Today’s Bible Devotional: “Grace to Obey”

The Apostle Paul says, “Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name” (Romans 1:5)

What is grace?

Grace is often defined as “unmerited favor.” It is God’s divine love freely given to all people, even though they don’t deserve it. The reason we don’t deserve it is because we all sin and fall short of God’s holy and righteous standards for living (Romans 3:23).

But God still grants His grace specifically to help us obey Him through faith.

God’s grace includes, but is not limited to, His love, mercy, and salvation. To his protégé, Timothy, Paul said that God “Has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.” (2 Timothy 1:9)

Apostleship is a sacred calling from God. In Greek, the word “apostle” means a messenger, someone sent on a mission, or someone commissioned by Jesus Christ to spread the Gospel.

An apostle is someone sent by God as a messenger of His Good News, the gospel of Jesus Christ. In response to this calling of apostleship, He has called us to obey by faith. Essentially, it is the Great Commission given to every believer—to go and make disciples of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:16-20).

But such obedience is not forced; rather, it is voluntary, like Jesus, who took upon Himself the form of a bondservant, becoming obedient to the point of death (Philippians 2:5-8).

The Apostle Paul said this same mindset should be ours as well. A bondservant was not mandatory servitude; rather, it was voluntary and from a willing heart. But it takes God’s grace.

So today, pray that God grants you not only the courage to obey His calling, the Great Commission, but also the grace to follow through.