Command of God: The Obedience of Faith

Command of God: The Obedience of Faith By: John Piper

Romans 16:25-27

Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

In this message, I want to focus on one phrase and how it functions in this doxology, and then make it the occasion of reviewing something enormously important in the book of Romans. The phrase is the obedience of faith from the end of verse 26: “. . . to bring about the obedience of faith.” If the glory of the only wise God through Jesus Christ is the ultimate goal of all things in these verses (according to verse 27), then “the obedience of faith” is next to the ultimate goal of all things in these verses. And that’s because when faith in Jesus Christ produces obedience to Jesus Christ, those obedient lives make God look glorious. That’s what Jesus said in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

The Gospel Strengthens Our Faith

Look carefully with me how “the obedience of faith” (at the end of verse 26) fits in these verses. Paul begins his doxology by saying that one of the reasons glory belongs to God is that he is able to strengthen us. Verse 25: “Now to him who is able to strengthen you . . . be glory forevermore.” Between that opening declaration that God can strengthen your faith and the closing acclamation that God is glorious, Paul unpacks the gospel as the very thing that God uses to strengthen our faith.

Follow the phrases he uses to unpack the gospel and you will see how he begins by saying the gospel strengthens our faith and ends by saying the gospel produces the obedience that comes from faith.

Verse 25 says he strengthens us “according to my gospel.” So he simply strikes the note that this message is “good news.” That is what gospel means. We are made strong by good news. Then he calls the gospel the preaching of Jesus Christ. That means that the heart of the gospel is good news about who Jesus Christ is and what he did when he came and died and rose again. He doesn’t tell us what that is because that is what the first eight chapters were about.

The Gospel Has Roots in Eternity

Then (still in verse 25) he tells us that this faith-strengthening gospel is “the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long [eternal] ages.” This reminds us that the gospel has roots in eternity. It is not something God came up with when creation when badly and sin entered the world (see 2 Timothy 1:9). That’s why Paul says in the middle of verse 26 that the gospel was by the “command of the eternal God.” The eternal (aiōviou) God commanding the revelation of the mystery corresponds to the mystery being hidden for eternal (aiōniois) ages. All of that to give us a greater sense of strength and firmness about this gospel: Its roots go back into eternity in the mind of God.

The Gospel Has Roots in History

Next, Paul says in verse 26 that this mystery is disclosed and made known “through the prophetic writings.” In other words, the very writings of the Old Testament that were obscure about the coming of a global gospel are now used by Paul and the other apostles to reveal and explain the gospel. This reminds us that the good news is rooted not just in eternity, but in history. God had been working with his people Israel preparing them and us for the coming of his Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus didn’t just drop out of the sky with no preparation. Two thousand years of anticipation and prefiguration prepared the way.

The Gospel Is the Means to Faith; Faith Produces Obedience

And now, finally, in verse 26, we see what it was all designed to produce: the obedience of faith among all the nations. Notice both of those phrases: “. . . has been made known to all the nations . . . to bring about the obedience of faith.” If there is any people group on planet earth where faith in Jesus Christ is not producing conformity to Jesus Christ God’s aim for the gospel is not complete.

Now notice how the first thing Paul says in verse 25 and the last thing he says in verse 26 relate. First, God makes us strong through the gospel—that is, strong in faith (see 1:11-12). That is what the gospel does. Then, at the end of verse 26, the gospel is aiming at the obedience of faith. So the gospel strengthens us in faith so that we will live obedient lives. This is called “the obedience of faith.” The gospel is the means to obedience because it is the means to faith and obedience comes from faith.

And with this, Paul closes his letter with the very same aim that he began with in Romans 1:5, “We have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations.” Notice three parallels between the beginning and the ending. 1) His aim is the obedience of faith. 2) This is for all the nations, not just Israel. 3) In Romans 1:5, this is all “for the sake of his [Jesus’] name,” and in Romans 16:27, Paul breaks into the concluding doxology: “to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ.” For the sake of Jesus’ name and for the glory of God through Jesus is the same thing. That is the ultimate goal of the gospel: The gospel awakens and strengthens faith which leads to conformity to Christ which displays the glory of God.

So in the beginning and the ending of this letter Paul says that the gospel and his apostleship (and, by implication, our ministry and your life!) has this great aim: that Jesus Christ would be seen as glorious—magnificent—among all the peoples of the world by means of the obedience of Christians which flows from their faith in him.

And if you wonder what kind of obedience he has in mind, he left us in no doubt. Just recall some of Romans 12:

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. . . . Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

That is what the obedience of faith looks like. That is the beauty that the nations of the world need to see—for the sake of the name.

