Grace, Obedience, Faith

Almost with an effort, it seems, Paul drags himself back to the matter at hand—introducing himself to the Roman believers. Through Christ, Paul says, he “received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name.” All of Paul’s writings clearly show that he is well aware of the divine grace he received when he was saved, let alone chosen to be an apostle. And “among all nations” seems to refer to the multiethnic character of Paul’s ministry, his work among both Jews and Gentiles. But what does he mean by “obedience to the faith”? Understanding the phrase is important, for Paul seems to regard this as the purpose of his ministry.

Dr. James M. Boice notes in his commentary that there are two possible interpretations. First, Paul may be saying that he was commissioned an apostle to call unbelievers to the obedience that faith produces. If this is the correct sense, Paul is alluding to the inextricable link between true saving faith and good works. But Boice is of the opinion that Paul here is saying something different—something much stronger. He writes: “A proper interpretation of the phrase is not ‘unto the obedience to which faith leads’ … but rather ‘unto obedience, the very nature of which is faith.’ … Or, to turn it around, we could say, ‘faith, which is obedience.’ ”

Boice notes that, if the second interpretation is correct, there are significant implications for our evangelistic efforts. Since sin is primarily disobedience to God, the Gospel “must be preached not merely as an invitation,” he argues. “It must be preached as a command.… We are commanded to turn from our sinful disobedience to God and instead obey Him by believing in and following the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior.” Boice bolsters his case by noting that Paul himself preached this way, telling the Athenians that God “ ‘commands all men everywhere to repent’ ” (Acts 17:30b).

But our commentator closes his remarks on this verse by returning to Paul’s mention of “grace,” the first reference to this great theme in Romans. Even while Paul can speak of commanding people to repent, he is aware of the necessity of grace for conversion, that those who respond to the Gospel do so because of a work of God within them. We would do well to remember grace, too.