Word Central - Pt. 3

“And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.” 

(Acts 6:7, ESV)

Religion begets more religion. Religious deeds, ideas, and actions that accomplish the purposes of fulfillment and completion in the life of a person. Notably there is a desire for more tomes of self-satisfaction, and a discourse more suited to the palate of ‘give me what I want’. But when the gospel comes it changes the religious heart. 

A notable point in Acts 6:7 is the great number of priests that became obedient to the faith. They had radical shifts in their concepts of God. They had radical movement in how they think and even in how they practice. A priest would have an entire daily routine that would be set aside so that they might walk in the obedience of faith. 

It wasn’t stated that they just believed. There was no room for modern cultural misapprehensions of true belief. Rather they, it states, in accord with what true belief is, became obedient to the faith. These men had to put aside religion and even what they thought was best for something that was far better. They began to walk in the obedience of faith. 

They were no longer religious for its own sake. They became obedient to the faith. Not a religion, not a subset of personal desires affixed to cultural mores. Rather, they trusted in Christ and His Word, and they began to walk in obedience to the truth. 

Becoming obedient to the faith is not a novel concept. The letter to the church in Romans has as book ends the idea of bringing about the obedience of the faith. In almost the center of the same letter Paul rejoices that they have become obedient to the teaching which they’ve been given. In other words, expounding on the obedience of faith, the faith is something far more than simple religion.

Let’s not give way to our cultural misapprehension of religion and what a consumer driven environment demands. Instead let’s pursue being obedient to the faith and seek to make God’s Word increase all the more.