1 Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, a called Apostle having been set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised before through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 concerning his Son – having come from the seed of David according the flesh, 4 – having been designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of Holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we received grace and Apostleship for obedience of faith among all the nations on behalf of his name, 6 among whom you are also the called ones of Jesus Christ, 7 to all the ones in Rome, loved ones of God, called ones, saints, grace to you and peace from God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:1-7 translated from the NA28 Greek text)
In the passage above the word “faith” in v5 translates the noun πίστεως (pisteōs), which is the Genitive, Singular of πίστις (pistis), “faith, faithfulness.” The verb form of πίστις, πιστεύω (pisteuō) means, “to have faith in, trust; particularly, to be firmly persuaded to something.” Some teach in our time that this “faith” we are describing here simply means “mental assent” and so teach that all one must do to be saved is mentally assent to a few facts about Jesus.
Back in Romans 1:5, Paul described his receiving grace and Apostleship εἰς ὑπακοὴν πίστεως “for obedience of faith…” In other words, Paul described his salvation and all that was given to him by the grace of God, including his Apostleship, was for him to be able to live an obedient, abiding life under the Lordship of Christ. That was not only his calling, but the calling of all who are truly saved. True saving faith always produces obedience and submission to the lordship of Jesus Christ (Romans 16:19, 26; cf. 10:9-10; cf. Matthew 7:13 14, 22-27; James 2:17-20). <Continue reading post>