Obligation

“They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”                                                                                                        Acts 16:31
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” 
                                                                                           Ephesians 2:8-10
“As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” 
                                                                                         James 2:26
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 
I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 
When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 
When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 
“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ 
                                 Matthew 25:34-40
First of all Christians are saved through faith in Jesus Christ. However James makes it clear that “faith without deeds is dead.”
While our faith may save us, as someone once said we live in our deeds.
Christians have obligations to God, and to their fellow man. Matthew 25:40 “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine you did for me.” makes that very clear.
As Christians we have an obligation to tell the world about the salvation Jesus offers. However we must remember that we are Christ’s representative. And Jesus didn’t just meet spiritual needs. He looked to the physical need of the individual.
Jesus upon seeing the crowds hungry in Matthew 14 performed a miracle feeding them with five loaves and two fish. He also healed the sick.
We are to do likewise. The early church certainly did.
Acts chapter two records,
“They (the believers) devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.” Acts 2:42-45
The Talmud while a Jewish holy book and not a recognized Christian holy book has a point when it states,

“When a man [a believer] appears before the Throne of Judgment, the first question he is asked is not, “Have you believed in God?”  Or “Have you prayed and observed the ritual?  “He is asked: “have you dealt honourably and faithfully in all your dealings with your fellow men?”
This is what Jesus is saying here in Matthew 25. We as Christians have an obligation to our fellow man.
How we deal with those around us tells a lot about us. To quote again from the Talmud,
“Rabbi Akiba was asked by a Roman general, “Why does your God who loves the needy not provide for their support Himself?”  He answered, “God the Father of both the rich and poor, wants the one to help the other so as to make the world a household of love.”
I as a Christian do not believe we can separate our faith from our life. Christianity is a way of life. As such our faith must be very much a part of our every day actions.
We should not have to tell people we are Christians they should know we are as a result of our actions.
Dwight L. Moody the great evangelist of the nineteenth century wrote,
“We are called to let our light shine, and if we do we wont need to tell anyone it does. Lighthouses do not fire cannons to call attention to their shining.” 
We have an obligation to do what Jesus would do. Not only to share our faith but to meet the needs of the needy. It is my opinion that when Jesus said in Luke 12:48, “...From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”  He meant what he said.
All of us will be held accountable to God to the extent that we could help people. A person of humble means who can only offer a cup of water will be rewarded by God for giving that cup to someone in need.
Likewise I believe a person a who is in a position of power with the ability to give millions or pass legislation in government that will help ease the burdens of many will be held accountable for their actions also.
I know our American friends like to speak about the separation of church and state and perhaps there is some merit to the concept. Certainly after hearing some Christians in the media, I a Christian would not want them ruling me.
However what I am saying here has nothing to do with ruling and everything to do with giving each and every human being basic human rights.
We as Christians cannot hide in the idea “it is not my affair” It is our affair!
If we claim to be of the household of Christ we have an obligation not only to offer salvation but to as far as possible meet the needs of our fellow man.
We who claim to have Christ living within us are Christ’s representatives in this world. We are under an obligation to show God’s love to the world.
Love as defined by the Apostle Paul,
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.... And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1Corinthians 13:4-8a,13
The results of us not doing so can and will have eternal consequences,
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,  I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 
 “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 
“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” 
Matthew 25:41-46
Think about it.

Query

“Ask, and it will be given to you; 

seek and you will find; 

knock, and it will be opened to you.

“For everyone who asks receives,

 and he who seeks finds,

 and to him who knocks it will be opened.

“Or what man is there among you who,

 if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?

“Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent.

“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,

 how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who 

ask Him!

“Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you,

 do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

                                                                                             Matthew 7:7-12
God does not want robots.   He want’s people with a free will. People who ask questions, seek out answers.
While it is true that we are saved through faith and that according to Hebrews 11:1 faith is :“...the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” God does not want us to be robots, following blindly without thinking.
One of the signs of a cult is that the leadership demands that the followers follow blindly. That they don’t ask questions. That they just follow the teachings of the leader.
Jesus makes it clear that we are to ask questions. “Ask...seek... knock...” He states. Ask questions about what you believe, seek out the answers in the Scriptures, knock on God’s door through prayer to get the answers.
If we do these things God will show us.
Seek out good council in a good church, a pastor and  other Christians who study directly from the Word of God.
Don’t  rely exclusively on study books and commentaries.
Question the commentaries and study books by looking at the Scriptures to see if they are taken in context or whether the author is taking liberties with Scripture to prove a biassed point of view he or she may have.
It’s fine to have a healthy scepticism about what you’re being taught, if it makes you seek out God’s will.  
Always, always remember no church congregation is perfect. Nor are pastors, Bible teachers or theologians. We all make mistakes.

The Bible is, however, the divinely inspired Word of God. It was written to the early church to teach them what God wanted. By studying it and seeking out God’s guidance in prayer we will get answers, but it is important that we study the scriptures. It is important that we let God show us the remarkable truths that are in them, for our day to day life.
“Study to show thy self approved ...” Paul tells Timothy and through his second letter to him he states the same thing to us.
Study the word of God learn what you believe and why you believe what you do.
Ask God for wisdom, guidance and knowledge. Seek God’s truths and will for your life. Knock on God’s door, for the Scripture tells us,

“For everyone who asks receives,

 and he who seeks finds,

 and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

                                                                                   Matthew 7:8