The Obedience of Faith

Preached September 14, 2008, Grace Family Church of Americus

"…..through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations…." (Romans 1:5, ESV)

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Quote from Sermon Transcript:

So what exactly is it to have the obedience of faith? I want to present to you that to obey the Gospel is simply to believe it….it is the obedience of faith. The NIV translation gets it WRONG! The obedience that is desired here is not a result of faith, not something that comes from faith (as in the NIV wording), in the sense that you have faith, therefore you obey. It is the obedience of faith. Faith is the command that is being obeyed, not anything else! Faith is the END, not a MEANS TO AN END. The command that we are sent out to proclaim obedience to is the command of faith…..Repent, and believe the Gospel! So obedience that we are to proclaim IS to believe the Gospel!!! :

"But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?" So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ."(Romans 10:16-17, ESV)

Obedience to the Gospel is BELIEVING the Gospel. Now, to be very clear on this, believing the Gospel is not simply assenting to the historical truth OF THE GOSPEL, but believing that it is the purpose and will of God that the GOSPEL IS APPROPRIATED to YOU personally. Obedience to the Gospel is a passive act , that results in active, real, life changes, for the glory of God. It is passive in that it is not something you can physically do, but it is a result of the change of the affections of the heart. It results in active obedience and life change because the truth of the Gospel and the power of God radically changes the affections of the heart, from that of fallen Adam's heart of stone to the redeemed heart of flesh. It results in complete and utter submission to the will of God.

Paul is not saying that it should be our goal to go out and proclaim to our kids and to our friends, family and neighbors that they must have the obedience of praying, the obedience of tithing, the obedience of abstaining from fleshly lusts, the obedience of preaching, the obedience of evangelism, the obedience of whatever spiritual command you can mention…..IT IS THE OBEDIENCE OF FAITH that we must proclaim, not the obedience that comes from faith!

It is FAITH that is sought to be brought about, not a system of thou shalt and thou shalt nots. That is what is implied with the NIV wording, and that is NOT what the Gospel is. We do not preach the Gospel to get people to confirm to a standard…..it has long been established that no one can conform to the Standard, that is why it is clear that we are saved by FAITH, not by any amount of obedience that may come from faith!

However, the focus of the entire book of Romans is on faith, NOT works. So to start the translation of this great epistle out indicating that the thing that Paul sets us out to do is to bring about works is absolutely absurd. Paul tells us that we are sent out to bring about faith, and that comes only by the preaching of the Gospel, through the supernatural work of God in transforming the heart of a sinner.

From Luther's preface to his commentary on Romans: "Faith is not that human illusion and dream that some people think it is. When they hear and talk a lot about faith and yet see that no moral improvement and no good works result from it, they fall into error and say, "Faith is not enough. You must do works if you want to be virtuous and get to heaven." The result is that, when they hear the Gospel, they stumble and make for themselves with their own powers a concept in their hearts which says, "I believe." This concept they hold to be true faith. But since it is a human fabrication and thought and not an experience of the heart, it accomplishes nothing, and there follows no improvement…… Faith is a living, unshakeable confidence in God's grace; it is so certain, that someone would die a thousand times for it."

So, how is the command of faith obeyed? To obey something, we must understand the command. The command is to believe…..to believe something that the Scripture clearly states that no man has desire to believe…..so how is that accomplished??? Faith comes by divine enlightenment of the truth and promises of the Word:

From Calvin's "Institutes": "The human mind, when blinded and darkened, is very far from being able to rise to a proper knowledge of the divine will; nor can the heart, fluctuating with perpetual doubt, rest secure with such knowledge. Hence, in order that the Word of God may gain full credit, the mind must be enlightened, and the heart confirmed, from some other quarter. We shall now have a full definition of faith if we say that it is a firm and secure knowledge of the divine favor toward us, founded on the truth of a free promise in Christ, and revealed to our minds, and sealed on our hearts, by the Holy Spirit….[faith] is more a matter of the heart than the head, of the affection than the intellect."