The Obedience of Faith and Justification

Now I said at the beginning that I want to focus on this one phrase and make it the occasion of reviewing something enormously important in the book of Romans. What I want to review is how the obedience of faith relates to justification. There are few things more important for your life than this. I just read this in Richard Gaffin’s new book, By Faith, Not by Sight (Waynesboro, Georgia: Paternoster Press, 2006), page 105: “Disaster will surely result from denying or obscuring faith as the alone instrument of justification, both present and future.” I think that is right. Please listen and strive to understand and build your life on this truth.

Justified by Faith in Christ (Romans 5:1)

Let’s turn to Romans 5. Begin with verse 1: “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” “Justified by faith” is one of the greatest realities that the book of Romans teaches. We all stand before God as in a court room, and he either justifies us or condemns us. If he justifies us, it means that he has found in our favor and declared us to be just. We are found not guilty. Which is a great surprise. The indictment against all of us is that we are unrighteous. “None is righteous, no not one” (Romans 3:10). The indictment is true. The omniscient judge considers all factors and declares that we are not guilty as charged, but are in fact righteous, though everybody in the courtroom knows that in our behavior and our attitudes we are sinners.

How can this be? How can God justify the ungodly and be a just judge? One way to describe Paul’s answer is to put it in three steps.

• First, we trust in Jesus alone as the ground and basis of our justification, not in anything we are or do or are helped to do by God. This is what Romans 5:1 means when it says, “We have been justified by faith.”

• Second, through this faith in Jesus alone as the ground and basis of our justification, we are united to Christ so that we are in him. We have a union with him. That’s why Romans 8:1 corresponds to Romans 5:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” The key phrase there is in Christ Jesus. In Christ there is no condemnation. That is, in Christ we are justified. Through faith we are united to Christ, and united to Christ we are justified.

• Third, “in Christ” the righteousness of Christ, or the obedience of Christ, or the righteousness of God in Christ, is imputed to us. It is counted as ours (see Romans 4:6 and 11).

In other words, when God declares that we are righteous, there is a real basis for it in the righteousness of Christ. It’s not a charade. It’s one thing to be forgiven when you are unrighteous. It is glorious and costly. It cost God the life of his Son. But it is another thing—an even more amazing thing—for God to say that the unrighteous are righteous. If forgiving the unrighteous is astonishing, calling the unrighteous righteous is outrageous—and glorious!

The Free Gift of Christ’s Righteousness (Romans 5:17)

This is why Paul moves at the end of Romans 5 to show the basis for our being counted righteous. Look at verse 17, “If, because of one man’s trespass [Adam’s], death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.” In other words, God’s grace reigns through the free gift of righteousness to secure for us eternal life.

Many Appointed Righteous in Christ (Romans 5:19)

How shall we think about this “free gift of righteousness”? Consider verse 19: “For as by the one man's disobedience [Adam’s] the many were made [or better: appointed] sinners, so by the one man's obedience [Christ’s] the many will be made [appointed] righteous.” In other words, the “free gift of righteousness” (v. 17) that we receive by grace is “the one man’s obedience” by which we are counted righteous. This is the ground and basis for our justification: Christ and his obedience.

Grace Reigning Through Christ’s Righteousness (Romans 5:21)

Now we are getting close to the way our own obedience—“the obedience of faith”—relates to justification. Look at verse 21 (the last verse of chapter five) and its connection to chapter six. Verse 21: “. . . so that as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness [linking back to v. 17] leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Now what does through righteousness mean? Is it Christ’s righteousness, Christ’s obedience, the gift of his righteousness (v. 17) imputed to us? Or is it our behavior—a righteousness that God’s grace is working in us, the obedience of faith?

The answer comes by asking: Which of these makes sense of the question raised in Romans 6:1 (the next verse)? Paul thinks that verse 21 might lead someone to ask this question: “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” If the power of grace in verse 21 meant that God were working a new righteous behavior in us, and that is why it leads to eternal life, then nobody would ask this question. You don’t say, “Then shall we continue in sin?” if someone has just said, “Grace is powerfully delivering us from sin.”

No, you say, “Then shall we continue in sin?” when someone has just said, “Grace imputes the gift of Christ’s righteousness to us and thus secures for us eternal life.” That radical doctrine unleashes the thought: “Well then, let’s sin that grace may abound. If Christ is my righteousness, then it doesn’t matter what I do.”

