Day 2 – Obedience that Comes from Faith – Julie Earl
Romans 1:5
“Through him [Jesus] and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.”
We are called to live in “the obedience that comes from faith.”
#1: We all want to be holy. We want to have victory over our temptations and addictions. (I know I do! Food and I still have battles, and some weeks I watch too many DVDs or Hallmark movies on YouTube.) We also want victory in our thoughts and actions (lust, greed, pride, selfishness, laziness and anger). According to this verse, we can’t become obedient and holy through our own efforts. Our obedience only comes from faith.
When you ask Jesus to forgive you and be Lord of your life, you are saved from your sins. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). You receive the gift of righteousness. This means your sin no longer separates you from God because you have been clothed in Christ (Galatians 3:26-27) and have been made righteous (Romans 3:21-22). God now sees you as righteous and holy!
So when you or I get tempted to run to food for entertainment or comfort, to run to pornography for a thrill, or to become angry when someone irritates us, we need to remind the devil, the world and our flesh that our faith (our belief in Jesus) has earned us obedience and righteousness. We need to remind ourselves who we are – sons and daughters of the King of Kings with authority to defeat the lies and attacks of the enemy. We need to stop groveling in defeat, throw off the devil’s condemnation, and hold our heads up high and praise God that sin was defeated on the cross. [The whole last chapter of my book No More No talks about this concept.]
Jesus said in Matthew 9:29, “According to your faith let it be done to you,” and this verse applies to your victory over sin. If you have faith that what Jesus said is true – that you were made righteous in God’s sight when you received His forgiveness – then you will become more holy and victorious day by day. If you have faith in the lies of the devil that you are a “filthy, rotten sinner barely saved by grace” then you will continue to wallow in defeat, lies and condemnation.
What great news! Our obedience comes from faith – not our works. We can quit striving and stressing in our own efforts, allow the Holy Spirit to renew our minds and become the person God sees us as!
Do you have any thoughts on this topic? Do you have other insights as you read from Romans chapter 1 today? If so, please share in the comments!
Have a wonderful day,
Julie Earl with Crazy About You Ministries (CAYM)
All Scripture taken from the New International Version 1984 edition unless otherwise noted.