Obedience of Faith

 . . . we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles . . . .

 - From Romans 1

Why would a "loving God" have a preferred race of followers, that are His alone, simply because of the conditions of their birth?

Exactly. A loving God wouldn't do that, and didn't. And doesn't.

The average guy on the street, that knows even a little bit about cultural norms or basic historical references, will define "Gentiles" as being "not Jewish." While that is correct from a practical sense, it is not accurate in the true sense. 

When Paul talks about bringing the Gospel to "all the Gentiles," he actually means  - - - all of us. Every one of us. The entire world. All people. The total population of the earth, from the beginning of time to now. A loving God would not exclude anybody from the eternal opportunity. 

And He doesn't.

We often confuse "faith" with a lifestyle of doing whatever you want, because we are saved by our "faith." But notice the construction here "the obedience of faith." If we have faith, we will be obedient, because we are confident that our goodness, our righteousness, our charity, our purity, will pay off in the end. Unlike a whole swath of "evangelical" moderates in America, today, if we're obedient, we are going to do things that the rank-and-file of society (the dominant culture) hates. If you're obedient, you will approach purity, more and more over time. And the world hates purity. 

There is a church calling itself "Everybody's Church," because they welcome "everybody." But not the "everybody" that count in eternity, but the "everybody" that counts in faith. This Church indeed is open to "everybody," as defined by the prevailing culture. 

But this particular church would be decidedly hostile to a truly obedient believer, one that aspires to purity. Because, a person seeking purity will always on the outside of any group of people that accepts the defiant practice of impurity. 

Love versus purity. Grace versus works. Acceptance and tolerance versus righteousness. It's all a balance. A difficult balance. It's a balance that the world does not embrace today. 

Obedience goes and in hand with faith. Obedience puts you at odds with most of the world. But faith makes you accepting of all people and their faults. 

The season of Advent invites us all to reflect on these contradicting elements of the Kingdom of God, and by it . . . to draw closer to the One that understands all of it.