Obedience to faith

Romans 1:3-6

3 concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, 4 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, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles in behalf of His name, 6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;

                                                                        Romans 1:17

17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written: “But the righteous one will live by faith"

Paul teaches us that the righteous will live by faith.  Faith in what or in whom?  Verses 3-6 spell it out clearly.  Faith in the Son of God, who was born a descendant of David (in the natural), was declared the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead (Jesus Christ) and through Whom we receive grace to bring about the OBEDIENCE OF FAITH....   

This is a mouthful but there is so much truth here.  There has been many books, even dissertations written about this, trying to understand and piece together Paul's train of thought.  I think mostly we just make it much more complicated that what it is.  Keeping it simple, I think Paul is simply saying:  We cannot live righteously enough or obediently enough so that our works will be able to declare us holy.  So we are righteous by faith, we life by faith, and once we live from a place of faith in Christ, then we live in obedience to that faith.  Obedience does not produce faith, it does not bring holiness, it does not make us righteous, only faith in Jesus Christ Who is THE RIGHTEOUS ONE, can make us righteous in HIM.  And when we are in Him we cannot live differently but be obedient to the faith He is working in us, through His Spirit of Holiness.  

Faith first, then obedience follows naturally.  Faith saves, makes us righteous, obedience is the fruit of that salvation and righteousness in us.  Obedience is a work of the Holy Spirit in us that follows salvation.  Disobedience means I am choosing with my free will to say to the Holy Spirit - "please wait in the corner until I am done sinning, because I just first want to do this thing, even though I know it is out of line with holiness..." 

It grieves the Holy Spirit when we do that, but He does not violate our free will.  He honours it.  However, choosing disobedience also means we choose the consequences that come with it. Can we learn to apply our free will to making godly choices against our sinful nature?  Yes of course we can. We have been given the Spirit of Holiness.  Let us choose to submit ourselves in totality to the Spirit of Holiness - and live by faith, having received the grace and apostleship that brings about the obedience to faith.  

Point to ponder:

• Are there areas of my life where I still make my own decisions, perhaps not in to obedience  to faith?  Ask the Spirit of Holiness to help you deal with it this week.
• Rejoice in the fact that by grace we are saved through faith and that we live out of His Righteousness!

Teach me to obey - Upper Room Sessions

   

The invisible made visible

Romans 1:16-22

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written: “But the righteous one will live by faith.”

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their reasonings, and their senseless hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools...

Living a life of not being ashamed of the gospel of Christ, is not easy, especially when the gospel clashes with our culture or the expectations of those around us.  Paul had to pay 'n price for living this statement in his time and we will pay a price for living it in our time, but the gospel is the power for salvation to all, and this life is only temporary while the life that comes is eternal.  Living by faith does not just mean to believe in some distant God that we cannot know.  The God of the Bible is a God that wants to make Himself known to us. In this scripture Paul argues that since the creation of the world God's invisible attributes can be clearly seen because He reveals Himself to everyone through faith WITHIN us.  He says that the reason we do not know God is because we suppress the truth that God has set within us.  Paul teaches us that we are without excuse because even though we knew God, we did not honour Him as God, nor are we thankful for what He did for us.  This suppression of truth causes man to become futile in reason and our hearts are darkened.  We think we are wise but in actual fact we have become foolish....

When I was contemplating this piece of scripture I was asking myself the question, how did or how does God reveal Himself in all mankind so that He can say in these verses that mankind are without excuse?  And then I remembered that in the Garden of Eden man ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Suddenly I understood that we do not have any excuse because God has placed, revealed deep in our hearts, the truth of His righteousness.  The only way we can say we 'do not know' is when we suppress that truth that God has revealed within us.  What an incredible indictment against mankind this piece of scripture is.  That we know God, we know His truth, but we do not honour Him as God nor are we thankful for what He did for us!    

But for those who live by faith, the truth of God is revealed and it is the power of our salvation, and God's righteousness keeps being revealed to us from faith to faith.  It springs up from faith and it leads to faith.  It makes God's invisible attributes visible within us, it reveals Him in our spirits, His eternal power and divine nature can be clearly perceived - because He revealed it within us... what an amazing thought... the God of the universe is revealed within you and me so that we may have the privilege of knowing Him.  Even though He is holy and unknowable - through His Spirit and in faith He is knowable in His "unknowable-ness...". too big for words.... 

Point to ponder:

• Can I say I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ?
• What invisible attributes of God does He make visible within you and me this week?    

Stand in faith - Danny Gokey

Free to choose a table

This week a group of my friends and I started reading through the book of Romans.  So probably you are going to get a series of Monday devotions from the book of Romans for a while... 😊. Sometimes when we are invited to present a seminar, we are asked to introduce ourselves to the people and some even ask me for a CV before the time.  Its always kind of difficult to do this, so when I read Romans 1, I could not help but notice how Paul introduces himself to this church:  

Romans 1:1

Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,

At the point of writing this letter, he had not visited Rome yet and is thus introducing himself to people that do not know him at all.  He has all the reasons in the world to give an extensive resume of himself:  he was a learned man in his own right, was a Pharisee and studied under some of the most prominent Rabbi's (teachers) of his time.  He may have listed all his credentials and mentioned the prestigious universities of the day at which he studied and may have pointed out some of his accomplishments, but no, he does none of that.

