For His Name

Romans 1:5

Paul continues his greeting at the beginning of Romans, and in verses five, he brings up God’s grace and his calling again. He writes, “through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name.” Let’s delve into this verse together!

We have all received the bountiful grace that Paul refers to here. The grace that not only spared us but saved us. The grace that changed our future from a life spent in hell for eternity to a life spent with Him for eternity. We ought to be thankful every day for this undeserved, unmerited grace, this grace that is only possible through Him and His sacrifice (for a deeper look at this grace check out our articles Forgotten Grace and Abounding Grace).

The next thing that Paul speaks about is obedience, and more specifically, “obedience to the faith.” Paul was called to be an apostle to the Gentiles (Romans 11:13), and hence he was called to preach His name to all nations. As we have seen previously, God had made this Paul’s purpose.

However, we would be foolish to believe that only Paul was called to preach to others. That is why he adds "obedient to the faith among all nations." Paul’s specific calling was to the Gentiles, but he understood that he was to be obedient at all times. He was not called to ignore other races; he was not just going to let Peter and John minister to the Jews. He was going to be obedient to the faith.

We see at the end of this verse the purpose behind this obedience. Paul is obedient to accept the call of apostleship for His name. As we have noted, Paul had a very difficult life once he got saved, but he was obedient because of Who He was commissioned to be obedient to. Jesus, the One who saved Him, the One Who gave Him grace, He was the reason Paul was willing to be a bondservant. What Jesus did for Him was not forgotten. He understood His purpose and he obeyed. He served Christ because he desired to.

Far too often we forget our purpose. Some of us may not even know what our purpose is. Our entire being is to glorify God. Whatever difficulties that may arise from being obedient are nothing in relation to the gift we have received. We are His adopted children. We have been saved from hell. We are able to communicate and build a relationship with our Maker. We get to worship before His throne once we are called home!

Some believe that being holy or living to glorify God’s Name are outdated and unrealistic. Oh how foolish we are when we believe that! Striving for holiness is the only right way to live! Glorifying God is our purpose! It is a bitter shame to call oneself a Christian and yet think of living for God as unreasonable or a waste of time. A bitter shame.

Paul understood that his purpose was to glorify God; therefore, he answered the call to be an apostle. Some of us will be called into the ministry but many will not. We will dive into that more when we look at verse six.

Remember your purpose. Be obedient to the faith. Do it for the One Who saved you from a deserved eternity spent in hell.

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