In our journey through the alphabet of salvation we've arrived at O for Obedience and our verse is Romans 1:5, where Paul describes his life's work like this:
"we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith."
Everyone who knows the Gospel must be surprised at this verse.
Paul, if we may paraphrase him for a moment, says that he has been set apart by God to call people from across the world to obey God.
His task is to say to everyone everywhere "Obey God, Obey God, Obey God."
I think you and I might expect Paul to say that God has chosen him to call people to believe in Jesus, not to obey God! We would say that faith comes first and obedience follows in its train. Putting obedience in the front seems odd to evangelical protestant eyes!
Surely Paul is putting the cart before the horse!
Faith first
But let's look closely at what Paul says, again:
"we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith."
The obedience Paul is commanding from the world "comes from faith," the obedience that flows out of faith. So, relief, Paul is preaching faith first and obedience second!
Why is this order so important? Because we cannot obey until we have been saved. When God saves us, not only does he give us faith to believe in his Son, he changes our hearts and gives us his Spirit so that we can actually obey God. It is fruitless to ask an unbeliever to obey God because they can't.
So it is always faith first and obedience second.
This is important. We cannot expect of unconverted family members or colleagues at work a Christian standard of behaviour. A corpse can't move and nor can an unbeliever obey God's commands.
Obedience is what God wants of us
A changed life - an obedient life - is what the Lord wants of all of us. What is the point of someone who has been saved from sin's consequences and power continuing to live in those sins? It makes a mockery of the cross if we who are saved by the cross continue to commit the sins Jesus paid so highly for.
It's for this reason Paul puts obedience so high up on his agenda.
"we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith."
Obedience is the greatest sign of true faith
Obedience is the greatest outward sign of the inward gift of faith. We cannot say that we have faith unless our lives have changed and are changing. Unless we have repented and are repenting. And it is not wrong for us to make that judgement of those who call themselves believers: do they obey?
Summing it all Up
The moment we talk about obedience we may all feel our failures, those times when we know we should have obeyed but didn't. So shall we end with three questions to ourselves?
Do we have true faith? Do we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God come into the world to save us from our sins? If the answer is yes then we should thank God for the gift of salvation.
Do we obey? Have we - and just as important, are we - repenting of our sins? If so, then our faith is real. If there is no desire to change, no desire to put away all our many sins, then we should question the genuineness of our faith.
And if we daily repent, but find we stumble so often, let us remember that Jesus is our advocate, the one who argues our case in the court of heaven declaring, "I have paid for the sins of all my children, including that one."
A SONG FOR THE DAY
This old hymn contains the words "gold of obedience" calling us to worship not only in lip but in life too.
1 O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness,
bow down before him, his glory proclaim;
with gold of obedience and incense of lowliness,
kneel and adore him the Lord is his name.
2 Low at his feet lay your burden of carefulness,
high on his heart he will bear it for you,
comfort your sorrows and answer your prayerfulness,
guiding your steps in the way that is true.
3 Fear not to enter his courts in the slenderness
of the poor wealth you would count as your own;
truth in its beauty and love in its tenderness
these are the offerings to bring to his throne.
4 These, though we bring them in trembling and fearfulness,
he will accept for the name that is dear;
mornings of joy give for evenings of tearfulness,
trust for our trembling and hope for our fear.
5 O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness,
bow down before him, his glory proclaim;
with gold of obedience and incense of lowliness,
kneel and adore him the Lord is his name.
J. S. B Monsell
Once again, I wish someone would bring these words back to life wiht a new tune. You can sing the old one here.
A PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Our loving Father in heaven,
We approach your majestic throne in Jesus' name, knowing that you will receive us for the Name that is dear to you.
We bring you our thanks and praise today, for all that you are and all that you do for us, your redeemed people.
We thank you for the gift of faith and acknowledge every change in our lives as a work of your grace.
Help us to obey you and teach us to grow in holiness and obedience, in every area of our lives.
Forgive our many sins and lead us in your paths of righteousness,
We ask this in Jesus' Name,
Amen
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