The Obedience of Faith

Scripture:

Romans 1:⁵ through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name, ⁶ including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

Observation:

In this lengthy sentence of greeting, Paul has already laid out the source of the gospel, but now he shifts into the responsibility which comes from having received that gospel. Paul, himself, has experienced grace which has been poured out on him and his life. Through grace he was drawn into the life of an apostle. None of this was through his own works, but in response to God reaching out to him.

Fulfilling the calling of an apostle, Paul explains his mission. Again, through grace which is now extended, not only to the Jews, but to the Gentiles as well, a response of faith is required. Because of the work of Christ, all of humanity, both Jews and Gentiles, is now called to belong to Christ. Paul’s assignment is to invite others to join him on the mission. For those who respond to God’s grace, there is to be a life of participation in the mission which is witnessed by obedience to the call of God. One cannot simply live in grace, but there is to be a response to that grace in faith. As Karl Barth puts it, “Faith is not obedience, but as obedience is not obedience without faith, faith is not faith without obedience. They belong together, as do thunder and lightning in a thunderstorm” (CD 4/2.438). 

This greeting to the Romans affirms that our spiritual destination is of utmost importance, not our ethnic origin. This is all made possible through grace. 

Application:

I think that we have a love affair with the idea of grace. Maybe it’s another pendulum swing, where  a few decades ago we rarely spoke about grace and lived in fear of losing our salvation on a daily basis. How many times did I go to the altar when my dad was preaching a revival? Somehow, inside of me, I was afraid that I couldn’t measure up, or I simply could not do everything right all of the time. That’s because I couldn’t! 

In reaction to some of the legalism of the past, we have become enamored with grace, but Paul makes it clear that there must be a response to grace. We can’t just blissfully exclaim that we are living in grace, and continue living in sin. The obedience of faith is a response to grace. 

I am grateful for this grace which has been extended to someone like me. I’m a Gentile. I’m a girl. I’m the youngest of my siblings. I would have been one of the least likely to have been considered worthy of grace. Far too often I take for granted where I find myself in life, and how that is the work of grace. It is because of Christ that live the life that I live. Therefore, I must respond to that grace in my life through obedience.

I’ve had a few people in life ask me why I think that I can be a preacher! I’ve had people get up and walk out when I got up to preach. There have been meetings where I have been ignored, or where I’ve been challenged to explain my presence. The reality is that I have to live into what Paul says here. He has received grace and apostleship — because he was called by God. Paul must live a life of obedience to that call. I clearly remember the call that I received from God to be a minister and preacher of the gospel. That call was extended to me by grace and if I fail to be obedient to that call, then I am failing to be obedience to grace. 

Obedience to faith means something different for each one of us, but there will always be a need to respond to grace. 

Prayer:

Lord, the need to respond to grace does not diminish throughout life, but increases. Please, help me never to become indifferent to your grace which continues to be active in my life and in the lives of others. Amen.