January 18, 2005
Obedience and Faith
From a Catholic perspective, obedience and faith are two sides of the same coin – in fact, your faith is proven, in a sense, by your obedience to God. The Catechism states it this way:
CCC 144. To obey (from the Latin ob-audire, to “hear or listen to”) in faith is to submit freely to the word that has been heard, because its truth is guaranteed by God, who is Truth itself. Abraham is the model of such obedience offered us by Sacred Scripture. The Virgin Mary is its most perfect embodiment.
However, some protestant churches would argue strongly against this, since they tend to believe that assent is all that is required to achieve heaven. What does Scripture say?
First, what does obedience mean? I think in the most practical sense it means following God’s commands even if you don’t like or agree with them. It means doing, even if you do not want to. It also means conforming even if you don’t completely understand why or why it matters. This is the essence of Christianity: obedience.
The Bible has much to say about obedience. For example, St. Paul uses the phrase “the obedience of faith” at the start and end of Romans (1:5, 16:26) to make the point that obedience and faith are intertwined. But other verses back up this interpretation. As the Catechism states above, Abraham is the model of obedience. Why? Because as Hebrews states in 11:8-20, Abraham did all that was called of him in faith. It’s actually amazing to simply read all that Abraham did. The book of Hebrews goes on to equate disobedience with unbelief:
Hebrews 3:18-19. And to whom did he swear that they should never enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.
In verse 3:6 and 3:11, it is again emphasized that the disobedient do not enter into the Lord’s rest. Again, this equates obedience and faith in an interchangeable way. Faith, after all, is submission. The Catechism explains that by faith “man completely submits his intellect and his will to God” (CCC 143).
I also like the way it is presented in Matthew:
Matthew 28:19-20. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you;
Without using the word “obedience” the Gospel of Matthew ends with the call to teach others “to observe” or “to do” all that God has commanded us.
To simply study the word “obedience” or “obey” in the Bible is an interesting analysis. In fact, we are always called to obey. Jesus even tells the Jews to obey the commands of the Jewish leaders, even while instructing them not to imitate these men because of their personal sinfulness.
Personally, I think of it this way: If you truly believe God is omnipotent and has your interests at heart, then you can be completely obedient in every situation. After all, God closed the mouths of the lions to keep Daniel alive; He can also do the supernatural to save you. Often the comment I hear about the Catholic Church is that it is a “human” institution and thus cannot be completely trusted. However, this flies in the face of God’s omnipotence; can God not preserve anything, even if it involves humans? If Jesus promised that “the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18), can’t He be trusted? This is true faith: simple and complete obedience, trusting in God to protect your soul, life, and faith. Ultimately this was Luther’s problem: he was disobedient because he didn’t believe that God could fix the Church.
So, the Bible calls us to the “obedience of faith.” Now the question is: what do we have to be obedient to? But of course, that’s another post entirely.
God bless,
Jay
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Jay,
Your faith is proven, in a sense, by your obedience to God.
Assent is all that is required to achieve heaven.
How are these two statements mutually exclusive?
You stated: “Personally, I think of it this way: If you truly believe God is omnipotent and has your interests at heart, then you can be completely obedient in every situation.”
By this statement we have only two options:
a. We don’t disobey, or
b. We don’t truly believe
You stated “Often the comment I hear about the Catholic Church is that it is a “human” institution and thus cannot be completely trusted. However, this flies in the face of God’s omnipotence; can God not preserve anything, even if it involves humans?”
Of course the answer to this question is yes. However, this is the not the proper question to ask. The real question is “Has God in fact preserved the Catholic Church?” For God can always (and I believe that he always does) allow humans, including human institutions, to choose to follow Him. And this statement does not diminish God’s omnipotence one bit.
You stated, “If Jesus promised that “the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18), can’t He be trusted?”
Of course the answer to this question is yes. However, this is not the proper question to ask . The real questions are “Is the church referred to in this passage the present Catholic Church?” (of course I say no) and “Does the passage mean that all of the church’s teachings are 100% infallible?” (I think that that is reading a bit much into the passage.)
If works prove that one has true faith (which I agree it does), and a particular institution produces bad fruit or works, even during a period of time, does that mean that the true faith has left it? Evidently Catholics argue that this is true for individuals, but argue that it is not true for institutions, or at least not their institution.
In Christ,
Thomas
Posted by: Thomas at January 20, 2005 11:35 AM
