Good morning!
Text: Romans 1-3; Proverbs 20:1-15
Romans is a very important book of the Bible, rich in the doctrine of our Christian faith. In The introduction, we find these words:
…Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ… (Romans 1:4-6)
In the Church we often use the word “invitation” to describe Jesus’ calling of sinners to salvation. The expression in this text, “the obedience of faith”, speaks to the truth that Jesus commands us to receive Him – to believe. Unbelief is disobedience. When Jesus calls, He calls us to belong to Him – as a slave belongs to to an owner. When we “invite” people to accept Jesus, we are acknowledging that people indeed have a choice. But that word, “invite”, is far too soft. When someone invites us over for coffee, we can politely decline without consequence. When Jesus asks us to make a choice for Him, to say “no” is an act of rebellion – with grave consequences. I will be thinking of these things the next time I share Jesus with someone who does not know Him yet.
in Him, Mike