Saved Through Obedience

𝐌𝐀𝐘 𝟏𝟎, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: 𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐇 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝐀𝐜 𝟖:𝟓-𝟖, 𝟏𝟒-𝟏𝟕

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟔𝟔:𝟏-𝟕, 𝟏𝟔, 𝟐𝟎 “𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐣𝐨𝐲.”

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟐: 𝟏 𝐏𝐭 𝟑:𝟏𝟓-𝟏𝟖

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐉𝐍 𝟏𝟒:𝟏𝟓-𝟐𝟏

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: “… 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝

𝐛𝐲 𝐦𝐲 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫.” (𝐯.𝟐𝟏) 

            There are at least two things that men find it hard to abide in oblivious of the fact that these two things are so important because these are intertwined that it could spell the difference between our salvation and or eternal damnation.

            I’m talking of obedience and love. We may tend to look at these as two separate definitions of a person’s character, but it is not because these are inseparable that one cannot stand on its own without the other.    

             In the biblical context, obedience is referred to as love in action as it represents a voluntary surrender of the human will that is driven by love. We must also remember that obedience flows from a genuine and authentic love that flows from the heart.  

As Christians who form the militant church there is a need for us to acquire and develop these two virtues which are viewed as one in the biblical perspective as these will enable us to come into a complete union with Christ Jesus.

Many Christians, however, are having a difficult time acquiring these two virtues that we regard as one primary virtue because it is opposed to our common perception with regards to the freedom of the human will and because this is being subjected to an incessant attack by the evil one.

            A prime example of a Saint who ably filled her life with this primary virtue of obedience and love was St. Teresa de Avila who once said: “𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥.”

            As the gospel passage in today’s Sixth Sunday of Easter speaks of obedience to God, let me refresh your memories that in both the Old and New Testaments, obedience to God represents itself as a basic Christian attitude.

The Reverend Doctor Karl H. Peschke,  S.V.D., in his book Moral Theology in the Light of Vatican II emphasizes that “𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘴.” In addition, Fr. Peschke pointedly said that “𝘯𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵.”

            Christian Ethics, a book also written by Fr. Peschke which he based on the concilliar documents of the Vatican II Council, painted an analogy of obedience to the governing authorities in a community as to an orchestra in which many musicians must work together to achieve a good, pleasing performance of a musical composition. The skills of everyone are needed yet there must be someone to coordinate the activities of all.

            While it is understood that the conductor should be open to the suggestions of his musicians, the last word, however, is left to him if he is the leader and qualifies as the leader. The leader or the conductor is expected to make the final decisions, and his subjects must be ready to submit to them.

            A certain Fr. Alvarez who is also considered a doctor of the church once said that: “𝘖𝘣𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘶𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵, 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵, 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦, 𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦.”

In effect, what Fr. Alvarez is saying was that obedience opens the door to all the different virtues which make up a Christian. And we can all draw an example from that shown by Christ who was obedient unto death.

St. Francis de Sales also gives us an insight of what obedience should be for every Christian when he said: “𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳, 𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘎𝘰𝘥’𝘴.”        

What this means is that every disciple who has explicitly expressed his desire to follow Christ must leave his old self behind to give life to the new creation which he has acquired through the Baptism in the Spirit and this requires obedience that is fueled by love.

         “𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐈 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐞.” (𝐆𝐚𝐥 𝟐:𝟐𝟎) These are powerful words spoken by Paul when he addressed the Galatians and if anyone who claims to be a disciple must have the ability to dissociate himself from all things which are human and to have that ability to make that transition into the divine.

            If we read through this verse from Paul’s exhortation, we will come to a full realization that Christ who loved us even before we came to know Him and gave Himself to us is expecting nothing less than a life lived in complete dependence or faith in Him.

As such, disciples especially those who claim to have acquired a high level of spirituality must learn how to detach themselves from what is of this world and to focus only on that one basic objective of our existence - that God may be glorified in us.

            It is indeed sad that there are still many people out there who have not completely understood the terms of their calling and are still controlled by human nature, unaware that such subservience to worldly nature results in death (𝐑𝐨𝐦 𝟖:𝟔).  If we go through both the Old and New Testaments, we will find that God has prescribed a set of laws for His disciples to follow.

            To put this into the context of community life, obedience to the Community Spiritual Director, Servant Leaders as well as Pastoral Leaders flows from obedience to God’s will, for authorities are willed by God. Christ himself was obedient to his parents (𝐋𝐤 𝟐:𝟓𝟏) and he was also obedient to the law (𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟓:𝟏𝟕).

            The epistles of St. Paul stresses obedience as the foundation of Christian community life. Wives must submit to their husbands (𝐄𝐩𝐡 𝟓:𝟐𝟐; 𝐂𝐨𝐥 𝟑:𝟏𝟖; 𝟏 𝐏𝐞𝐭 𝟑:𝟏-𝟔), children to their parents (𝐄𝐩𝐡 𝟔:𝟏-𝟑; 𝐂𝐨𝐥 𝟑:𝟐𝟎), servants to their masters (𝐄𝐩𝐡 𝟔:𝟓-𝟖; 𝐂𝐨𝐥 𝟑:𝟐𝟐-𝟐𝟒; 𝟏 𝐏𝐞𝐭 𝟐:𝟏𝟖), the younger members of the community to their elders (𝟏 𝐏𝐞𝐭 𝟓:𝟓), and citizens to civil authority (𝐑𝐨𝐦 𝟏𝟑:𝟏-𝟕; 𝟏 𝐏𝐞𝐭 𝟐:𝟏𝟑).

And if we are to stress such obedience to authority, we should only read Paul when he addressed the Romans: “𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐆𝐨𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬.” (𝐑𝐨𝐦 𝟏𝟑:𝟏)

            And in motivating the Hebrews to acquire the spirit of obedience, the writer of the epistle also emphasized that authority stands in the service of the subjects themselves and accordingly also obedience to authority. “𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐆𝐨𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬.” (𝐑𝐨𝐦 𝟏𝟑:𝟏)        

Would-be followers of Christ should try singing the song Amazing Grace every now and then and if it doesn't feel amazing anymore and you’re having problems dealing with obeying your pastoral authority, then it is time to get down on your knees and pray until such time when it becomes amazing again.

            On the other hand, this Amazing Grace that comes from Jesus should never even depart from our lives and we can do this by allowing Jesus Himself to take total control of our lives and let him run our day-to-day affairs through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

Obedience, however, is rooted in love because obedience is the proof of that love for our Savior and a validation of what true love is. Jesus has explicitly said this in 𝐉𝐧 𝟏𝟒:𝟏𝟓 – “𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐦, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬.” (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘔𝘢𝘺 10, 2026)