Bonhoeffer: Faith, Works, and the Demand of Jesus (Chapter 2)

It has long been a Baptist confession of faith that salvation comes by faith alone.  And the long list of verses that were planted in my brain a long time ago concerning this doctrinal truth included Ephesians 2:9 (for by grace are you saved, through faith; not of works, lest any many should boast).

So, you might imagine the internal conflict that arose when I read in Ch. 2 of The Cost of Discipleship, this statement by Bonhoeffer:

Two propositions:  Only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes.  It is quite unbiblical to hold the first without the second." The thought is finished with the idea that faith only works when it is obedience, and thus faith cannot be truly separated from works.

This boils down a long discussion by Bonhoeffer on the relationship between faith and obedience.  For Bonhoeffer, it is not enough for a Christian simply  to hold to the "confessions" or "creeds" of the church. (For Bonhoeffer, this would be Lutheranism--and he is railing against the tendency of his church culture to simply follow the cultural rules of state and church in Germany during the rise of Nazism, rather than stand and follow Christ.)  I agree with Bonhoeffer in this point.  Yet, Bonhoeffer does not, and perhaps cannot, differentiate between faith and obedience.  And he is in good company with James 2: "I will show you my faith by my works.  Faith without works is dead."

This statement brings into focus the self-limiting language that Baptists often use concerning salvation.  We see salvation as a moment suspended in time--that point where sin was forgiven and a new life born.  Yet, the moment cannot exist in a vacuum.  There were events leading to it, and it launches us into a new and resurrected life.  However, I fear that many Baptist converts have been still-born into Christianity, with little hope of a resurrected life, because all we preach is salvation by faith, but we forget that discipleship is about obedience.  They hear the call to fire insurance, but they do not hear the call of Christ to take up the cross and follow.  What kind of Christianity do we preach and live if we offer forgiveness of sin, but no new life to live?  Sounds like we are offering people the freedom to what they want with no guidance on doing what God wants.  No wonder the Church is in decline in the West.

Bonhoeffer goes on to say this about obedience and faith:

First, faith, then obedience.  If by that we mean that it is faith which justifies, and not that act of obedience, all well and good, for that is the essential and unexceptionable presupposition of all that follows.  If however we make a chronological distinction between faith and obedience, and make obedience subsequent to faith, we are divorcing the one from the other—and then we get the practical question, when must obedience begin?   . . .  For faith is only real when there is disobedience, never with out it, and faith only becomes faith in the act of obedience.

For Bonhoeffer, faith and obedience are both necessary for salvation.  His biblical example for this is Peter.  According to Bonhoeffer, Peter cannot save himself, but he must "act" by leaving his nets and following.  Thus, while salvation comes from outside of himself, Peter must both believe and leave in order to experience this salvation.

Talk about stepping into the gray.  It is always much easier for me to see a clear distinction between faith and works as Paul does, rather to take James' language and apply it to the salvation moment.

Yet, Paul speaks in similar terms in Phillipians 3: 7-12. 

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ ⁹and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. ¹⁰I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

¹²Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  ^(NIV)

He recognizes that Christ has already obtained the prize, yet he feels led to work as hard as he can to obtain the same status, as if that were even possible.  He knows that he is only striving to hold what Christ is already holding for him.


So, is Paul fighting a losing battle that he does not need to worry about, or is this the epitome of discipleship--answering the call and holding onto what Christ has already claimed?


For Bonhoeffer, the call of Jesus is more than a mere call to salvation.  Discipleship is an act of obedience that is characterized by continued obedience.  Thus, he concludes that the reason why many Christians are not acting like disciples is that they are coddled and treated like babies, rather than being confronted with the true demands of Christ.  "Follow me" is not a request.  Instead, it is a demand of Christ upon the life of the believer. Those that are true believers obey in faith.  Those that obey will experience a resurrected life with power.  Truly our churches would be transformed if we would leave behind our "fire-insurance" policies and take on the discipline of Christ's demand: FOLLOW ME!