The letter of Romans opens with the Apostle Paul outlining his mission in life (1:5); to call all people to ‘the obedience of faith’ (‘the obedience that stems from faith’). This same phrase closes the letter (16:26), indicating it’s importance. This importance lies in how it protects against the two main gospel errors of (i) legalism (i.e. salvation is dependent on obedience), and (ii) licence (i.e. obedience doesn’t really matter; only faith does). The church will always lean towards one of these, depending on which one we have been most blinded to by our society.
For example, a conservative culture looks down on immorality, and tells people they are socially acceptable if they are good moral citizens. Legalism is much harder to recognise in such a setting. The hero narrative for a liberal (progressive) culture is to throw off the shackles of tradition, including any morality that stifles self-expression. When cooked in such a culture, Christians find licence hard to spot. In recent decades, the liberal agenda has won the culture war in the west (e.g. free love, the proliferation of pornography, same-sex marriage, pro-choice, gender fluidity), meaning licence is the church’s current arch-nemesis.
This is seen in the current catch-cry that ‘Jesus loved people where they were at’. Such a claim is a dangerous misrepresentation of Jesus’ message, which was ‘repent!’ (Matt 4:7). Yes, Jesus loved people; but his sole message was to turn from your sin. While Christians are to preach the gospel in a palatable way (Matt 10:16), this doesn’t include lying, or leaving out the truth. We must declare that pride, sexual immorality, gossip and greed are as much an afront to our creator as Adam and Eve eating the fruit. May Christians keep their eyes open to the lies of our age, and ensure we preach ‘the obedience of faith’, as both Paul and Jesus did.
