That our first answer today says that the summary of the obedience of faith is the ten commandments was at first bothersome to me. So, struggle with me for a moment. Afterall, John 6:28-29 says, “Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”” And Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and [h]that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Belief and faith that saves are trust alone in what Jesus Christ did on the cross to take away sin. Where do works come in? Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” So, works are the result of grace through faith, not the cause of it. And furthermore, James 2:17 says, “faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.” That is, works are the evidence of faith.
The phrase, “obedience of faith” comes from two verses in Romans (1:5, 16:26). Paul declares that his purpose in God’s workings is to have “received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles.” (Romans 1:5) Therefore, as John MacArthur said, “Faith is by nature turned and toned toward obedience, so good works are inevitable in the life of one who truly believes.” (1) This is what is meant in Romans 8:3-4: “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” We can never keep the law perfectly this side of heaven, but God is working increased obedience to His moral law through in those who have a saving faith in Him. So, faith brings about obedience which could not exist otherwise. This connection of faith and obedience is the reason that “whatever is not of faith is sin.” (Romans 14:23)
The summary of obedience of faith is further simplified and summarized by Jesus: “One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:35-40) Praise God that Christ’s saving power enables us to please Him by fulfilling righteousness.
Question 47: Where is the obedience of faith given in summary form?
Answer: A summary form of the obedience of faith is given in the Ten Commandments.
Hebrews 3:18-19; 4:2; Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 10:4; Romans 9:32.
Question 48: What is the sum of the Ten Commandments?
Answer: The sum of the Ten Commandments is to love the Lord our God, with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind; and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
Matthew 22:36-40; Mark 12:28-33.
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