Grace is not the Objective

Read: Romans 1
“…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…” Romans 1:5

Examine:
Paul calls the church in Rome to understand that two universal gifts are given to every person who is obedient to Christ in faith. They are given grace and apostleship. In Christian circles today much has been made of grace, which is the unmerited favor of God. Songs are written about it and are sung with gladness. But Paul does not stop with grace. He also speaks of apostleship. He not only speaks of it; he positions it as being the purpose of the grace handed to us. Apostleship means a person who is a messenger sent on a mission. The mission is to carry the message of obedience in faith, for the sake of His name, to the nations.

Apply:
Passages like this one change everything about my faith. Actually it is not my faith. It is the faith of all the saints. I have a tendency to make grace the objective, but it is only the provision for the mission. Faith in Christ is not about me receiving unmerited favor and living a blessed life. Faith is about me assuming the role of apostleship. The question that matters following salvation is, am I living my life as a worthy messenger on God’s mission of carrying the saving knowledge of Christ to all the nations?

Prayer:
Jesus, I hear Your gentle rebuke this morning. I have a tendency to use the term missionary in reference to people who are called to go and carry the gospel to the nations. I realize this morning that in calling some missionaries I by default call the others non-missionary. There are no non-missionaries. We have all been given the mission of taking the gospel.

Realign my life to reflect not only Your grace but also my apostleship. I pray that I connect with You in a way that breathes life on my mission. I pray that the joy of salvation come to life in me in such a way that it compels me to share it with others. I pray that my heart be broken for the nations and that seeing people in my city, state, country and foreign places come to obedience in faith will become my all-consuming passion.