"Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith."
Jesus’ total submission to God even unto death is the model for us all as to the kind life we are called to live. We are called to live our lives in total surrender to God. Having received the grace of God through Jesus we are to answer the call to model our lives after the one through whom we finally have true life. We are called as messengers (apostles) proclaiming the good news of God made complete in Jesus. We are called to proclaim this gospel not only in words but also in how we live. How we live is important because it validates or invalidates the message we proclaim.
The message we proclaim is one of “obedience that comes from faith”. We have faith in the saving power of God’s name sake, Jesus. In Jesus we are forgiven of our sins (our inability to keep God’s Law) and given a model for life (by living like Jesus) as we proclaim to others the grace they also can receive. We are proclaiming a message of grace through faith in Jesus that leads us to obedience to God as we model our lives after Jesus. If we proclaim this message but it is not evident in how we live we conceal the good news of God that we are called to proclaim. How we live matters.
Tye Parks 