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If it is correct to say that x may be authorized without being simply an (even the) authority, why can't it be correct to say that x may be obedient (faithful, trusting, loyal, loving, etc.) without being simply one believer among others (even "the first and foremost of believers")?

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Of course, this characterization requires to be nuanced by taking account of Bultmann's important point that "obedience and love as such are never evident, but are experienced only insofar as one experiences the service of another, and so experiences it that through such service one knows oneself to be renewed to a new understanding of oneself in obedience and love." Therefore, while one may indeed make clear what it means for a Christian to be obedient, one can never judge whether or not a Christian is obedient, even if one certainly can experience the service of a Christian to oneself and, in this way, experience her or his obedience -- in obedience—in the same way (and the only way) in which one can experience the obedience and love of Christ.

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