Obedience – Romans 5:19

der Gehorsam – obedience

IPA: [ˌɡeˈhoːɐ̯ˌzaːm]

widerspruchsloses Befolgen von Aufforderungen gegenüber einer Autorität.

unquestioning compliance to the requests of an authority.

Römer 5,19 Denn gleichwie durch des einen Menschen Ungehorsam die Vielen in die Stellung von Sündern gesetzt worden sind, so werden auch durch den Gehorsam des Einen die Vielen in die Stellung von Gerechten gesetzt werden.

Romans 5:19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

The “one man” refers to Adam, and how it was because of his actions that sin entered the world.

This affects the entirety of the human race, since we are all his descendents.

That does not mean that as individuals, we are not responsible for our own sins.

Yet it was the obedience of Christ, His obedience unto death (Philippians 2:8), that reconciled us to God, and we can be saved if we believe in Him.

There’s also something to be said about how we ought to be obedient to God, or to other people who are our authority, including our parents.

It’s not simply doing what you are told.

Neither is it simply doing it without questioning, because we could question within ourselves, and yet the other person doesn’t know, since no one but God can read minds.

I learnt that the heart’s attitude is very important. If you do it with a grudging attitude, it’s not being obedient.

If you don’t do something right away when you should, that’s also not being obedient.

Apart from the word for obedience, I learnt a new German word from this verse as well: gleichwie, literally, “just as”. (The Greek is ὥσπερ, which means “just as” or “even as”.)