The Obedience of Faith

These words in the Gospel of John (3:31-36, RSV) from today's readings make sense as two sides of a coin: faith and obedience. He who believes in the Son has eternal life; he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him. We do as we believe, and to do otherwise is a betrayal of that belief. It is remarkable that faith brings about eternal life; have one, and the other follows. It becomes a question of what it means to believe in the Son. There is also the question of what disobedience means to someone who already has faith: an important question, given the implications.