Posted on 10/16/2017 8:16:19 AM PDT by Salvation
There is a very important phrase in the beginning of St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans, which we are reading in daily Mass. A common modern conception of what it means to have faith has an egocentric element, for which St. Paul provides a remedy. In describing his authority and mission as an apostle, he says,
Through [Jesus] we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name (Romans 1:3-4).
There it is: the obedience of faith.
He repeats the same phrase at the very end of Romans as well:
Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ … through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen (Romans 16:25-27).
So again we read, “the obedience of faith.” It forms the bookends of the Letter to the Romans. St. Paul both starts and ends the letter declaring his purpose to be bringing about the obedience of faith.
Are we listening? Faith requires obedience from us. There are precepts, knowledge, and commands to which we must be obedient. Faith and obedience are two sides of the same coin. If we have true faith, we will be obedient and we cannot have a saving obedience apart from faith. If we have faith, we will base our life upon its promises and demands. We will see and judge the world by the standards of faith, even if that challenge us and convicts us of error or wrongdoing. Who has not obedience cannot claim to have faith. You can tell a tree by its fruit. If there is no good fruit (obedience) then there is not a good tree (faith).
This is important because many today have turned faith into a kind of self-help, self-affirming thing. According to this notion, the role of faith and religion is to comfort me, affirm me, and give me meaning that pleases me. Many speak of the “god within,” or the “god of my understanding.” They think that they have a perfect right to craft their own “god” and worship him (or her, it, or them). Inventing your own god and worshipping it used to be called idolatry and was the most egregious sin imaginable. Today, however, many blithely call this being “spiritual but not religious” and self-righteously speak of their spiritual hubris as a kind of tolerance, enlightenment, and openness.
In such a view, “god” becomes a kind of “affirmer-in-chief” or divine butler whose role is to step and fetch, to provide for me and console me. A god who says no or summons us to difficult things is unimaginable to many. The “Jesus I know” or the “god of my understanding” is fine with almost any sin (except intolerance of course), and is, frankly, just a big sweetie-pie. Gone is the cross or any demand to repent or to come to conversion. If there is any demand at all, it is that I learn to love and accept myself just as I am and others just as they are.
Apparently Paul never got that memo. He sees faith as a truth to comprehend and obey. Faith is taught and revealed, not invented and self-proclaimed.
The Greek word translated here as obedience is ὑπακοή (hypakoe), which literally means to be under what is heard: hypo (under) + akouo (hear). Having heard the revealed faith, we are to be under its sway, its demands, and its truth.
The opening words of Jesus’ ministry were “Repent and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15). The word “repent” is a translation of the Greek metanoiete, which literally means “come to a new mind.” In other words, get rid of all that worldly mumbo-jumbo and the self-deception of the “god of your understanding.” Lose the trendy gibberish and double-talk. Come to a new, transformed mind that grasps the revealed truth of the gospel and have a will that is ready to obey.
St. Paul is clear that his work is to bring about the obedience of faith in us. Consolation, welcoming, and affirmation have their place, but obedience is the central goal—even if it means that affirmation, welcoming, and consolation must go. Would that all pastors and their flocks had this key goal in mind. To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams (1 Sam 15:22).
Monsignor Pope Ping!
This certainly supports the position that good works are a consequence of salvation not a catalyst.
Not at all; good works must accompany faith. Faith without works is dead (At least that is what the Bible says).
And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. 1 John 3:23
Which is exactly my point. If one has truly been regenerated with the gift of faith then good works will follow. If they do not there then there is no true faith.
If you hold that "true faith" is faith with works, then we are only arguing about semantics. There are those, however, that hold that faith alone, even without good works, is sufficient for salvation.
Yet we are left with the example of the thief on the cross. The ONLY good work he did was to believe Jesus.
That is all that is required. And even this belief comes from God the Father, not our own understanding.
Many will get into heaven by the skin of their teeth. No one would disagree that it is better to do “good works” but it not essential for salvation.
God is God, we will never fully understand his ways..........
Joh 6:29 Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the One He has sent.”
You misunderstand the Catholic position on good works. It is not that we have to rack up brownie points to get into heaven. Rather, good works are a sign of the submission of the will, as well as the intellect, to the will of God. Thus if someone has a life of grave sin, yet before he dies he has contrition, confesses his sins, and has firm purpose of amendment to sin no more then his sins are forgiven him. This the good thief demonstrated on the cross.
