Sunday 24 March 2013

Obedience to the faith


concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, - Romans 1.3-5

There is so much in these couple of verses that we could probably spend a week right here and not even come close to mining its depths. Paul has said of himself that he was set apart to God and his work. In the previous verse he had said that the gospel he was set apart to had been proclaimed in the Holy Scriptures.

Here he says that the scriptures were all concerning Jesus Christ. Jesus was:

Promised by the prophets
God in the flesh
Declared to be Son of God
Empowered by the Spirit of holiness
His power was affirmed by the resurrection from the dead

There is enough theology and doctrine there to keep Bible scholars busy for weeks!

But then he talks about what he (and we) received – grace and apostleship.

And the reason for grace and apostleship – obedience to the faith.

I like that phrase ‘obedience to the faith.’

I like the phrase, but I wonder how much it really impacts me. Does my supposed 'obedience to the faith' have an impact on all the nations for Jesus' name sake?

True faith produces obedience. Does our faith produce obedience? If so what does our obedience produce?  

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