"Only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes"

“The idea of a situation in which faith is possible is only a way of stating the facts of a case in which the following two propositions hold good and are equally true: only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes….. ‘Only those who believe obey’ is what we say to that part of a believer’s soul which obeys, and ‘only those who obey believe’ is what we say to that part of the soul of the obedient which believes. If the first half of the proposition stands alone, the believer is exposed to the danger of cheap grace, which is another word for damnation. If the second half stands alone, the believer is exposed to the danger of salvation through works, which is also another word for damnation.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer in The Cost of Discipleship

     In his second chapter, The Call to Discipleship, of this book, Bonhoeffer is describing that the call that Jesus Christ issued to those who were to become his closest followers was a call that demanded immediate and unquestioned obedience to follow. Bonhoeffer argued that the reason that these followers became immediate and unquestioning followers was one simple and profound reason: “the absolute, direct, and unaccountable authority of Jesus.” He furthered his argument by demonstrating that the initial sign of these followers belief was one thing: unhindered obedience to the call of Jesus. It was this overall argument that led Bonhoeffer to make the above statements.

     Bonhoeffer was giving a brief but very important description of what is meant by a person of faith – a description that I also agree with. A person who has truly experienced the saving grace of our heavenly Father through our Savior Jesus Christ will live life in such a way that demonstrates the above true propositions are true – and not only true, but in essence two sides of the same coin. Even though the two propositions may seem to be confusing or contradictory, they are simply just two sides of one overarching truth: the evidence of a person who has been saved by the grace of God.

     Only those people who have truly been saved by grace will live a life of obedience to the Word of God. There is no reason for us to expect for any other person to live such a life of obedience; to do so would cheapen the grace of God. For it is only be the grace of God that one is saved, and it is only by the grace of God that one lives a live of obedience to the Word of God. Just as we should not except an unbeliever to live such a life of obedience, we should expect all believers to live a life of immediate and unquestioned obedience. Why? Plain and simple – because of the “absolute, direct, and unaccountable authority of Jesus.” When one comes to know Jesus Christ through salvation, that salvation is a call to acknowledge Jesus as Lord of one’s life. There is no “I will take Jesus as Savior today, and I will take Him as Lord later on (maybe). The call that Jesus Christ issues to all is a call to salvation and lordship – and lordship is all about obedience.

     On the other side of the coin, it is apparent that only those people who live a life of obedience to the Word of God are those people who have truly believed upon Jesus Christ for salvation. In other words a life of obedience is not evidence that I have worked for salvation, but instead it is evidence that I have been granted salvation because of the grace of God. But this side of the coin also means something even more. The person who has truly believed in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation is a person who has been called to continue to believe in our heavenly Father and His Word for the rest of our lives. In all that we do as a follower of Jesus Christ, we have been called to believe God and to take Him at His Word – even if we do not completely understand all that He calls us to. Just as the first followers of Jesus Christ did not completely understand all that Jesus was calling them to yet they followed in obedience, we today as followers of Jesus Christ are day-in-day-out trust God and take Him at His word. In other words, a life of obedience is the clear sign of a life of believing God and His word.

     Here is the question that we must ask ourselves. Does my life reflect harmony with these two propositions: only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes.