In Response To The ‘Letter To The Editor’

Sister Delores is right that we are reliant on God’s grace not our own efforts, but we cannot disregard the relationship between faith and obedience. Her statement “Life, eternal life, is contingent on faith, our absolute trust in God, not on obedi­ence” does not make this relationship apparent.

While we are justified by faith, it is misleading to say that eternal life is contingent on faith and not obedience. As the article on the nature of man discussed, obedi­ence to God (resistance to sin) must be present in our lives. Galatians 5:16-21, “I say then: Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh… Now the works of the flesh are evident…That those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” The message here is clear — what we ‘do,’ especially in re­sponse to our inherent nature, will directly affect our opportunity for eternal life.

The example for us is set by our Lord Jesus Christ as described in Hebrews 5, “And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;” Christ is the author of salvation because his faith in God’s plan was perfected by his complete obedience to the law. Does this mean by our obedience alone we can be saved? Of course not! We all sin and, therefore, deserve the consequence of sin, death. So why is our obedience important?

James in his letter (Ch 2) writes, “I will show you my faith by my works.” Abraham had his belief accounted to him for righteousness because by faith he obeyed God’s command to offer up his promised son. We see then how our obedience is evi­dence of our Faith. Baptism is an example of this. Believers are baptized (obeying a command of God) and put on Christ (Gal 3) because of faith in God’s promise to forgive sins and grant eternal life through Christ. Baptism is not only an act of our faith, but obedience to God’s command. Claiming to be faithful but refusing baptism would be similar to confessing that faith only is required for salvation.

Faith, then, motivates us to exercise restraint and discipline in our lives with the knowledge that through Christ’s sacrifice God counts our acts of faith (obedience, resisting sin) as righteousness. By contrast, continual disobedience results in the hope of eternal life exchanged for God’s wrath (Rom 2:7).

Life, eternal life, is contingent on faith, shown by our resistance to sin and obedi­ence to God’s commands.