Obedience to the Faith is a Witness of God’s Name to the Nations
The first thing said about faith in Romans shows how we are to be witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 1:8) in the age of grace. Romans 1:5 (By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name) is paralleled by Deuteronomy 4:5-8 (Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgements, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgements so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?”) God’s people were and are to be witnesses of His name, in the old covenant by obedience to the law, and in the new covenant by obedience to the faith. “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” 1 John 5:3. Incidentally, Romans 1:8 says that the faith of the saints of Rome is spoken of throughout the whole world. The fruit of obedience to faith is a powerful witness of the name of God and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
“Well, a curse that’s causeless cannot land. However, if you’re in disobedience, that’s when you’re open to being cursed.” This word from God is reported on page 21 of the book, Turning Curses to Blessings and repeated in the third paragraph of the article turning- curses-to-blessings for convenience. The cause that allows a curse to land is un-repented sin or disobedience to God’s word, Deuteronomy 28:15, “But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:” On the contrary, Deuteronomy 28:1 says, “. . . if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and do all his commandments . . . the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all the nations of the earth:” Verse 10 says. “And all the people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.” Verse 6 says, “Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.” Verse 7 says, “The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.” Verse 12 says ” . . . and thou shalt lend to many nations, and thou shalt not borrow” and verse 13 says, “The LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, . . . if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God . . . “ Contrariwise, verse 19 says, “Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out.” Verse 25 says, “The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten by thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: . . . “ Verse 44 says, [The stranger] “shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.” Even though the United States amassed huge debts in the twentieth century, they were owed by and large to We the People, and the nation was not in debt to other nations. Those of the people who chose to lend to the government received interest from those of the people who chose not to lend to the government. We now have a government who is making war on the saints and thumbing its nose at the LORD our God. Can a nation who outlaws prayer in its armed forces defend itself?
Notice how so much of the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy relates to the witness of God’s people to the nations, whether it be good or bad? Notice also that the principles laid out in this chapter have been played out in scripture, including the carrying away of the northern 10 tribes, the House of Israel or Ephraim by the Assyrians. To this day they are hidden in plain sight, sewn among the nations. That this process may be repeating itself in our day is eloquently illustrated in Jonathon Cahn’s The Harbinger and Joseph Farah’s Isaiah 9:10 Judgement. Some may object to the application of curses and blessings to this issue, saying that Christians cannot be cursed, pointing to Galatians 3:13. If that were true, how could Paul write Galatians 1:8, “But though we or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed“, and verse 9, which repeats verse 8. Galatians 13:13 is examined in context in the article About Curses. Much error has crept into the interpretation of scripture through the influence of Greco-Roman culture and mythology taught in our seminaries. This process likely had begun by 70 AD, if not before. To the victors fall the privilege of writing history.
A study written by Ed Johnson VP of CFIM