Unless God enables our obedience, we work and serve in vain. All true obedience flows from the strength he supplies. In Romans 1:5 5 through whom we received grace and apostleship, unto obedience of faith among all the nations, for his name's sake; , the apostle Paul talks about “the obedience of faith,” as the ESV puts it. Or more clearly, “the obedience that comes from faith,” as the NIV puts it. We obey God only by faith in God. Faith-less obedience is a fiction. And this point, in this text, led to a late-night life-change moment for one of our listeners named Stefan. He writes in to say: “I was listening to Piper’s sermon on Romans 1:5 5 through whom we received grace and apostleship, unto obedience of faith among all the nations, for his name's sake; late one night as I was battling to go to sleep.” I’m going to assume he was up and needed something to do, not that he was trying to fall asleep. “The whole week was one great struggle against my flesh. I heard this verse taught like never before. It completely changed the way I went about pursuing Christ. I was going about pursuing holiness the wrong way. The Lord spoke clearly to me that I had to stop making my number-one goal holiness. My life goal is to delight myself in him, and from the joy I receive in him comes the grace, which I received by faith, to do good works.” Here’s the clip he shared in particular, John Piper preaching on Romans 1:5 5 through whom we received grace and apostleship, unto obedience of faith among all the nations, for his name's sake; back in 1998. Read or listen to this interview at our website: https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/how-can-i-grow-in-obeying-god Find other recent and popular Ask Pastor John episodes: https://www.desiringgod.org/ask-pastor-john