So you see this questioner got something profoundly right and something profoundly wrong. He is right: Grace reigns through righteousness means grace counts us righteous because of Christ’s righteousness. But that our obedience doesn’t matter he gets entirely wrong. That’s why Paul has to write chapters 6-8.

The Obedience of Faith Is the Fruit of Justification

How then does our own obedience—“the obedience of faith”—relate to justification? The answer is: Our obedience is not the ground or the basis of our justification. Nor is it any part of the instrument or means by which we are united to Christ who alone is the ground and the basis of our justification. Faith alone unites us to Christ and Christ alone is the ground of our justification. Our obedience is the fruit of that faith. The faith that justifies is the kind of faith that, by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:13), changes us. If your faith in Christ leaves you unchanged, you don’t have saving faith. Obedience—not perfection, but a new direction of thought and affections and behavior—is the fruit that shows that the faith is alive. James put it this way, “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:17). Faith alone justifies, but the faith that justifies is never alone. It is always accompanied by “newness of life” (Romans 6:4).

Live in the Joy and Assurance of the Gospel

When Paul begins and ends his letter with the goal of “the obedience of faith,” he means for us to live in the joy and the assurance of the first five chapters of Romans, where he shows that we are “justified by faith apart from works of the law” (Romans 3:28). And then out of that faith and peace and assurance and boldness, a new mind and a new man emerge and the fruit of obedience grows. And the reality of justifying faith is made manifest.

I pray that you will trust in Christ alone as the ground and basis of your justification before God, present and future, and that this faith prove its life and truth by producing a passion for obedience to God—the obedience of faith.

(See further relevant texts: Romans 14:23; Galatians 5:6; 1 Thessalonians 1:3; 2 Thessalonians 1:11; Hebrews 11:4, 7, 8, 17, 24.)

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I wanted to share with everyone Johns Message to everyone today (Includes me) to inhance what Mr. Piper is sharing with us His message in growth from the Lord Him by the Holy Ghost power that enbles us to percieve it down to the mists of our soul. Thank You for stopping in this site it's about Jesus Christ first and prayers, intecessory prayer's and at other times about this vast world we live in today which this old world as we all know it is slowly departing to be reaching our home in glory. catcmo2006

A Servant looks inside the 10th Chapter of Deuteronomy

A Servant looks inside the 10^th Chapter of Deuteronomy

Italicized portions written by Gary Piper

At that same time the Lord said to me, “Carve out for yourself two stone tablets like the first ones and come up the mountain to me; also make for yourself a wooden ark. I will write on the tablets the same words that were on the first tablets you broke, and you must put them into the ark.” So I made an ark of acacia wood and carved out two stone tablets just like the first ones. Then I went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hands. The Lord then wrote on the tablets the same words, the ten commandments, which he had spoken to you at the mountain from the middle of the fire at the time of that assembly, and he gave them to me. Then I turned, went down the mountain, an d placed the tablets into the ark I had made – they are still there, just as the Lord commanded me.

Lord, just as Moses pleaded for his people there have been people who have pleaded on my behalf. Some of them I know however, there are others I do not know. But the one that stands out the most is Jesus. I am sure he thought of me in prayer many times yet but his pleading on the cross is not with words but with his life, for me the most powerful.

According to Moses’ record the stone tablets containing your commandments were stored in the wood ark for safe keeping. Your Holy Spirit has written them on my heart, yet Lord in all honesty I do not want to lock them away but want to put them in the forefront of my day-to-day life for all to see.

I am a Servant because someone took it upon themselves to plead for me. The only way I can repay them is by pleading for others including those w ho have pleaded for me. I that I hope to meet them someday give them a hug and say thank you. For those who have gone on to heaven I know God has already done that for me but I want to do it myself!

I am a Servant!

“During those days the Israelites traveled from Beeroth Bene-Yaaqan to Moserah. There Aaron died and was buried, and his son Eleazar became priest in his place. From there they traveled to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a place of flowing streams. At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the Lord’s covenant, to stand before the Lord to serve him, and to formulate blessings in his name, as they do to this very day. Therefore Levi has no allotment or inheritance among his brothers; the Lord is his inheritance just as the Lord your God told him. As for me, I stayed at the mountain as I did the first time, forty days and nights. The Lord listened to me that time as well and decided not to destroy you. Then he said to me, “Get up, set out leading the people so they may go and possess the land I promised to give to their ancestors.”

Lord, each generation owes is success or failure to the ones before it. I am a Christian and I am Servant because of the generations preceding mine. From them I have inherited my testimony of your love and compassion.

