Obedience to the Faith

Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 01:05-07, NKJV).

The word apostle means “sent out one”. Jesus chose 12 men, mostly from the backwaters of Galilee, as “sent out ones” to proclaim the gospel and lay the foundation of the faith for all time, with Jesus Himself being the chief cornerstone upon which the rest of the foundation is built.

After Judas committed suicide for betraying His Lord to the Jewish authorities, Mathias was chosen by lot (a game of chance) to replace him, but nothing else of Mathias is recorded in the New Testament. Then later, we learn that Saul of Tarsus became Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles (non-Jews). It is this man, Paul, who was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write nearly two-thirds of the books and letters contained in the New Testament.

Paul also was “sent out”, literally, on three missionary journeys, spanning more than a thousand miles, which he writes about like this:

For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed, to make the Gentiles obedient-- in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. (Romans 15:18, 19, NKJV).

Now, he did these things, despite repeatedly being arrested, beaten, stoned and shipwrecked because he knew – he knew beyond any shadow of doubt – that he was called to do exactly that. And he obeyed that call. It was his life's purpose.

In one sense, there are no more apostles, at least not the 1^st century kind that Jesus used to build the early church and record the doctrines (teachings) of the faith once for all delivered to the saints. Their work was done after the Apostle John finished Revelation, the last book of the New Testament.

This is important to know and understand, because some cults and deceivers claim even today that there are new teachings from new apostles that add to, or alter, the very fabric of Christianity itself. THIS IS NOT TRUE. All that we need to know for a life of faith and godliness is completely contained in the Bible that has been handed down to us for nearly 2000 years, unchanged. There is no need of “new” revelation, and those who proclaim differently are deceived and deceivers.

But in another sense, we who believe in Jesus are all “sent out ones”, not laying the foundation of the faith, but proclaiming that foundation to all those God brings around us by our words, our deeds, and the example of our lives.

We, too, are called to go out into the world, perhaps not as missionaries or church-planting evangelists, but as disciples of Jesus who reflect His light and His truth by what we do and say and how we live.

Since “obedience to the faith”, in other words, believing what the Bible commands us to believe about mankind and sin and forgiveness in Christ, is the ONLY means by which anyone is saved, we are to live our lives out in the world so that people can see and understand who we are, and who Christ is.

Why?

Because that is the means God has chosen to spread the good news of the gospel. We have the privilege of being His bondservants, His ministers (which is another word for servant). And when we obey, we will know the same joy and rewards (and sometimes trials and tribulations) that Paul wrote about in his ancient letters.

God has chosen to use us, forgiven sinners, in His marvelous work of salvation! For when a person believes in Christ, a miracle occurs, sometimes right in front of us – a human heart is made new, and the person is born again.

Do you see how incredible that is? We are tools in the hands of the Master Builder, and we are meant to share in the joy of Heaven when even one sinner comes to faith!

What a gift!

By being obedient to the faith – believing and living out what we believe – we have a part in changing someone else's life for all eternity. We are with them as they go from death into life, from darkness into light.

There is no greater satisfaction than to be used by God as a participant in this, the most significant miracle – the regeneration of a human soul.

But even if we are not present at the point of conversion, Jesus assures us that our witness of obedience is never overlooked. As recorded in John after evangelizing in the city of Sychar, He says,

“Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! “And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. “For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ “I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.” (John 4:35-38, NKJV).

Paul, in another place, addressing the same issue, writes,

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. (1 Corinthians 3:6, NKJV).

Finally, we humans mistakenly believe that obedience is burdensome and boring, but that is mostly because we are rebels at heart and look at things through the fallen perspective of sin, but the truth is very different.

Obedience to a perfect, loving and just King is an extravagant joy like no other. It is, by far, the most noble and satisfying activity conceivable.

And remember this:

Then Samuel said: “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. (1 Samuel 15:22, NKJV).