Romans 1:5 through whom [Jesus] we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,
Paul mentions three things about his task as an apostle.
First, the immediate purpose was to bring about the obedience of faith. This phrase is rightly translated ‘the obedience that comes from faith’ by the NIV. In other words, obedience that is produced and naturally flows from faith. James calls this living faith as opposed to dead faith (James 2:14ff). Paul was not after an empty profession that Jesus is Lord. He wanted genuine faith in Jesus as Lord which would submit gladly to His Lordship and result in transformed lives.
Second, the scope of this obedience of faith included all the nations. Paul was referred to as the Apostle to the Gentiles, not just of the Jews only. As Paul goes on to say in verse 16, the gospel is ‘the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.’ It is this universal scope of the gospel which drove him to preach the gospel among all the nations.
‘We too, if we are to be committed to world mission, will have to be liberated from all pride of race, nation, tribe, caste and class, and acknowledge that God’s gospel is for everybody, without exception and without distinction.’[1]
Third, the ultimate purpose of Paul’s task was the honoring of Jesus among the nations. He did all that he did for the sake of Jesus’ name. This means that what drove Paul in his missionary work was not ultimately the misery and need of people but the desire for Jesus to be glorified. As John Stott rightly says,
‘The highest of all missionary motives is neither obedience to the Great Commission (as important as that is), nor love for sinners who are alienated and perishing (strong as that incentive is, especially when we contemplate the wrath of God, verse 18), but rather zeal – burning and passionate zeal – for the glory of Jesus Christ.’[2]
[1] J. Stott, The Message of Romans (Leicester: IVP, 1994) 51-52
[2] J. Stott, The Message of Romans, 53
