Day 4: Is My Faith Enough?

"First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world."- Romans 1:8

Now if that isn't a verse specifically meant to encourage you, dear proclaimers of the Gospel overseas, missionaries by name, then I don't know what is! Yet this is my question to you today - is it ever difficult for you to live in repentance and faith yourself while you are in this transition, and focused on telling others about this gospel?

One note about verse 8 encourages us thoroughly in answering this question. Douglas Moo makes this clear to us in his commentary, "Nothing is implied in this about their faith being particularly strong; the very fact of their faith is sufficient reason for giving thanks to God, the author of faith" (Moo 57). Even if your faith feels weak, Christ is faithful and strong, and it is him that will make you lights in your community, not your own attempts at faith.

To borrow a phrase from Dr. John Clark's Systematic Theology class at Moody Bible Institute: "Faith doesn’t do anything. Faith apprehends Jesus Christ and he’s the one who brings you through." In other words, we are saved by Christ alone, by faith alone. It's not about believing really hard to be saved (think about the parable of the mustard seed!), but it is apprehension of Christ, the faithful one.

In the case of the Roman believers, it was the faith they had in Christ that was being reported all over the world (Morris 56). The church in this way had a good reputation in the world, but more than that, it was their faith that gave them claim to the name "Christian" (Moo 56). Paul is glad not for their outstanding deeds or achievements, but for the fact that they are bearing the name of Christ in their midst. The church was largely scattered at this point, so to have a body of believers present in such an important city, Rome, had much significance. Paul is grateful for the Christians who are living out their faith in a city of brokenness, idolatry and disunity (as I described Rome on Day 1).

It is especially in these first days that you, as a family, need to proclaim this truth to one another again and again - it is not any work that you do that saves you, nor a faith that is big enough, strong enough, old enough. It is Jesus who saves you by his faithfulness and obedience, and you, by faith and repentance, get to participate in him and live into the salvation that you have received.


Moo, Douglas J. Romans. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2000. Print.