0814. Obedience and Faith
Obedience and Faith
"Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,
"But now is made manifest, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith" (Rom_16:25-26).
Paul's gospel is plainly stated in 1Co_15:1-4 : "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless we have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures."
Added to the above words are the words of the rest of the chapter which complete the message of the Gospel Paul preached. This Gospel was the plain enunciation of Christ crucified, Christ risen and Christ coming again.
1. Saving faith must include a pure message of Christ. People cannot be saved through "quit-your-meanness" sermons: People cannot be saved by the proclamation of certain "ethics of moral rectitude." People cannot be saved by ascribing to certain dogmas and creeds. Salvation must come by holding fast the Word that Paul preached–that is, by holding fast to Christ crucified, risen and coming again.
All others, those who have a false gospel, believe in vain. They may have ever so much faith in their "cult" or their "system" or their "religious leader" or their "books," but they will believe in vain. Jesus Christ is the only One through Whom we must be saved. Even at that, it is not Jesus Christ the "Man of Galilee" or Jesus the "model of culture," but it is the Christ of the Cross, the Christ of the Father's right hand and the Christ of the descending cloud.
Paul said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." The words manifest Christ in His threefold work of dying, living and coming again. In the one He is Jesus, in another He is Lord, and in the last He is Christ.
2. The threefold message of Christ is to be made known to the nations for the obedience of faith.
And what is the obedience of faith? It is far more than any pledge-signing. It is far more than turning over a new leaf, with a promise to do better in the future. It is far more than joining the church. It is far more than adopting a standard of morality.
(1) Obedience to the faith means an embracing of the faith with the heart. Paul put it this way in Rom_10:8-10 : "But what saith it? The Word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the Word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
We thus judge that there is no real faith without the affiance of the heart, which is expressed by the confession of the mouth. To acknowledge that there is a Christ Who died and Who was buried and Who was the third day raised from the dead, is not saving faith. There must be in that faith the "obedience of the faith" which adds to the acceptance of a fact, the allegiance of the heart and life.
(2) Obedience to the faith means a confession of Christ among all nations. This is a step in advance of what we have just said. We have spoken of believing with the heart and confessing with the mouth, now we speak of raising the flag of our confession before the faces of all men.
In Rom_1:5 we read: "By Whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for His name."
What do these words mean? Simply that we must recognize our apostleship is an obedience to the faith in a public way. For Christ's sake we are called upon to openly put on Christ. Among all nations, nations which are under the rule and dominion of satan, we must take our stand. We must follow out our faith in obedience to every command of Christ before a gainsaying people. We must publicly put on Christ. We must go outside the camp with Him bearing His reproach–this is our "obedience of faith."
Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR