospel and it pleases God because it is the fulfillment of all righteousness. This is what it means to worship the Father in spirit and truth.

Today as you pray, thank the Father for giving you His Son, and listen to what God wants to give you in Him. And know that what you ask Him to do, He desires to first do in you, with you, through you, as you, before the Father and the watching world around you.