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41
This adds nothing new to our understanding of the
relationship of faith and obedience, but in the application of this
doctrine we may explore some factors worthy of additional
reflection. Here I am thinking of the existential experience and its
demands or the agonizing difficulty faith may experience as it
obeys. The other matter for contemplation is a comparison of the
heroic and mundane as they occur in our obedience.
The Cost of Obedience
Faith gives birth to obedience. That obedience, though
willing, may sometimes be accompanied by adversity. There is no
reason to expect that obedience, because it is of faith and blessed
by God, will always be easy or painless. The example of Jesus
serves us well here, too, for Hebrews reminds us that he proved his
true sonship by his suffering obedience (Heb. 5:8). Jesus was
perfectly obedient to the will of the Father. He left his exalted
position in Heaven and assumed a human identity to fulfill the
Father‘s plan. His experiences, culminating in his arrest and
crucifixion, were repugnant to his very nature. Ultimately, he
suffered the horrible wrath of the Father in judgment against sin so
that he could complete the Father‘s plan for salvation. Because he
endured the pain and suffering, in obedience to the will of God, he
has been exalted to God‘s right hand with all power and authority.
But his suffering obedience was required in order to satisfy the
Father‘s will.
So why should Christians expect it to be different for them?
Discipleship is costly, not cheap, as Bonhoeffer so aptly observed.
34 Sacrifice and suffering may be part of that cost. The apostles
quickly learned that reality following the death of Jesus. Paul
became aware of the cost of obedience to the heavenly vision as he
suffered at the hands of those who for various reasons persecuted
him (2 Cor. 11). Eventually that faithful obedience landed him in
prison and cost him his life.
34 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, New York: Macmillan, 1959