When Catholics say that faith alone is not enough we mean that belief in the saving work of Jesus is not enough if it is not accompanied by a submission of the will that loves God, is sorry for one's sins, and desires to sin no more. It does not mean that we need to earn points by our deeds to enter into heaven.
Joh 6:29 Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the One He has sent.”
Do we add and detract from His Word, much like the Scribes and Pharisees? Work out your Salvation with fear and trembling means you are given it, now exercise it. Faith with out works is dead means there is still faith and salvation , but it is not being exercised, it is not growing.
Being P or RC is not the issue here. What is God’s positon, not what is the RC and P positon.
He also said:
Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. (Matt 7:21)Additionally, we have Paul, James and Peter:and
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. (Matt 25:31-46)
and
I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every one that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. (John 15:1-14)
For it is not those who hear the law who are just in the sight of God; rather, those who observe the law will be justified. (Romans 2:13)You cannot just take one quote and ignore the rest of what is in the Bible.What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,” but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it? So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Indeed someone may say, “You have faith and I have works.” Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works. You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble. Do you want proof, you ignoramus, that faith without works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by the works. Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called “the friend of God.” See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by a different route? For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. (James 2:14-26)
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion, devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love. If these are yours and increase in abundance, they will keep you from being idle or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Anyone who lacks them is blind and shortsighted, forgetful of the cleansing of his past sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more eager to make your call and election firm, for, in doing so, you will never stumble. For, in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you. (2 Peter 1:5-11)
I have checked a number of Bible translations and only the New Living Translation has "This is the only work." "Only" is not to be found in any of the other translations. Indeed, the Greek is Τοῦτό ἐστιν τὸ ἔργον τοῦ θεοῦ ἵνα πιστεύητε εἰς ὃν ἀπέστειλεν ἐκεῖνος / "This is the work of God, that you should believe in Him whom He sent." So who is adding to the Word of God here? And if we are to believe in Jesus, then we must also believe in his instruction that we must keep the Commandments, not merely believe in the his salvific work.
Read the following slowly and let your lips move. I do not mean to insult you by this but the mind gets ahead of the reading if you don’t.
Points to Ponder:
1) The is no faith AND................
2) Faith is the gift of God.
3) God is God and we are not.
Rom_4:3 For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”
Rom_4:9 Now, is this blessing only for the Jews, or is it also for uncircumcised Gentiles? Well, we have been saying that Abraham was counted as righteous by God because of his faith.
Rom_4:13 Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith.
Rom_4:16 So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe.
Rom_4:19 And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though,
at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah’s womb.
Rom_4:22 And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous.
Gal_3:6 In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”
Gal_3:7 The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.
Gal_3:8 What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would declare the Gentiles to be righteous because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when He said, “All nations will be blessed through you.”
Gal_3:9 So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.
Gal_3:14 Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing He promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.
Heb_11:8 It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going.
Heb_11:17 It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac,
Jas_2:23 And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God.
Please reread all of Romans as if it were the first time, and without the preconceived idea that it teaches “faith alone.” Then you will understand that Paul is refuting the Judaizers’ position that we need to follow the “works of the Law,” i.e., works of the Old Law, namely circumcision and the Mosaic code. He is definitely not saying that we do not have to keep the moral law. Indeed, he uses the example of the Gentiles keeping the moral law without the Mosaic Law as proof that we no longer need the Mosaic Law.
Joh 6:29 Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the One He has sent.”
If you want to go with this that is good also. It says faith in Jesus is the work of God, not our own ability. But it is still the ONE thing that is needed.
(MKJV) Jesus answered and said to them, This is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom He has sent.
And to believe in Him is to believe that we need to keep the Commandments:
Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. (Matt. 7:21)Jesus came to call us out of our sins and selfishness, and back to union with God through our love of Him:[Jesus] answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” (Matt. 19:17)
This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments. (Matt. 22:38-40)
Is the book of James in your Bible? How often have you re-read it?
If we have faith in Christ we are to keep His commandments. What are those commandments?
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and body.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Love one another.
If we are doing these things we will produce fruit. That is a requirement of these. The fruit is the outward evidence of our inward belief.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.