Romans 1:1 – 7, A Meditation (8)

 

Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles in behalf of His name, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

“…through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles in behalf of His name…”

 

Paul and his fellow workers were given “grace and apostleship.” Apostleship, indeed, any calling within the Body of Christ, must have God’s grace in order to fulfill that call of God in Christ Jesus. Jesus Christ is the Vine and we are the branches (John 15:1ff) and we simply cannot do anything in and of ourselves – we are called to be totally dependent upon our Lord Jesus Christ, we are to live abiding lives in Him – for as Jesus says, “Without Me you can do nothing.”

 

Calling is a process, growing in calling is a pilgrimage. It was some years after Paul encountered Jesus on his way to Damascus that the Holy Spirit spoke in Antioch, “Separate unto me Barnabas and Saul to the work I have called them to do” (Acts 13:1 – 3). Calling within the Body of Christ ought to be calling confirmed by the Body of Christ. In the Kingdom of God, individuals do not send themselves, nor are they to appoint themselves to positions of authority or responsibility. To have a calling is one thing, to grow in grace for that calling is another. Paul writes that “we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us,” (Rom. 12:6).

 

Why were Paul and his companions given grace and apostleship? “…to bring about the obedience of faith…” This speaks to us of the Great Commission that Jesus Christ has given to His Church, “…teaching them [all nations, all peoples] to observe [obey] all that I commanded you…” (Matthew 28:16 – 20). Note the comprehensiveness of “all that I commanded you.”

 

Biblical faith is obedient faith, there can be no other. By God’s grace in Christ, our obedient faith is first expressed by confession of sin and repentance, and it continues in a life of koinonia in the Trinity and with one another that is holy and obedient. Do we have notions of faith that have no foundation in the Bible? Perhaps we do. Do we have notions of vocational ministry that lack Biblical foundation? Perhaps we do.

 

Let’s ask, “Is our preaching and teaching and church-life focused on the “obedience of faith” within our congregations? In terms of outreach, is it focused on teaching others to obey all that Jesus Christ has commanded us? As we ponder these questions, do we see how focused Jesus is in the Great Commission? Do we see how explicit Paul is when speaking of the reason he was given grace and apostleship?

 

Our outreach must consist of a call to confession of sin and repentance – and the call to repentance must explicitly include a clear call to forsake ourselves and follow Jesus Christ (Mark 8:34ff; Acts 2:37ff).

 

And let’s be clear, the Cross is an offense to us, and if we are going to preach the Cross then we must be prepared for misunderstanding, rejection, and any other number of things (hence we are called to “go outside the camp, bearing His reproach” (Heb. 13:13).

 

Yet, Paul is not ashamed of the Gospel, “for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16). Paul is also clear that “the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18. See this verse in its context in order to see the great chasm between God’s ways and man’s ways).

 

Only in Christ Jesus can we find the Way to proclaim the Gospel. On the one hand our speech “ought to always be with grace, seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person” (Col. 4:6); and on the other hand we must clearly proclaim the Cross and its call to confession of sin and repentance and following Jesus Christ in godly living, according to the Spirit of holiness (see Ephesians 4:17 – 5:21).

 

We must learn what it is to live by grace and not by the Law or the traditions of men, lest we be like the Galatians who were bewitched into thinking that having begun life in the Spirit, they then needed to find fulfillment in the flesh, in their own natural way of doing things (Gal. 3:3).

 

Is our preaching and teaching focused on obedient faith in Jesus Christ? Or have we been seduced into another gospel, a gospel that is focused on ourselves and our wants and our needs and our desires and our temporal happiness? Do we think so little of the power of God in the Gospel that we don’t think God’s power and grace sufficient to transform our lives into the image of Jesus Christ? Isn’t this unbelief why we have become factories producing self-help material? Isn’t it why we seem to be operating “Jesus clubs” instead of living as the Temple of God in our communities? Isn’t this why we have trained a cadre of “healers” in the social sciences – rather than look to the Word of God and the Body of Christ to provide holistic health and healing?

 

God gives us grace and apostleship “to bring about the obedience of faith among all peoples for His name’s sake.” O dear friends, this is not about you or me, this is about Jesus Christ and His sake, that others might truly know Jesus Christ and live in communion with Him and with His People. How cruel we are when we fail to teach and preach and model obedience. How cruel it is when we avoid the Christ of the Cross and the Cross of Christ – for we give others a false sense of the Gospel, we close off the gate of repentance, we place barriers between others and a life-changing encounter with the Son of God on Golgotha.

 

The Bible does not give us excuses to be disobedient. The Christ who saves us initially, continues that salvation within us throughout this life; He gives us the power of His risen Life to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil. Faithful obedience is our calling, it is to be the way we live, it is to be what we teach and model, it is the only faith the Bible recognizes as being saving faith.

 

Am I living a life of obedient faith? What about our congregations?

 

What about you?