It is my earnest and mighty prayer that I may continue to carry and add to the heritage left me by my forerunners to the next generation, and the next, and the next, and the next, even down to the glorious day when Jesus will once again walk t he earth.

I am an offspring of the greatest migration in the history of the World – the migration spearheaded by Jesus Christ going from obscurity to the Kingdom of God.

I am so thankful for the sacrifices of all the generations of the past because of them…

I am a Servant!

Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you excep t to revere him, to obey all his commandments, to love him, to serve him with all your mind and being, and to keep the Lord’s commandments and statutes that I am giving you today for your own good?

“You are God! I am human! You are the Creator! I am the created! You are the Master! I am the slave. You are the Forgiving One! I am the forg iven! You are Love! I am the loved!

Lord, all I can give you in service to others is what you have given me it is my solemn prayer that what you take from me now and what I give to others is more than what you gave me in the beginning of my Servanthood.

Lord, it is my solemn promise to keep your commands throughout the remain der of my days.

The heavens – indeed the highest heavens – belong to the Lord your God, as does the earth and everything in it. However, only to your ancestors did he show his loving favor, and he chose you, their descendants, from all peoples – as is apparent today. Therefore, cleanse your heart and stop being so stubborn!

Lord, one of the greatest gifts I want to leave with the next generation is the gift of my own humility gained from those times when I struggle with and fall to the temptations I face daily. I know my heart at times can be very stubborn but the greatest lessons of life have been when I have boldly ignored my stubborn heart or when your Spirit has pushed and prodded me beyond it. It is those lessons that the future generations need to know so they can start from where I am and then go on into perfection.

To be a Servant is to leave a legacy, a foundation with which to bring about the kingdom of God on earth while there is yet time. To be a Servant I m ust boldly go where I need to go even if it means the depths of my own stone cold heart.

Lord, as one who has touched your face and as also touched of cold heart of Satan I leave my legacy as a Servant in your ever compassionate and Forgiving Heart. There, Lord I know I am safe. I know I am forgiven. I know I am a Servant of the Most High God!

For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who is unbia sed and takes no bribe, who justly treats the orphan and widow, and who loves resident foreigners, giving them food and clothing. So you must love the resident foreigner because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

Lord, I am reluctant to take my Servanthood beyond the borders of Christianity where I know I am an alien. Yet deep in my heart I know you are no respecter of persons and I know Lord there’s a special place in your heart for those who have yet to hear your story. As your Servant I also know it is my responsibility to take your story to them. To tell your story in ways they will understand, therein lie the purpose of my time spent in the worldly wilderness of lost sheep.

I am a Servant – I speak the language of the lost for I too was lost but now I am found.

I am a Servant. Therefore, I will impart of my worldly blessings to those who stand in need. Lord, help me to know who stands in need and who doesn’t.

Help me to stand tall and validate your concern for all people even those who think of me as the enemy. Lord, help me to never hesitate to stand up and be a witness for you.

I am a Servant, empowered by the God of gods and Lord of lords!

Revere the Lord your God, serve him, be loyal to him and take oaths only in his name. He is the one you should praise; he is your God, the one who has done these great and awesome things for you that you have seen.

I WILL serve!

I WILL praise God!

I WILL strain every fiber of my being to experience my nothingness and God’s awesomeness.

I WILL look to Jesus, the Rock from whom I obtained life to understand the th ings of God I need to understand in order to magnify my Servanthood.

I AM a Servant of the Most High God!

When your ancestors went down to Egypt, they numbered only seventy, but now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of the sky.

The m ultiplicity of my gifts and talents has come because my God has harvested those from my ancestors looked into my heart and gave me those he knew I would magnify!

Therefore…

I will take those gift and talents and become the best Servant I can become.

With my gifts, talents, and the Holy Spirit, I am an unstoppable Servant of the Most High God!

Deuteronomy 10:1 – 10:22 NET Bible. Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible® Copyright © 2003 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. www.netbible.com. All rights reserved
I Thought I'd share this article with everyone Today and above all Thank You for stopping in this site it's about Jesus Christ first and prayers, intecessory prayer's and at other times about this vast world we live in today which this old world as we all know it is slowly departing to be reaching our home in glory. catcmo2006

