Monday, October 17, 2011

Romans 1:1-6

1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life[a] was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power[b] by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from[c] faith for his name’s sake. 6 And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

The doctrine in this introduction is amazing:
Believers are slaves to Christ
He calls us
He sets us apart for our work
The gospel and Christ were in the Old Testament
His power is shown in His resurrection
Two natures of Christ: a human nature and a divine nature
Trinity: God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
Lordship of Christ
Grace comes thru Christ
Faith comes before obedience
I am called to belong to Christ
It is the power of God that brings salvation, not anything I do.
The gospel is the power of God.
Righteousness of God is revealed and fulfilled in the gospel
Righteousness is by faith no matter who you are.

I (and Paul) am a servant of Christ Jesus
I (and Paul) am called and set apart for the gospel of God
The gospel goes all the way back to the beginning of the OT
Jesus fulfilled the OT prophecy
His power is shown in His resurrection
It is thru this fulfillment and power that I (and Paul) received grace and calling
I am called to obedience
That obedience comes from faith
Faith is for the sake of Christ, not me
I am called to belong to Christ

The NAS and the ESV both translate 1:5 as “the obedience of faith”.
This makes me think a bit differently. Faith is obedience. Is faith a command? Does faith result in obedience? Is there actually a difference? Can you have one without the other? Ah, that is the right question. Can you have faith without obedience? Read the book of James. Can you have obedience without faith? I don’t think so. Romans itself is pretty clear on this point.

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