July 31 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

At the close of his letter, Paul repeats a phrase that he also used at the beginning: "the obedience of faith." He started out by saying that he was appointed to bring the gospel to the Gentiles "to bring about the obedience of faith" (1:5). He closes by praising God for this gospel, the good news that was hidden in God until it was revealed in Jesus. Now this good news is being made known to all nations, "to bring about the obedience of faith."

Apparently "obedience of faith" is the objective of gospel preaching. When the hearers have listened well, or when the readers have read rightly, the result of the confrontation with the gospel is "obedience of faith."

This is a strange phrase, for it seems to bring together two things that are often contrasted in Romans. Paul has told us so often that salvation comes by hearing and not by doing, by promise and not by law, and by believing and not by working. Nevertheless, we can also say that the whole purpose of preaching the gospel is to bring all people to "the obedience of faith."

The gospel is not a new law. It aims at faith in the hearer. But faith includes the recognition that Jesus is Lord. Therefore faith can also be described as obedience, that is, "obedience of faith."

The gospel is always message and command at the same time. The Word of the gospel says to us, "You are a new person in Jesus Christ." That's the message we are to believe. Then it continues, "You must live as a new person in Jesus Christ." That's the command. If we believe the gospel, we will obey the command. And only our obedience to the command shows that we have believed the gospel.

The mission of God, which he fulfills through his servants, aims at "obedience of faith" among all nations. That's why God revealed the gospel and gave us Paul's letter to the Romans.

REFLECTIONS

As you end this study of the book of Romans, you may want to pray the words of its final verse: "to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen."

Andrew Kuyvenhoven's Daylight, a modern devotional classic, was originally published by Paideia Press in 1977. This updated edition is copyright 2009 by Faith Alive Christian Resources. You can order a copy of this revised version of the book directly from the publisher.

A man of many accomplishments, Andrew Kuyvenhoven is probably best known for his contributions to Today (formerly The Family Altar), a widely-used monthly devotional booklet associated with the Back to God Hour. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations for this updated edition of Daylight are from the Holy Bible: Today's New International Version copyright 2001, 2005 by the International Bible Society.