Praying Unto The Lord Of Host

Praying Unto The Lord Of Host: Dear Precious Jesus Christ; I bow in your presence in knowing your ever - so present with me in this prayer Father God for I've fallen short in your sight and it displease me so much that I'm flat ashamed of myself in the thing I had done before first and unto the world that see what it is I do daily as well. Father I've had many battles since my heart attack and several mini strokes then came my sugeries in which I had to under take in my life as you well know of me as your child. I try to do my best becuase your so Worthy Father and I bless your name from with every part of my being from my head to my feet in keeping you so very close deep within my mind, body, soul, spirit that it always filled in your everlasting love that bring us mercy and grace into our lives. Since this has happened to me my mind just don't do so well at times in having some of your words in my remembrance of your words that means so much tome always and forever in and around my life where I go and do before you. I've always look - up scriptures and do as best that I in what I only have to work with every day, everweek of the year as it goes by to have it in me so strong that I can get it together and not leave any of it out in hurting you or the other people of God. That's the part that just sends me to weep very bitterely at what I've done in knowing that's it hurt you as well. Just as I say these things not only to you but unto others as well. I've wanted a complete healing brought unto me in that area of my life and I really know that Your the Master Healer and doctor whom does it in by your power of the Holy Ghost in me. I don't doubt it, and I believe it. I have the faith in receiving it by the Lord Jesus Christ. Your Father had given you that power with the Holy Ghostin which your tears had saved you just as we do our selves at those times when everything is very bleak and dark unto you. By your body you've picked us up and made us brand new and I really thank You for it Father.It's from your fire cleansing blood that is taken down for good and then we come up clean and throughly washed by you precious Jesus, my lord. Your anointing is covering me from the top of my head down to the bottom of my feet in pleading you to forgive me Father and well those whom know me in words, deeds, and where I go in where we live as well. Take those things and crush everything that's in the way of best serving You . Take me to where You want me to be in being in service and in tune with you at all times. Guide me, teach me, show me all of thy way's and to withold in my mind to where it won't get away from me any longer Father. For You had taken me from death literally and brought me out in which I'm so very thankful in which You thought of me to have that grace abound to where I openly do count my own blesings each day that I awake and sleep in being in you for the rest of my days. I remember those days to where I could not walk or talk, much less write anything but You Father made it all possible before me like never ever before that I could have known that it could be exceedingly done before me and unto others during that time. OH, Thank You Abba Father in showing -up to help me see with not only with my own eye's but with people around as well. You are so awsome in all things that you do in each of our lives so You can shine forth and know that comes in knowing whom you are in this earthly body that is the Temple that shines forth unto eveyone else.As I lay everything that within me before you Father this day. "Through the Blood of Jesus, I am redeemed out of the hand of the devil. Through the Blood of Jesus, all my sins are forgiven. The Blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, is cleansing me now from all my sin. Through the Blood of Jesus, I am justified, made righteous, just as if I’d never sinned. Through the Blood of Jesus, I am sanctified, made holy, set apart for my Master’s use. My body is a temple for the Holy Spirit, redeemed, cleansed, and sanctified, by the Blood of Jesus. I belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Son, spirit, soul, and body. His Blood protects me from all evil. Because of the Blood of Jesus, satan has no more power over me and no more place in me. I renounce you satan and your hosts completely and I declare you to be my enemies. I command you satan and your hosts to leave me now, according to the word of God. I place (by faith) the Blood of Jesus on my doorposts; I draw the Bloodline of Jesus around family, my friends, Ministry,possessions, properties and myself. In Jesus name, Lord Jesus, I commit my life to You totally, spirit, soul, and body. I ask that You bend, break, and mold me into the person that You want me to be. Lord, teach me to trust in You and to live and walk by faith in You and Your Word. I commit to You, Lord, to take accountability and responsibility in my walk with You and Your Word. No more will the enemy’s devices and the deceptions of the old man easily sway me. I purpose to firmly fix my eyes and heart on You, Lord, totally today. I press, push and apprehend all that you have for me today, keeping in the back of my remembrance that the enemy loves a lazy or slothful mind. satan, I come against you and all hosts of hell and I reject everything that you would have for me today. satan, I refuse all snares, pits, and traps that you have set to draw me away from my Lord Jesus Christ. I rebuke you, satan, and all your hosts in the name of Jesus from every assignment you have assigned against me or my family, my property, my health and my finances, ministry. Father I ask and believe for Your best in my life today and that Your will and purposes be done in and through me. I also ask that You keep me in Your perfect will and make me a yielded vessel fit for Your work today. I place myself under the shadow of the Almighty God. I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust", for I chose to dwell in the secret place of the Most High. In Jesus Name, amen. catcmo2006
Thank You for stopping in this site it's about Jesus Christ first and prayers, intecessory prayer's and at other times about this vast world we live in today which this old world as we all know it is slowly departing to be reaching our home in glory.