“The problem with partial disobedience is that it is disobedience masquerading as obedience” -Paul David Tripp
When I read this in an article about partial disobedience it can cut deep. But when I began looking at scripture I found people who were obeying in part, or the Israelites, who are doing some of what God had asked, but not all obeying fully. And then I looked at Numbers 20:11, where Moses disobeying God by hitting the rock twice with his staff to produce water instead of speaking to it as commanded. “Moses lifted up his hand, and struck with his rock and water came out abundantly. The congregation and their livestock drank.”
The issue was that Moses struck the rock because he was angry. And God told him to speak. Moses partially obeyed. And his partial obedience, wasn’t good enough. God demands full obedience. God‘s perfect and holy law demands full obedience. If you look at verse 12, God told Moses, “Because you didn’t believe in Me, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, there you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”
Moses partially obey the Lord, but it wasn’t good enough. He had to suffer for the consequence of his disobedience, because in his partial obedience, he was fully disobedient to God.
How many times do we find ourselves trying to convince ourselves that our partial obedience is good enough. I know I have started to obey God but then got sidetracked and didn’t fully obey Him. I’ve even made excuses for myself because “I would do it later.”
There is no doubt we are fully sinners but we are fully forgiven by the grace and mercy of Jesus. But we will pay the consequence for every partial obedience we choose to do.
I think it’s important to realize that forgiveness isn’t a greenlight to keep doing what we’ve done all along. Forgiveness is a chance for us to turn from it and make it right with God.
From Pity to Praise 