This is a very interesting topic. My father was a very “nice” man. Very moral. Very kind. But he was an atheist. Now…..when the Jewish clergy asked Jesus what the most important rule of spiritual life is, Jesus told them that he didn’t come to change or delete any of their rules. All the rules, he said, are good. But, he said, the rule of rules is to love God with all of our heart.
There is a difference between love and obedience. Most religious people are more concerned with obedience……because they don’t know what love of God is. They know what love of their children is, or what love of their wife is…….but love of God?
But when Jesus was answering the question of the Jewish clergy, he was making a distinction between love and obedience. He was indicating, by his answer, that keeping rules is obedience…….and that love is another matter. Of course, if we truly love someone, being faithful to their desires and expectations becomes easier. This was demonstrated by Jesus when he said, “Not my will, but Thy will be done.” He was saying, “I am putting all of my desires aside. All I want is to align myself with Your desires.” This is not about being a good boy so that one can receive a reward. This is the natural inclination of real love. And this is what Jesus is teaching, in his preaching, and by his example.
So what is the difference between love and obedience? Or, what is the different result of both? Well, scripture talks about “sewing and reaping”, and “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Why? Because this God’s law. This is how things work in God’s creation. No one gets away with anything. We have moral rules…….because if we follow them, we reap the benefits. This is the concept of sewing and reaping. When we sew a seed in the earth, we don’t get the fruit immediately…….but as the man in the street says, “What goes around comes around.” In other words, we’re here, in this material dimension, the material creation, to learn what is our most positive orientation. And if we don’t have love of God……yet, at least let us be obedient, and see that our lives become blessed in so many ways. Our hearts become blessed by being pious. And our practical endeavors become blessed as well. And the benefit of being pious, is that the heart becomes progressively softened. The kinder we become to each other, the more we begin to enjoy it. And this is the beginning of being a loving person. We have the same relationship with God. The more we keep His rules, the more we become able to do as Jesus instructs……..to love God with all of our heart. We are in training. We are in rehab……from being self-centered, to being God-centered. “Not my will, but Thy will.”
So the answer is (at least for me), that works without faith, will not bring us immediately closer to God, but it’s a step in the right direction. And faith without works, could be an indication that our faith is not very strong. Or perhaps, that although we have faith, we tend to be forgetful of our sense of living connection with the Lord……and that’s when Satin steps in saying, “Why not try some of this?”