Paul starts off with "I am a bond-servant of Christ-Jesus".  This is the most important thing he wants this congregation to know about him.  A bond-servant was someone who, out of his own free will, chose to serve his master in spite of the fact that he was free to go.  Secondly, he introduces himself by his calling - as an apostle set apart for the gospel of Christ.  He does not treat his apostleship as a title of great importance that entitles him to certain privileges and statuses as we see so often today.  He simply sees it as his calling to which he was set apart for the gospel of Christ.    

Isn't it a profound way to introduce yourself?  Think about it this way:  Jesus came to set us (all of mankind) free from the slavery of sin - and then He says to us:  "Now you are free to choose who your master will be".  Jesus does not set us free from the slavery of sin and then just enslaves us again to Him - for He is not a slave master.  He sets us free so that we can choose whom we want to serve.  We can choose out of our own free will to be His bond-servant - or we can choose to remain to be the bond-servant of the enemy, enslaved to sin.  Either way, its a free choice.  

Absolutely a profound demonstration of God's character.  God just unselfishly came and made us free,  so we can choose - all the while knowing that some will choose to serve the very enemy from whom He sets us free and therefore remain in slavery to sin.  It also means that when we choose to be a bond-servant of Christ, we have the ability to choose to sin or not.  We make the wrong choices in that regard very often, and then we can always go back to God, but the fact remains that we are free to choose.  Mind-blowing...

Point to ponder:  Whose bond-servant are you and I?  At whose table do you sit?  The invitation stands - the choice is ours.  What is your choice?  

Come to the table - Sidewalk Prophets

A table prepared in the presence of my enemy...

 Psalm 23 is probably one of the most well-know scriptures in the Bible. This week verse 5 that says "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies"  drew my attention.  Would it not have been so much more encouraging if it said "You prepare a table before me in the presence of My God?"  Surely I would really rather sit at a table and eat and have a feast in the presence of God than in the presence of my enemies?  

But then the second half of that same verse follows "You anoint my head with oil, My cup runs over".  As I was pondering this part with the first half of the verse I realised that shortly after Jesus ascended into heaven, the Holy Spirit was poured out and continues to be poured out on all believers.  So when we sit down at the table the Lord prepared for us in the presence of our enemies, we know that his anointing - the Holy Spirit - has been poured out in our spirits (on our heads) and therefore our cups runs over because He empowers us with His Spirit.  He has not left us alone to dine with the enemy - He is poured out on us in such closeness and intimacy that we are in His presence while sitting at the table that HE prepared for us - even if it is in the presence of our enemy.  There's a sense of defiance for me in this verse - something like - I am invited to sit at the table that God prepared for me with the full empowerment of His anointing on my head - in spite of the enemy's presence.  God knows who He is in us.  He knows He is victorious over the enemy.  He knows we can sit at that table in the full victory of Christ on the cross and the full empowerment of the Holy Spirit.  

Thought to ponder:

At who's table are you and I sitting?  Do we sit at the table God prepared for us and are we doing so in the full empowerment of Him anointing our head with the oil of the Holy Spirit?  Are our cups running over?  

Psalm 23 - Lize Wiid  

I work and who will reverse it?

Isaiah 43:10b-13

Before Me there was no God formed,

Nor shall there be after Me.11

I, even I, am the Lord,

And besides Me there is no savior.12

I have declared and saved,

I have proclaimed,

And there was no foreign god among you;

Therefore you are My witnesses,”

Says the Lord, “that I am God.13

Indeed before the day was, I am He;

And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand;

I work, and who will reverse it?”

So this week Monday devotions became Wednesday devotions, because I was travelling in the Eastern and Northern Cape.  On this particular trip we did not always have electricity and sometimes no water, since the water pumps work with electricity... and for some of the time we had absolutely no internet connection.  Amazing how we can do without things we otherwise these days see as absolute essentials.  We had to do without some of our usual plans in our presentations and we needed to make new plans, be creative and work with the resources we had, however  - God was still God.  He still is the only God, since no God was before Him, nor shall there be another God after Him.  He is the one and only saviour and we are His witnesses.  He declared that before the day was, He IS, and that no one can be delivered out of His hand, and then that last sentence really hit home for me: 

I work, and who will reverse it?  

In spite of our shortcomings, in spite of our lack of resources, or wisdom or knowledge or know-how.  In fact, in short we can simply say, "In spite of us"  He works and no one can reverse it!  What an amazing declaration!  I am so relieved that He still works in spite of us - that He is so much bigger than our resources, wisdom and abilities, or lack thereof - yes in spite of all that - He is the God who works - and no one will reverse it!

Point to ponder:

Call to remembrance and share a few stories this week of times when God worked in your life and no one could reverse it ...

I remember - Lauren Daigle