Grace and the Obedience of Faith:
So far in this lesson, we have looked at 1)
promises that God made that required no action on
man's part...and 2) promises that God made that were
conditional upon man being obedient. We looked
at Romans 1:5 where Paul's mission is to bring about
the obedience of faith among the people.
Christians are to have an obedient faith...a faith
that will obey God whenever obedience is required by
God.
Grace
The grace of God is demonstrated in the gifts
that He gives and the promises that He makes to man.
Men and women do not force God to give gifts.
We cannot do enough good works to earn the gifts or
the promises that God gives. Instead, God
gives gifts and promises of His own accord...out of
His love toward us.
Examples of Faith - When One Obeys, Where is
Their Faith?
When God by His grace makes a promise of a gift
to us...we have the choice to accept the gift or to
reject it. If the promise is not
conditional upon us doing something, then God
expects us to have faith that He will give us what
He has promised. If the promise is conditional
upon us doing something, then God expects us to
obey...and have faith that He will do what He
promised for those who obey.
Following are three examples:
Faith in
God's Promise (Given By Grace) |
God's Gift |
The Obedience of Faith
Required |
You will "be clothed
with Christ." |
"For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
27
For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with
Christ." Galatians 3:26-27 (NAS) |
You will "walk in
newness of life." |
"Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order
that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we
too might walk in newness of life.
5
For if we have become
united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the
likeness of His resurrection..." Romans 6:4-5 (NAS) |
You will receive
"forgiveness of sins." |
"And Peter said to them, "Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the
name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the
gift of the Holy Spirit." Acts 2:38 (NAS) |
In Colossians 2:12, the
apostle Paul reminds us of where we place our faith
as we obey:
"...having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up
with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead."
Colossians 2:12 (NAS)
Question:
According to Colossians 2:12, when a person is buried with Christ in baptism,
he or she is raised up with Him through faith in what?
|