What is the Christian faith all about? Well, it’s all about faith. I know, many people over the years have tried to say that Christianity is all about obedience to certain rules – that we have to avoid certain behaviors or perform certain good deeds if we want to get on God’s good side. But in Romans 1:5, Paul speaks instead of the obedience of faith. That’s because obedience to God is at its root really just trusting in Christ. As Jesus Himself said in John 6:29, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

But if obedience to a particular code of conduct isn’t the way to gain righteousness in God’s sight, neither is the performance of certain rituals or the offering of certain sacrifices. Instead, Paul makes it clear in 1:17 that the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith – that righteous and faith are thus connected from beginning to end. And to prove this point, he quotes from the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk, who said, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

So, if all we need to do is have faith in Christ, or in other words to trust in Christ to do for us what we cannot possibly do for ourselves, then why do we Christians need to come together to worship God? It’s not because we have to obey some law or perform some ritual to be saved. Instead, our trust in the risen Lord is strengthened when we come together with other people who believe the same things that we do. That’s why Paul said he wanted to preach the gospel to the believers in Rome, and that’s why he also looked forward to the mutual encouragement they would all received when he was able to visit with them (1:11-13).

So, let’s put aside legalism and ceremonialism, trusting in what we do or don’t do to save ourselves. Instead, let’s remind ourselves instead every day of the gospel, the great good news that God saves “everyone who believes,” everyone who trusts in Christ (1:16). But let’s also share that good news with one other, so that we might gain assurance and encourage each other in our common faith.

Romans 1:1-17 (ESV)

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,
2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,
3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh
4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,
5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,
6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,
7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.
9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you
10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.
11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you–
12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.
13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.
14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.
15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”