Obey him

At my Sunday Bible Study, we worked over these two verses, which speak of Jesus:

Hebrews 5:8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9 and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.

Obviously, verse eight is a bit of a puzzle (how can Jesus, the perfect image of God, be deficient in any way, such that he needs to learn obedience?), but I want to focus on verse nine.  Most of my contemporaries either grew up in or are familiar with Protestant theology, with its focus on salvation through faith. Having grown up Lutheran, I am very familiar with the idea of Sola fide - that salvation is through faith alone. These verses are often used for justification of this position:

Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

Yet here, in Hebrews 5:9, it says that Jesus is the source of salvation for all who obey him. (Incidentally, this verse is to me evidence that the writer of Hebrews was not Paul.) Though not a necessary interpretation, one possible interpretation of this verse is that obeying Jesus is a prerequisite for salvation.

If so, what obedience is needed for salvation?  Is it the Law? Is it the Greatest Commandment? Well, I immediately thought about what Jesus said in John 15:

John 15:10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. [...] 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

So, to put it together, Jesus is our source of salvation if we obey his command to love one another.  Note that he is speaking to believers, so I think that it is reasonable to say that his command is to especially, if not exclusively, love other believers.

If this is so, think of how critical it is that we love each other.  It is the foundation of our relationship with God. Our very salvation depends upon it!  And yet, how often do we sacrifice love to other things, like moral standards, perfect theology, or even our own comfort.  Don't we judge and hold ourselves apart from those who have publickly sinned or whose theology we find flawed?  Think of how many times you have heard or read vitriolic criticism of a prominent or famous person from someone not personally acquainted with that person.  Do a Google or YouTube search of Benny Hinn, or Rick Warren, or other prominent Christians, and you will find pages dedicated to their faults and failings.  Is this loving? Is this how we should treat other believers? Is this how we want to be treated? Jesus gives very specific instructions on how to deal with other Christians who have sinned:

Matthew 18:15 "If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. 16 "But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. 17 "If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. (NAS)

If we think someone has sinned, Jesus wants us to try and settle it quietly between us first.  To do otherwise isn't obeying Jesus guidelines for how we are to treat each other, and so I think that this means that our actions are unloving.

Are we putting our salvation in jeopardy if we don't follow this model for dealing with the sins of other believers?

How important is it to love other believers - is it necessary for salvation?